Library Sued for Denying White Actress Role as Harriet Tubman

(Photo: KPBS Public Media)

by Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder

A white actress in San Diego, Annette Hubbell, is suing the San Diego County Library after they canceled a scheduled performance of her one-woman show, Women Warriors, which includes portrayals of historical figures like Harriet Tubman and Mary McLeod Bethune. According to reports from KPBS, the library’s diversity and inclusion committee told her it was "not appropriate" for a white woman to portray Black civil rights icons, even without dark makeup or offensive impersonation. And so, naturally, she’s filed a lawsuit claiming racial discrimination.

Let me be clear. This isn’t censorship. It’s accountability. It’s cultural awareness. It’s a long overdue acknowledgment that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.

Hubbell claims her performance was respectful and educational. She didn’t wear Blackface, she says. She wasn’t mocking. She was honoring these women. But honoring someone doesn’t mean you get to embody them, especially not when your lived experience is so far removed from theirs. And especially not when you’re choosing to do so in the middle of a library event with no collaboration or input from the communities whose stories you’re telling.

And here’s the question that really nags at me. Why didn’t she just hire other actresses? If she’s so committed to uplifting the stories of Harriet Tubman and Mary McLeod Bethune, why not bring in Black performers to tell them? Why does the “educational value” of the show seem to hinge on her being the one on stage in every role? If this was really about honoring history, there were so many ways to do that respectfully, collaboratively, and with cultural awareness. She chose the one-woman route, and when that one-woman approach didn’t fly, she chose the courtroom. That says a lot.

Because no matter how you spin it, this is still a white woman stepping into the voice, body, and legacy of Harriet Tubman. It’s a decision rooted in ego, not allyship. You want to educate kids on the brilliance of Black women in history? Great. Bring in Black women to do that. Produce their work. Hand over the mic, not just your interpretation of the mic.

And please, for the love of all things decent in American theater, stop invoking Hamilton as your excuse, as many do in these situations.

The Hamilton defense—that race blind casting means anything goes, that if a Black actor can play George Washington, then surely a white actress can play Tubman—is a false equivalency wrapped in bad faith. First of all, Hamilton is intentionally subversive. Lin-Manuel Miranda cast Black and Brown actors as the founding fathers on purpose, to reclaim a narrative from which their ancestors were excluded. It wasn’t color blind casting. It was a radical, conscious act of political theater.

What Hubbell is doing is the exact opposite. She’s reinforcing the historic norm where white artists feel entitled to portray any and every story. There’s no subversion here. There’s no artistic risk. There’s certainly no permission. Just an old tradition of white people telling stories that were never theirs to begin with and demanding applause for it.

Now, her attorney, who filed the lawsuit on her behalf, argues that this is about fairness under the law. “We do this because we’re interested in the impact,” he said. “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. 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.”

But here's the thing. This is not about banning someone from being treated equally. It’s about understanding context. The decision to cancel this performance wasn’t about discrimination. It was about discernment. It was about listening to communities who said, “This is not your story to perform.” If governments can’t acknowledge cultural nuance when deciding what happens in a public building, then we’ve learned nothing. Equality isn’t one size fits all. It doesn’t mean pretending race doesn’t matter. It means recognizing when it does and honoring that.

This lawsuit is exhausting. Not because it’s surprising, but because it’s so familiar. Yet another white performer being told “no,” and instead of pausing, reflecting, and maybe restructuring the show, she runs to the courthouse crying foul. She’s not being silenced. She’s being asked to take a seat. There’s a difference.

And let’s not ignore how ridiculous this is in 2025. Suing a public library system for not letting you perform Harriet Tubman is not just a waste of time. It’s a horrible look. Our libraries are under constant threat. They are underfunded. They are being politicized. They are already fighting battles on the front lines of book bans and misinformation. And now, because one woman didn’t get to perform a controversial solo show, taxpayer money has to go toward legal defense? That’s not advocacy. That’s self-importance dressed up as martyrdom.

Let’s talk about the opportunity cost. What if, instead of one woman performing every role, including icons from communities she’s never been part of, we had a stage filled with diverse women telling those stories together? What if libraries stopped relying on one-woman history shows and instead funded local theater groups, schools, and community voices to create performances that reflect the people whose legacies we’re uplifting? That’s not censorship. That’s progress.

And no, this isn’t about “what if a Black woman wanted to play Eleanor Roosevelt?” That’s the sort of gotcha question that ignores power, history, and context. Black women haven’t historically had the freedom to play anyone onstage, let alone themselves. Theatrical access has never been equal, so you can’t pretend the same rules apply.

This isn’t about denying white actors roles. This is about understanding why certain roles aren't appropriate, and why well meaning portrayals still cause harm. Harriet Tubman isn’t a metaphor. She’s not a symbol for white actresses to wear like a costume. She’s a real person whose life was defined by the systemic oppression of people who looked like Annette Hubbell. That doesn’t mean white people can’t admire her. But it absolutely means they shouldn’t be performing her story solo on a library stage.

So no, Annette, you shouldn’t be playing Harriet Tubman. Not because you’re a villain. Not because your heart’s in the wrong place. But because even the most well meaning efforts can perpetuate harm when they’re built on privilege. If you really wanted to honor these women, you wouldn’t sue the library for setting a boundary. You’d use your platform to center the women you claim to admire.

And to the San Diego County Library. Thank you. Thank you for setting the boundary. Thank you for saying that representation matters. Thank you for choosing to stand for equity, even when it gets uncomfortable.

Because we’ve spent enough time pretending that artistic freedom means freedom from accountability. It doesn’t.