COMMENTARY : MINORITY WRITERS: POINT, COUNTERPOINT

The author, who holds a doctorate in American Studies from Brown University, is a writer on the syndicated “Dennis the Menace” animated series . He teaches Afro-American history at Pasadena City College and English at University High School.

“Congratulations! Your script has been accepted into the Script Submissions Program. Our initial submission will be to Columbia Pictures.”

That letter in August, 1984, from the Human Resources Coordinating Committee of the Writers Guild West gave me, a minority writer, a jolt of encouragement. After all, the committee was the guild’s liaison between the industry and non-guild screenwriters. And the Script Submissions Program was established to offer minority writers the opportunity to have their “qualified” script forwarded to producers and major studios.

But by April, 1986, I heard nothing further. I made several calls to the guild to see if Columbia had made any comments or a decision about my material. Each time, I spoke with a different person who seemed unsure about the plight of my script--but I was also encouraged each time to phone back in a few weeks.

Finally, I visited the guild and was introduced to the special assistant to the executive director. With a pleasant but embarrassed manner, he explained that my script had, indeed, been located. But my script had not been forwarded to Columbia Pictures, and--like the dozens of other scripts stacked against the wall--had never left the guild’s offices.

The special assistant gave me various reasons--mostly administrative--but I was still angry and disappointed. And the promise that in a few months the guild would reorganize the Script Submissions Program and send letters of explanation to the submitting writers was hardly encouraging--said letters would be going out two years after the initial submissions. That from, of all people, writers--who should know better about treating submissions in a timely, courteous, respectful manner?

Having offered his detailed explanation, the special assistant to the executive director gingerly inquired if I wanted the guild to hold onto my script for re-submission to the reorganized program. Restraining my laughter, I assured him that if I wanted my script to collect dust, it could do so just as easily on my shelf.

Before leaving the guild I obtained a copy of the lengthy Report to the Board of Directors. That document, written by a minority member of the guild in September, 1985, provided a comprehensive examination of the relationship between minority authors and the industry, as well as the ordeal of the minority members within the guild. Citing events, people and projects, the report described the shattered efforts to open up opportunities for the guild’s minority members. The document emphasized that the major barriers preventing success were hostile producers and jealous white guild members.

After reading the report, I was dismayed. If minority members of the guild were confronting such oppressive obstacles and attitudes, what hope could an unestablished minority writer like myself cling to? The guild was always touted as the one place where a writer might receive fair treatment. But it appeared that, in regard to minority authors, the guild was but another spoke in a large wheel of neglect and unfulfilled promises. The major studios and networks have consistently been criticized for their unwillingness or inability to to recognize the talent and experience of minority writers. Now, it appeared, the guild was following the same sad pattern.

Why? What seems so difficult about allowing writers to compete fairly in the entertainment game? Sure, some things are “givens” within the industry. Primarily, most writing assignments on television programs are passed along to those who are on the inside--directly or by association--and the plurality of those “insiders” are white. Admittedly, the chances of gaining access into the feature film market is tantamount to getting the proverbial camel through the needle’s eye--for unestablished writers both white and minority. But even with these business strictures, there remains ample room for creative and skilled minority writers if persons of influence on the inside will really make the effort to open the doors.

Minority writers are not demanding that studios and producers alter their systems of business and art. On the contrary, the minority writers with whom I speak are anxious to work within the system. Nor are minority writers seeking to create a plethora of television programs or movies that deal only with Latino, black, Asian, or Native American characters and themes. Surprisingly, most minority authors I’ve met write material that is not focused upon one minority perspective. They seem more inclined to create stories that contain a diversity of ethnic characters interacting with one another--a natural balance.

Actually, the “problem” does not exist with the creative efforts of minority writers, but with the white producers and decision-makers who react fearfully to either the racial identity of the author or the racial designation of the characters created. That “problem” has many aliases, but broken down to its core, it’s that familiar nemesis--racism.

If characters and themes are identified as “minority,” for example, they are too often considered “limited,” “narrow” and devoid of “universal truths.” But since “universal truths” deal with the human experience, and since minority people are human, it follows that there are “universal truths” in minority characters and themes. After all, when material deals with all-white characters and themes, it is naturally accepted as “the norm,” “the average,” or “the universal.” Therefore, popular and acclaimed movies, such as “Kramer vs. Kramer,” “Ordinary People,” “The Big Chill” and “E.T.” lack prominent minority characters, yet they aren’t stigmatized as being without “universal” relevance.

