A conservative parent group in Massachusetts has accused a high school of barring students from joining a play about people of colour.
The US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights is investigating claims made by Parents Defending Education in October 2022, Fox News Digital reported.
They alleged white teens at Newton North High School were discriminated against and deterred from participating in the play “Lost and Found: Our Stories as People of Color,” which was open for BIPOC (Black, indigenous and people of colour) students.
“... the application to register for an audition slot requests a headshot (“You can take a selfie with a phone if you choose”), which appears to reinforce the identity-based nature of this event; furthermore, it asks students how they “identify racially/ethnically,’” the group wrote in its website.
But the school denied the allegations in a statement to Fox, saying that while BIPOC students were especially encouraged to take part in the production of the play, white students were not banned.
“While centered in the stories of the lives of our students of color, no one is turned away or excluded from participating or having a role in the ‘Lost and Found’ production of Theater Ink,” a spokesperson for the school said.
“The Newton Public Schools do not exclude students based upon color, race, ethnicity or religious background.”
