It was arguably the most famous debate of the civil rights era.
On Feb. 18, 1965, writer and activist James Baldwin took the stage at the Cambridge Union Society. His opponent was William F. Buckley Jr., founder of the National Review and an architect of the modern conservative movement. The proposition? “Has the American dream been achieved at the expense of the American Negro?”
At 7 p.m. Thursday, March 19, the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity (CRE2), in collaboration with WashU’s Department of Music in Arts & Sciences and Opera Theatre of St. Louis, will revisit that epic confrontation with a free performance of “The Tongue and The Lash.” Written by composer Damien Sneed and librettist Karen Chilton, the acclaimed chamber piece “is a wonderfully poignant memory of a time when ideas, not just mottos or bumper-stickers, guided political debate” (Broadway World).
Rather than reproduce the televised event, Sneed and Chilton imagine a post-debate conversation in which Baldwin and Buckley continue to spar over the state of racial freedom. It begins with the adjudicator announcing the debate’s result: 544 votes in favor of the proposition, 164 against. Baldwin greets the win solemnly. He sings:
What victory is there
When all our suffering
from injustice is laid bare?
Buckley, clapping ironically, rejoins:
Don’t you have enough?
Greeted with unction
Your fans’ compunction
To tout you, crown you
At every turn
The performance will star Markel Reed, a baritone of “magnetic swagger” (Boston Globe), who originated the role of Baldwin for Opera Theatre in 2021. Joining as Buckley will be tenor Andrew Morstein, named “Best Male Newcomer” at the Österreichischer MusikTheater Preis Awards in Vienna.
Veteran baritone Robert Mellon is the adjudicator. Pianist Jonathan Heaney serves as musical director. Olivia Gacka is the movement consultant, and the stage manager is Emma Fletcher.
‘Belonging in Opera’
“The Tongue and the Lash” is presented as part of Belonging in Opera, an ongoing series that explores how race and ethnicity have shaped opera’s past and continue to inform its future. A related exhibition, “Staging James Baldwin and William F. Buckley: Belonging in Opera,” remains on view at Olin Library through April 12.
Immediately following the performance, Adrienne Davis, the William M. Van Cleve Professor of Law at WashU Law, will moderate a roundtable discussion. Participants will include Sneed and distinguished visiting scholar Naomi André, a founding member of the Black Opera Research Network, as well as Nicholas Buccola, author of “The Fire Is Upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate Over Race in America” (2019); and Lauren Eldridge Stewart, an assistant professor of ethnomusicology at WashU.
Prior to the performance, at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, André, the David G. Frey Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will lecture on “The Potential of Operatic Spaces Today” in Umrath Hall Lounge. The free talk explores how composers and performers are connecting with contemporary audiences by reflecting a wide array of narratives and experiences.
Event details
“The Tongue and The Lash” will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 19, in WashU’s Graham Chapel. The performance is free and open to the public, though RSVPs are recommended. Additional support is provided by the Office of the Provost and by James Baldwin Review. For more information, visit cre2.wustl.edu.
