Actor and director Lin-Manuel Miranda has apologized for failing to adequately represent Afro-Latinos in his latest musical project, In the Heights, that is centered on New York’s Latino communities. The Hamilton star posted a note to social media on Monday acknowledging that casting for his latest project, set in the diverse neighborhood of Washington Heights in upper Manhattan, had lapsed into colorism, broadly defined as prejudice or discrimination against darker skin tones within the same racial group. “In trying to paint a mosaic of this community, we fell short,” Miranda said in the statement, two days after the film opened at the box office and online. I hear that without sufficient dark-skinned Afro-Latino representation, the work feels extractive of the community we wanted so much to represent with pride and joy. “I’m trying to hold space for both the incredible pride in the movie we made and be accountable for our shortcomings,” Miranda added.

Source: The Guardian June 15, 2021 13:18 UTC