When A White Woman Was Told She Could Not Be Harriet Tubman In a Play, She Took Matters Into Her Own Hands

In news that can only be described as “you’ve got to be kidding me,” yet another white woman is causing unnecessary headaches at her workplace. And when we tell you how, you’re sure to scratch your head in confusion.

Things all stem from an actress named Annette Hubbell who puts on one-woman shows at the Rancho Santa Fe Library in San Diego. Back during Women’s History Month in 2024, she was reportedly asked to perform her show by, in which she highlights influential historical figures. The library gave her a list of women to choose from and Hubbell selected Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mary McLeod Bethune and Harriet Tubman–the latter two of which are Black women. Hubbell is white.

A few weeks before the show and after seeing her choices, the library asked her to switch out Bethune and Tubman given the obvious difference. However, Hubbell took issue with it.

“It never occurred to me that that might be an issue. I was telling their stories, bringing them alive,” she said according to KPBS.

She later described the conversation:

“I said, ‘Why?’ And she said, ‘Because it’s not appropriate for you to be doing this. You’re a white woman.’ And I said, ‘Oh, no, no, no, you don’t understand. I’m honoring these women I have so carefully researched. And she said, ‘That doesn’t matter.’ And I said, ‘You mean I’m only to perform women whose stories of bravery and courage should be told if they’re white?’ And she said, ‘That’s pretty much it.’ So I’m not getting it.”

Hubbell went on to further plead her case and cited the hit Broadway production “Hamilton” to backup her reasoning that her skin color shouldn’t matter. For context, Hamilton engaged in “color-conscious casting,”which is the intentional use of non-white actors to play traditionally white characters. It’s different from not color-blind casting which intentionally doesn’t consider the race of the person portraying the character at all.

Yet and still, Hubbell was perplexed by the decision.

“I think if people thought I was doing blackface or a parody of these people not respecting them, then that might be a cause for an objection,” she explained. “But all they have to do is read my stories and the testimonies on my website and they would see how deeply I respect and honor and admire these people.”

Regardless of her passion, the San Diego county’s diversity and inclusion panel agreed with the library that she should change women, but Hubbell stood her ground. Consequently, her show got canceled.

But if you thought that’s where the story ended, think again! In fact, it was recently revealed that Hubbell is suing with the help of the Pacific Legal Foundation in a sort of “reverse discrimination” suit.

“We want to send a clear message that the government has a duty to every individual to treat them equally and to treat them fairly,” said Hubbell’s lawyer Chris Barnewolt. “If the San Diego County government can make decisions based on race in this instance, then any county or local government could do the same. And we want to make sure that that stops here.”

As of this writing, there’s been no update to where the suit stands or if it’s been dismissed. But when we have an update, we’ll be sure to let you know because this is truly a trip!