• Bright Sheng, who teaches composition at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance in Ann Arbor, Michigan, showed the 1965 film Othello starring Laurence Olivier
  • Olivier appeared in blackface throughout the film which ‘shocked’ students 
  • Sheng apologized listing occasions when he had worked with people of color 
  • The apology then offended students and Sheng stepped down from his role 
  • American critics were no fan of Olivier’s blackface when the film came out at the height of the civil rights movement and the movie only played for two days