Arizona State University’s theater department recently hosted a student-produced and -performed musical program called “The Color Cabaret.”
Yet white was not one of the colors.
According to the conservative website The College Fix, the show “explicitly barred white students from performing in it.”
The event was held over the last weekend in January. A program from the show reported that it offered “an opportunity for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) students in the School of Music, Dance and Theatre to create performances that speak to their own experience.”
The State Press, a student news website, reported that the cabaret “was made up entirely of students of color, and the songs performed told a story with heart, grace, and a cultural flair representing the diverse community at ASU.”
Diverse, except for the lack of white students. And other performers were OK with that.
According to the State Press, one performer said, “It was a really wholesome experience to share the stage with people of color. That never really happens in this capacity, it was just a great feeling and was very comforting.”
Another performer told the paper, “I hope when we talk about the human race, it’s just that and color is not a divide. The audience was great, but that’s not who we were performing for, we were performing for us and the BIPOC community here at ASU.”
The paper added, “The diverse cast joined together on-stage throughout the performance, sitting around each performer, celebrating and encouraging them as they shared their pieces.”
This is not new territory for ASU.
As The Free Press reported last year, the campus administration was forced to punish two black female students who videoed themselves harassing two conservative white men in a campus “multicultural learning space.” When the men challenged the women about being able to be there, the women responded that “white is not a culture.”
“The Color Cabaret” event program noted, “This performance also serves as a fundraiser for the BIPOC student scholarship fund, led by the ASU Music Theatre and Opera [MTO] Student Organization. Together we celebrate and highlight what makes us different.”
The program also noted that the theater department has “made it known to our entire community that diversity and equity are the pillars that carry this program.” A student director of the show added, “Through hard discussions and active change, the MTO program has made it clear that all Black, indigenous, and People of Color, no matter the artistic background, are free and welcome to take up space here.”
Yes, no whites need apply.
The Fix reported that ASU’s media team did not respond for comment.
After the story appeared, however, the university media office sent a statement, saying the MTO, like all registered student organizations, was responsible for “planning and organizing its meetings and programming.” And like every other registered student organization,” the statement added, the MTO “has committed to operating in a manner that does not discriminate. Consistent with that commitment, the MTSO Color Cabaret was open to all Music Theater and Opera undergraduate, graduate, and vocal performance students.”
Except the white ones.
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