LIMITED RUN! NOW playing through March 2
Reimagining of historic 1965 debate elicited audience comments such as: “It’s impractical to prove that the American Dream was not built on the backs of Negroes. Baldwin says there is no American Dream, even for white Americans because they have been corrupted.”
“Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley,”presented by TimeLine Theatre, in partnership with The Theatre School at DePaul University, is a compelling reimagining of the debate that occurred in 1965, when an overflow crowd packed the Cambridge Union in Cambridge, England, to witness a historic televised debate between James Baldwin, the leading literary voice of the Civil Rights Movement, and William F. Buckley Jr., a fierce critic and America’s most influential conservative intellectual.
The topic: “Is the American Dream at the expense of the American Negro?”
Cortelyou Commons’ Gothic Collegiate architecture replicates a unique and immersive space, giving the feeling of being inside Cambridge Union, site of the actual debate.
The epic confrontation pitted Baldwin’s call for a moral revolution in race relations against Buckley’s unabashed elitism.
This historic clash revealed the deep roots and lasting legacy of racial conflict that continue to haunt America today.
Buckley presented as a smug conservative, while Baldwin sat as what I would describe as a humble but confident participant. The debate was set up by two DePaul students, Aspen Tyson and Quintin Craig, who presented both sides of the debate topic, before Teagle F. Bougere, as James Baldwin, and Erick T. Miller, as William F. Buckley Jr., laid out their arguments.
There was an accusation made against Baldwin, with Buckley saying that he [Baldwin] wanted to ruin civilization, but Buckley said that Baldwin should encourage Blacks to persevere.
In the end, Baldwin’s stance was overwhelmingly embraced. The American dream greatly impacted Negroes, resulting in fewer achievements, although that dream was realized with the back-breaking work of ex-slaves who helped to build the United? States of America.
Baldwin said: “It is a great shock to discover that the flag to which you have pledged allegiance has not pledged allegiance to you. It comes as a great shock to see Gary Cooper killing off the Indians, and although you are rooting for Gary Cooper, [realizing] that the Indians are you.
“It comes as a great shock to discover that the country which is your birthplace and to which your life and identity has not, in its whole system of reality, evolved any place for you. The disaffection and the gap between people, only on the basis of their skins, begins there and accelerates throughout your whole lifetime.”
Audience members chimed in afterward. One Black man echoed Baldwin, saying that if a person starts a race with a head start, that person will perpetually always be ahead. It was thought that when slavery was over all one had to do was “go be free,” except you are 400 years behind in terms of wealth, he said.
A white woman posited that the replacement theory [dismantling of DEI and Edward Blum’s affirmative action lawsuits] comes from Buckley’s verbiage. Baldwin wasn’t talking about replacing white structures, he was saying that everyone should have power in their lives.
“TimeLine is thrilled to produce this powerful theatrical experience at DePaul University—alma mater to me and my fellow TimeLine co-founders,” said TimeLine Artistic Director PJ Powers. “Presenting this on the 60th anniversary of their debate will illuminate what progress has occurred in our country and what troubling comparisons still can be made with arguments from 1965.”
“The objective in restaging this historic debate is not to inhabit such monumental figures Baldwin or Buckley, their shoes are too large to fill,” said Christopher McElroen, Founding Artistic Director of the american vicarious (a non-profit aimed at showing America’s different ideals). Rather, our objective is to simply place their words, which still resonate 60 years later, within the voice of contemporary artists.”
My South Side brothers and sisters, you have time to witness this riveting reenactment of a debate that is still relevant today. But you don’t have to travel to Cambridge, just a bit of a way to Lincoln Park. I highly recommend it.
The address is 2324 N. Fremont St. For tickets through March 2, visit timelinetheatre.com. For a brief recap, visit https://tinyurl.com/mz99tb92
Elaine Hegwood Bowen, M.S.J., is the Entertainment Editor for the Chicago Crusader. She is a National Newspaper Publishers Association ‘Entertainment Writing’ award winner, contributor to “Rust Belt Chicago” and the author of “Old School Adventures from Englewood: South Side of Chicago.” For info, Old School Adventures from Englewood—South Side of Chicago (lulu.com) or email: [email protected].