Othello and The Specter of Race in Ira Gershwin's Let ‘Em Eat Cake

There is a single reference to Shakespeare’s Othello in the Gershwin musical Let 'Em Eat Cake: we are told that the White House is being repainted blue, “not brown like Mr. Othello.” This might seem insignificant as an individual lyric, but this note argues that it actually represents a crucial move in the musical's reinforcement of Whiteness. The musical's use of Shakespeare reinforces the idea that the musical's political revolution overturns only the class organization of the country and not the structures of racism.