Note also the traditional attitude that minority authors cannot write clearly and effectively about their own experiences. On television, in particular, when white producers finally decide to go with a minority project, such as “Roots,” they continue to hire white writers. The rationale is that minority writers are too close to their own experiences, turning out prejudiced and limited material.

To all of those white producers and decision makers in the industry, let me say--relax! Minority characters, themes and writers will not limit your programs or projects, nor will they scare away a large viewing audience. On the contrary, the success of several television programs--including “Miami Vice” and “The Cosby Show,” with their Latino and black characters--and the success of feature productions such as “The Karate Kid” and “The Color Purple” with their Asian and black characters--are strong indicators that the viewing audience is open to a variety of minority images and themes.

To systematically ignore and exclude a wealth of minority talent and projects due to simple narrow-mindedness is both an unwise marketing strategy and a rejection of creativity. Given a fair opportunity, minority writers could contribute extensively to the present and future of the industry. Minority participation would infuse television shows and movies with fresh skills and ideas.

It would be good business sense for today--while developing quality material for the years ahead.

GUILD’S REPLY Calendar offered the Writer’s Guild of America West the opportunity to respond to Donalson’s commentary. Following is the Guild’s statement.

Lack of equal access to opportunity has been, and remains, a major barrier to America’s promise of equality for all of its people. The entertainment industry is no exception.

Over the past two decades the Writers Guild of America West has undertaken several programs to address the need for equal employment opportunity for writers who have been denied access for reasons unrelated to writing ability.

The Script Submission Program was one. Established during 1981 labor negotiations between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the companies that employ script writers, the goal of what was intended to be a collaborative labor-management effort was to provide access to ethnic minority writers through the submissions of scripts to studios, networks and independent producers. (In 1985 the program was expanded to include women, the disabled and writers over 40 years of age.)

Because it was apparent that these writers were disproportionately denied access through the traditional industry channels of agents, attorneys, friends and social networking, it was the hope of the Guild that the Script Submission Program would be a remedy.

A dedicated Guild committee of volunteer writers and paid staff molded the program, nursed it, watched it take a few steps, stumble and virtually collapse within two years.

First, as with many new programs, there were problems of administration. Although a joint labor-management program, this huge, immediate and largely unforeseen administrative burden fell heaviest upon the Guild. The responsibility of receiving, coding, registering, securing appropriate releases, ensuring professional script format and forwarding the scripts submitted from writers nationwide to the companies proved a monumental undertaking.

Secondly, the program’s effectiveness was impaired by an apparent lack of commitment by some participating companies. In practice, many companies returned the scripts with no comments or only cursory responses. In some cases, it was questionable whether the scripts had even been read. Follow-up efforts by the Guild to standardize the quality of company responses were unsuccessful.

By the fall of 1984 the Script Submission Program was not working. By then the Guild was gearing up for what would become a difficult negotiation and strike during the first months of 1985. In the wake of that strike and the transition of a new executive administration, the reevaluation, administrative review and resuscitation of the program was delayed until the spring of this year.

In April, the WGAW Board of Directors met to review not only the status of the Script Submission Program, but the whole issue of equal access within the industry.

Following recommendations from the Guild’s Committee of Black Writers, Women’s Committee, Latino Writers Committee, Age-Discrimination Committee, Committee on Disability and the Human Resources Coordinating Committee, the Board unanimously approved creating a new, full-time staff position to develop, coordinate, administrate and enforce all equal access programs and efforts.

In August, following a lengthy search, Jeffrey Wallace was appointed as the Guild’s first Human Resource Coordinator. After eight years as a civil rights analyst with the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Wallace is now moving to reevaluate, redesign and aggressively reimplement the Script Submission Program, as well as exploring other programs and efforts that will assist in providing equal employment opportunities. Some changes in the 1985 collective bargaining agreement and an apparent willingness by the companies to again work with the Guild, give some cause for hope.

The Guild’s action represents a renewed commitment, intelligently and with a significant allocation of resources, to continue the vigilance and persistence necessary to effectuate improvement, however discouraging. No one program will by itself change the lack of such access. We are hopeful that the second time around this one will help.