To think Black Out nights in theatre ARE important

You are aware that this government have allowed many asylum claims from people escaping Rwanda right?

Yet also try and claim it’s a safe place to house other asylum seekers.

This.

this thread demonstrates how sensitive and knee jerk people are about racism. Imagine sitting in a room full of defensive white people over something so bonded to trauma and lived experience.

@Suziethefluffpig
"I disagree with segregation based on skin colour based on principle irrespective of whether it affects me personally"

It's not segregation because nobody is forbidden to go to an performance.

It's giving people who have a shared history to experience the show together.
There are many reasons why this is a good idea. Not least of which the fact that they won't have to educate other audience members before talking about it, or feel the need to protect the fragile feelings of others.

Because it’s not broken a law. HTH.

I don't know how it is even lawful

Where's the segregation exactly?

I can see further than the end of my nose.

This isn't segregation as anyone can go. It may be beneficial to a non white audience to experience together on a few nights.

Why is this so hard to understand? It's actually disrespectful to compare what is really just a request to actual segregation. You can go on any other night, what are you losing?

It’s not about how it affects people personally. Luckily some can see further than the end of their own nose.

It’s about how the society is run and our shared values.

I disagree with segregation based on skin colour based on principle irrespective of whether it affects me personally.

Great post @StormingNorman

No one has actually been able to articulate why they disagree with this beyond throwing lazy segregation comparisons in. What are white people losing by being ok with this?

“Those whose ancestors were sold into slavery may feel their suffering as depicted in this play on a more personal level.”

I think this was clear that SOME black people MAY need/want space to watch the play amongst people with a shared history and lived experience of the lasting effects of racism.

Nobody is enforcing segregation and nobody is barred from attending any viewings. The producers are asking audiences to give black people a moment.

I wouldn’t want to see separated performances for something like Matilda, but this play is going to hit differently for black audiences. The rest of us just need to respect that and give space for a private emotional outlet.

You will maybe understand the value of shared national identity it when it’s gone and replaced by others’ values, especially if they happen to impose on the sense of personal freedom.

Also, implying people should feel or think a certain way because they happen to have a certain level of pigmentation seems an example of imposed beliefs, doesn’t it?

@OhMyNerves That’s an interesting point and relates well to this particular play.

Why would Black Britons in 2024 identify with a play about slavery set in mid-nineteenth century Virginia? It’s unlikely that it has much relevance to their own cultural heritage unless they’re American.

As you say, surely this is an example
I don't understand the value of trying to make people identify with things that they don't identify with.

4 people from Rwanda. Doesn’t scream of war torn

so what exactly is stopping black people from going to the theatre? dont agree with this at all, just book a seat to any of the hundreds of shows on each year , it doesnt have to be black only

It's obviously good to understand the past but why do we have to take our identity from our past. Why do we even have to have an identity or 'cultural heritage'. If you want one then fine but for lots of people living now it's irrelevant. I'm busy cracking on with my life apart from my parents and grandparents anything that went on before me if too long ago to have any meaning to me. I get the legalities of belonging to a country or two as thats got legal ramifications but I don't understand the value of trying to make people identify with things that they don't identify with.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/27/revealed-uk-granted-asylum-to-rwandan-refugees-while-arguing-country-was-safe#:~:text=Revealed%3A%20UK%20granted%20asylum%20to%20Rwandan%20refugees%20while%20arguing%20country%20was%20safe,-This%20article%20is&text=Four%20Rwandans%20were%20granted%20refugee,place%20to%20send%20asylum%20seekers.

Rwanda while they are processed, not to stay permanently. Rwanda won’t have them staying centres, shipping containers because they don’t lack housing. Why is that so bad?
I am aware of the genocide but places change.

Windrush scandal? Holding asylum seekers in detention centres? Sending them to Rwanda? There are loads of other examples.

There are thousands of versions of history. More sources and records are being found all the time. People choose which one to present. Ever heard the expression "history is written by the victors"?

Inhumane? How? They get their basic needs met. We have a shortage of social housing anyway and people already living in shipping container flats.

I don’t think an achievement has to be ‘ongoing’ to be proud of it. In fact, it’s kind of impossible. Unless you want Britain to engage in a global war on slavery? No doubt this would be decried as cultural colonialism.

You claim that Britain has the worst attitudes towards refugees and immigrants in Western Europe is baseless.

For example, Denmark forcibly evicts people from abroad from their homes and moved them to other parts of the country to avoid ghettoisation, refugees also have to give all valuables to the state. France has banned all religious dress.

But even if it was true, such an attitude would still 100x better than in most non-Western countries.

I’m an immigrant but I guess lived experience matters only if it supports a certain narrative…

Of course we should be proud of our achievements. Let's just make sure those achievements are 1. Factual and 2. Ongoing

No nation should believe it's inherently better than others against the historical evidence. This a problem Britain suffers with all the time. Boris Johnson, Brexit hubris, world beating COVID tracing system that was actually worse than anyone else's.

I would love Britain to self define as a land of equality, justice, open mindedness. Instead we are clinging to "Britain ended slavery" while having the most inhumane attitudes towards immigrants and refugees in western Europe.