“Hamilton” debuted on Disney Plus last week, bringing the musical to a wider audience than ever. But despite its popularity, “Hamilton” has faced increasing criticism over what some believe is a problematic portrayal of slavery and slave owners, according to CNN.
The musical has been criticized by some who claim that it “glorifies” the Founding Fathers without adequately addressing the role that they played in slavery.
Some critics point out that “Hamilton” never mentions historical figures George Washington and James Madison were slave owners, while Thomas Jefferson is said to own slaves only in passing, according to BuzzFeed News.
As for Alexander Hamilton himself, the musical “overstates Hamilton’s anti-slavery sentiments,” University of Utah history professor Eric A. Hinderaker told the Deseret News.
But now the show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, has responded to criticism of “Hamilton,” tweeting on Monday that “all the criticisms are valid.”
Miranda wrote in response to writer Tracy Clayton, host of the podcast “Strong Black Legends,” who had weighed in on the debate over the musical, according to CNN.
“I totally get the frustration about it being a play about slaveholders that is not about slavery,” Clayton tweeted. “I’ve felt that in lots of things i watch, but i flex the same muscle i use when i listen to hip hop as a black woman. we enjoy problematic things all the time.”
Clayton called the debate a “necessary conversation” and noted that “navigating history and historical figures is hard and messy. humans are flawed and messy, both the ones who lived then & the ones reading and writing about them now.”
“Hamilton is a flawed play about flawed people written by an imperfect person that gave my flawed and imperfect little life a big boost when i needed it most,” tweeted Clayton.
Miranda replied in a tweet that he appreciated what Clayton had to say, according to CNN.
“All the criticisms are valid,” Miranda tweeted in response. “The sheer tonnage of complexities & failings of these people I couldn’t get. Or wrestled with but cut. I took 6 years and fit as much as I could in a 2.5 hour musical. Did my best. It’s all fair game.”
A wide range of people have weighed in on the debate over “Hamilton.” Writer Roxane Gay tweeted that she had “a lot of thoughts about Hamilton and the way it idealizes the founders, and how such a brilliant musical dangerously elides they realities of slavery” before adding “I think it’s a brilliant show” and “the show can handle critical engagement.”
Filmmaker Ava DuVernay also spoke out about “Hamilton,” tweeting that while “slavery is not central, for sure” to the musical, “he didn’t deny or ignore it either. He made his choices about it.”
Rosa A. Clemente, a former vice presidential candidate for the Green Party, claimed to have started the #CancelHamilton hashtag on Twitter, as well as a petition to cancel the premiere of the musical on Disney Plus on July 3, according to The Hill.
The petition claims to be “concerned about the continued celebration of the legacy of Alexander Hamilton” and had 340 signatures as of July 7.