Clergy group protests high school production of "Ragtime"

[Nekusagi]

Because Indiana sucks...

Thorny words all restored, show to go on

Clergy planning prayer protest on opening night of 'Ragtime'

"Ragtime" will go on as originally written -- racial slurs, sexual reference and swearing included -- and black leaders say they'll pray in protest at the musical's opening night Thursday at Perry Meridian High School.

Perry Township school officials on Tuesday restored sexual and religious references to a production of "Ragtime" in response to black leaders' charges they had a double standard for changes to the musical, deleting some objectionable references while leaving others.

But the decision did not address the main concern from members of the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis: the musical's use of a racial epithet.

"There is no cultural and historical merit to 'Ragtime,' " said state Rep. William Crawford, D-Indianapolis, who joined the clergy group in denouncing the choice of the musical earlier this week. "The larger issue is whether a public school that gets taxes from all people should be allowed to have a play that has racial and ethnic slurs in it."

Perry Superintendent H. Douglas Williams said Tuesday that all dialogue will now reflect the original Broadway script. Concerned Clergy had complained that officials decided several months ago to remove one reference to masturbation and change swearing in God's name to "damn" but were unwilling to make any changes to address black leaders' concerns about the racial epithet.

"Ragtime," based on a book by E.L. Doctorow, opened on Broadway in 1998 and won four Tony Awards. It depicts tensions between blacks, immigrant Jews and upper-class whites in 1906 New York.

A large portion of Perry Meridian's cast, including several lead characters, is black -- a rare opportunity at a 2,000-student high school where 11 percent of the student body is black and 81 percent is white.

At a news conference Monday, protesters, including Crawford and state Rep. Greg Porter, D-Indianapolis, said the epithet was inexcusable for a school production. They said white parents' complaints spurred the changes regarding swearing and sexual activity.

Williams disputed that Tuesday. He said the faculty directors had edited those parts of the musical because the words were not vital to its historical context.

"There have been no complaints from the community about any of the words that were originally removed," Williams said. He added, "I'm very confident that won't convince anybody otherwise."

Teachers Michael Slack and Anne Sanders selected "Ragtime" last fall, but little controversy arose until early this month when the School Board called a meeting to discuss the musical.

Several board members questioned the strong dialogue but took no action after Williams agreed to put notices in school newsletters throughout the district warning of the language.

Perry Meridian senior Marcus Triplett, 17, plays Coalhouse, the target of many of the epithets. While several black actors spoke at the board meeting in support of keeping the racial epithet, he sat silently.

During a dress rehearsal earlier this week, Triplett said he had tried to ignore the debate outside school and focus on why he auditioned for his character.

"He's a man seeking justice, and he goes through this musical seeking justice for his family," Triplett said.

The board's sole black member, Rubie Alexander, said Tuesday that restoring the sexual and religious references added to the reasons "Ragtime" is out of place in a high school. She raised concerns about the musical with the board earlier.

"I don't want to be a part of the 'n-word' coming to Perry Township," she said.

She said the musical's stereotypical black characters and other profanity also gave her pause when she read the script and watched a video of a stage performance of "Ragtime."

"The reason I won't be able to go to the play is . . . the same reason I can't watch 'Mississippi Burning,' " said Alexander, 61, who grew up in rural Archibald, La. "(It's) the same way I had to stop watching 'Roots.' It was too painful."

Several critics have suggested replacing the epithet with "Negro." But softening the language would dull the musical's message about racism, said Williams, who is white.

"It's the worst word in our language," he said during a news conference Tuesday. "If you don't include it, it's easier for people to be insensitive about the use of that word."

District officials barred media access Tuesday to Perry Meridian. But Williams met with cast members in the morning and said their "100 percent" commitment buttressed his confidence.

The district should not use students' comfort with the epithet as its guide, Alexander said.

Parent John Brooks Sr. agreed. His 13-year-old son, John Brooks Jr., is among students bused from Indianapolis' Northeastside by a desegregation order. His son got into a fight last fall at his middle school with a white student who used the epithet against him, Brooks said.

"I don't teach my kid (that word)," said Brooks, 42, and he said he won't take his son to see the musical. "I don't think a play like that should be played by kids anyway."

Several critics said they would protest the first performance at 7 p.m. Thursday outside the school, 401 W. Meridian School Road.

"We are going to try to take the high road and take to prayer," said the Rev. Richard Willoughby, vice president of the Concerned Clergy and pastor of Promised Land Christian Community Church. "I'm sure that if you're over 40 years old, you could remember (racism). And I remember it as if it happened yesterday."

Slack and Sanders said this week that the outside scrutiny had added to the final-week complications before any play or musical opens.

Three weeks of controversy has had another side effect: Ticket sales have been brisk for the opening night, with about half sold by Tuesday morning.

...Note that one of the reasons this Concerned Clergy group is protesting the production is because the history is "too painful" to remember. Isn't that roughly the equivalent of Jewish people protesting a production of "The Diary of Anne Frank" because it deals with the Holocaust?
...Bah, censorship. Kudos to the administration for following through and running the show, though.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Yike. And notice how these groups have taken the word "concerned" from us sane people. I'm concerned too--about censorship!

 

[GrnMarvl14]

Idiotic. THIS is the type of censorship I'm against. No one HAS to go to the play, no one HAS to be in it. It addresses a real problem, and does so in a way that points out that it is, in fact, a PROBLEM. Just because people don't see the play doesn't mean they won't learn what "that" word means eventually. We don't live in a good enough world for people to never run across it. Hopefully, this is the type of thing that would help people teach their kids that "that" word is wrong.

 

[ChaosRocket]

That's ridiculous...you'd think people would be FOR a play that is sending a message AGAINST racism. Yeah that's dumb for people to act like we should just forget history because it's too painful And a play that won tony awards has no cultural value?

 

[The Big Al]

Here I thought stories like "Ragtime" were meant to remind us of those times and how people treated one another. It wasn't all flowers and bubbles people, the past can be very scary, very offensive, but it's still our history.

 

[Barb]

I find Crawford's words unbelievable. "No cultural or historical merit..." to a play written by E. L. Doctorow, considered one of the greatest living authors? I can understand his point of view regarding the fact that it's not a private acting company putting on the play, it's a public high school that gets its funds from local taxpayers (some of whom might be genuinely offended by the racial epithets), but I don't think his complaint is justified.