Do you find this offensive?

[Meeting]

The Theatre Royal Stratford East is putting on a show and have blocked out 2 dates as "Blackout" nights where they encourage (but I don't think plan to enforce) that only black people may attend these performances.

I saw them discussing it on Piers Morgan and neither of the guests advocating for it were able to convince me that this type of segregation was at all beneficial.

Does anybody think this is a good idea? Personally I think segregation based on skin colour has no place in society, no matter who benefits from it. But I'm interested to hear from others who might away it differently?

I'm coming across ass racist but I haven't said anything racist? How do you work that out?

I've seen the posts and I don't agree with them. I asked for opinions, which I've read. I don't agree with them and I've responded to many, I can't sit and respond to 13 pages worth of posts.

The last 3 shows I've watched have had a person of colour as the lead.

Good for you. But that's confirmation bias, not evidence.

Nope don't have an issue with it at all.

If you're interested you can delve deeper in to the reasons behind it, and white people are NOT actually banned from it.

Do you know what the play is about and if you do why would you begrudge them two nights????

I'm coming across ass racist but I haven't said anything racist? How do you work that out?

@Meeting Black people are telling you why they this kind of safe space is a positive thing for them, but you seem to begrudge that. You say you're asking for opinions but really, you're not interested in their opinions. They're telling you exactly why it's not segregation but no, you you seem to think you know better, even though it was black communities who had segregation enshrined in law and enforced on them. You just keep talking over them. But well done you for seeing 3 plays with black actors.

It is one show fgs! Plus no where did it say non black people cannot attend. The same people who on here talk about having women only spaces are outraged when minority groups do the same. More people need to educate themselves and understand that black people have been alienated from UK society for a long time and still are. No one bats an eyelid when you hear women only or LGBT only but when it is "black only" everyone goes mad. I do not think find it offensive when women, LGBT or other groups have their own shows/spaces. We hear a lot on this thread "check your privilege" for men. Which everyone agrees with. People on here really need to check their privilege when it comes to black people as well. They still suffer in the UK - more likely to die in childbirth, told to get over slavery cause it was a long time ago but no one says that about other atrocities like the Holocaust. Playing the "race card" when they have been racially abused.

I'm sorry, I didn't realise you have issues with reading comprehension. I said that POC were underrepresented in the arts. This is a fact. There have been plenty of articles, academic studies and surveys that bear this out, if you don't believe me.

I never once said there are no POC in shows.

The fact that the last 3 shows that you, one person, have chosen to see out of all the hundreds of shows available in the West End alone, does not mean there is anywhere near equal representation of people of colour in the arts sector.

It's obtuse to claim otherwise in the face of a readily available volume of evidence.

Majority of posters are being disingenuous that why. The 2 main arguments appear to be

A) White people are allowed to go
Well the whole point is that they don't want them there so

B) It's not segregation
It is. Okay some people have called it 'good' segregation but I disagree that such a thing exists.

Just because people are telling me stuff, doesn't mean I have to agree with it. I'm reading other people's points of view, like I asked for and I'm free to have my own thoughts and opinions just like everyone else.

told to get over slavery cause it was a long time ago but no one says that about other atrocities like the Holocaust.

Actually, they do.

It’s very clear that this show is aimed at a black audience so the blackout nights were not necessary. It seems to be more of a marketing ploy than anything else ‘how can we get this show in the news’ They are probably hoping white people will be outraged and will turn up in droves to make up the numbers because well meaning white women have explained on this thread that black people don’t know how to go the theatre and they must have their own nights so they feel safe. They didn’t realize that theatre tickets are available to all and they can go to see a show anytime they like. FFS. Black mumsnetters why do you put up with this patronising shit from white women? The upshot is you are too bloody thick to go the theatre and need special measures put in place so you can go and see a show. Condescending as hell. All the wonderful black actors and dancers I have seen in shows must get confused when they go to work in a theatre, they probably don’t know where they are.

I dislike racial segregation. Why, given that it made people feel excluded previously, is it making a comeback? I’ve no interest in visiting Stratford East these days, because I no longer live in London, but I’d be sad to think we were introducing a colour bar in the area where I live now. I’ve got friends of different races and skin colours and we do things together, not apart. Sub dividing ourselves into smaller and smaller silos is not the answer to anything.

I am 99.9% sure that this is actually what it's about. Someone at the theater has realized that there is a potential market that they haven't tapped and they're trying to tap that market. If it results in a wider audience being able to enjoy the theater I think that's just a side effect.

@Meeting

Some people have an excuse for everything 😂

"There's no POC in shows"
"Yes there are"
"Well they don't count"

Do you hear yourself?

Except that poster didn't say 'there's no POC in shows' did they? They said:

People of colour are hugely underrepresented in the arts, both on stage and in the audience

Which is absolutely true. Are you not aware that POC are hugely underrepresented on stage (so in theatres) and in the audience? It's pretty common knowledge tbh, not sure why you're acting as if it's an opinion rather than a fact.

Great idea

Well said @Clarabe1

Great idea!

Do you object to gay bars and clubs too?

Cough cough!
I think you’ll find not all black people agree this is a good idea and need a safe space to enjoy the theatre.
We don’t need someone to hold our hands Thankyou.

Do you object to gay bars and clubs too?

There are so many ridiculous comparisons being made on this thread. Gay bars exist because gay people are safer there due to the risk of attack. Where is the risk for a POC at a theatre performance?

@JustBeKindItsEasy I agree. It's patronising

But they’re not pitching it at people whose relatives have undergone that historic trauma, they are pitching it at people who have a particular skin colour. There is of course a strong likelihood that people who visibly have black skin are dependents of the victims of the transatlantic slave trade but it’s in no way absolute, genetics being what they are people who appear to have white skin may well have ancestors who were victims.

I don’t think I would see it as segregation if they called it a “night specifically for those people who’s ancestors were victims of the transatlantic slave trade” to allow discussion of the ongoing trauma from that event - because that would not be segregation based on colour of skin, it would be more akin to a group for victims of DV or similar that’s only open to previous victims.

the example you give about the holocaust - I would be equally concerned about a event for holocaust victims relatives being only for those who are of the Jewish race or worse the Jewish religion . This would exclude the relatives of the travellers/homosexuals/disabled who were just as much holocaust victims, and for those who have converted to Judaism they may well have no family link to the holocaust.

assuming someone’s background/family history/social upbringing (usually negatively) from the colour of their skin to me always will be racism and wrong even if it no longer fits the current definition

Gay bars also exist so that gay people can meet gay people as it’s not always obvious.

There are risks to black people in the UK - police brutality, dying childbirth etc.. Something which when they mention is not taken seriously. They are told to "stop playing the race card" "having a chip on their shoulders" Why would you deny them their place when they can talk to other people who have experienced similar things to them?