Let’s Not Build Walls Around Art

I’m hoping this is not read as insensitive because I don’t mean it to be. I heard the story recently of some folks in a community arts organization who thought it a bad idea to do a production of a show that is usually predominantly cast with African American actors, because the group has few African American actors trying out. The opponents of doing the show cited “cultural appropriation.” This is not one of those shows where the plot demands that the characters have to be one race or another, as some shows are written, for example, Hairspray. It’s just an awesome show that’s a lot of fun that I have seen community groups do very well. My hope would be that doing a show like this would open doors to greater diversity, etc.

I guess I just don’t want to build walls around art. My belief is a primary strength of the arts is the ability to cross all of our manmade borders and bring us together. The arts allow us to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes and create bridges to understanding. While certain genres have at times been attributed to certain cultures and ethnicities, great art is great art. Why not let it do what it was designed to do? We have enough walls, let’s open a few doors.