By Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
After widespread public outrage, the National Arts Centre (NAC) is backing out of a controversial plan to have an evening of theatre reserved exclusively for an “all-black” audience.
Critics accused the Ottawa theatre of discriminating based on race, which contradicts federal and provincial human rights legislation.
After limiting the event “exclusively” to an all-black audience, the federal theater has since changed the admissions, saying they now “will welcome black audiences.”
The story came to the attention of the public last week after Canadian media personality Jonathan Kay raised concerns about the race-based attendance requirement on Twitter.
“Canada’s National Arts Centre is now hosting racially segregated shows. This one is only for blacks. But I’m sure other races will get their turn,” tweeted Kay.
A Jan. 16 news release of the “Black Out Nights” event explained how the Is God Is theatre performance was exclusively available to black participants.