Taper ‘Paternalism’

Gordon Davidson’s contention that the jazz-fusion band Hiroshima’s box-office potential makes it less of an economic risk than a play by an unknown Asian-American writer is not surprising (“Hiroshima--Music, Drama in a Taper Play,” March 12).

It is also not surprising that even given Hiroshima’s clout, Davidson went with an unknown Anglo-American writer (not an Asian-American) to develop the story of third-generation Japanese-Americans, Sansei. This is consistent with his, and the Taper’s, paternalistic attitude toward Asian-Americans.

The result of this arrogance is a play that, in my opinion, is nothing but a series of tritely written monologues that trivialize the Sansei experience.

BILL SHINKAI

Carson