morris dancers barred from school

[groomporter]

A troupe of morris dancers were prevented from performing at a school because of their tradition to blacken their faces as a disguise from evil spirits.

http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/110800

[Welsh Wench]

Spokesman Simon Ford said it best--

'We weren't too impressed by it. They said it was supposed to be a cultural evening but they hadn't even bothered to find out why it is we have blackened faces. They're obviously afraid of upsetting someone.'

I think that people are way too sensitive in things. 'Politically correct' is taken too far sometimes.

The kids lost out on a wonderful experience and that is a shame.

I still want to see this movie--
http://www.morrismovie.com/

[Anna Iram]

Well, most often, if everyone keeps their heads, good things can come from adverse situations. The controversy alone has brought media attention and more cultural awareness to an area that obviously needs it. So in a way the troupe was able to add to the event, though not in the way they might have envisioned. The school headteacher seems to be in a tough spot and I think has good intentions.  I don't know the precise demographics, but if it's a troubled area with hotheads looking for the chance to take offense she might have reason to tread lightly. Hopefully this, and other communities will learn from this. Hopefully too, this school will reconsider and perhaps educate the audience to understand the presentation better in advance of their performance.

[Welsh Wench]

Shall we ban French mimes because they paint their faces white?

Shall we stop showing movies where the Picts paint their faces blue before warfare to keep from offending advocates of Smurfs?

Shall we scrap the showing of Gone With the Wind on TCM because of the depiction of the demeanor and dialect of the house slaves?

Shall we never show The Jazz Singer with Al Jolson--the first talkie--because he performs in blackface and sings Mammy?

For Pete's sake, it was an elementary school! What a wonderful opportunity to tell the children the history of Morris dancing.
But no, PC had to take precedent over education.

The teacher was sorry she 'inconvenienced' the dancers...who no doubt had slotted that time for the children.

But in the end, the children were the ones who lost.

[Just Randall]

No, we should ban mimes because they are evil and creepy. And French.

[RSLeask]

But no, PC had to take precedent over education.

The teacher was sorry she 'inconvenienced' the dancers...who no doubt had slotted that time for the children.

But in the end, the children were the ones who lost.

This is the part that kills me.  Quite obviously from the head teacher's words, the school itself was disappointed at having to cancel the troupe's performance, probably because some kid's parents got their panties in twist about it and complained.  And who knows, maybe it wasn't even any of the schoolkids' parents, might even just have been some local yokel who couldn't stand the thought of it.  Either way, the creeping up of the biggest oxymoron of them all is going to be disastrous.  The trend keeps up, we'll be walking around in the same clothes, talking like we belonged in San Angeles (if you don't immediately get that reference, look up Demolition Man).

[Joyce "Delfinia DuSwallow" Howard]

This is so . . . 

[Lady Nicolette]

I think they missed out on an opportunity to truly educate...About the history and also about why people might be offended if they didn't understand the significance. 

[Anna Iram]

Agreed Nicki.

[mpullen]

Shall we ban French mimes because they paint their faces white?

Shall we stop showing movies where the Picts paint their faces blue before warfare to keep from offending advocates of Smurfs?

Shall we scrap the showing of Gone With the Wind on TCM because of the depiction of the demeanor and dialect of the house slaves?

Shall we never show The Jazz Singer with Al Jolson--the first talkie--because he performs in blackface and sings Mammy?

For Pete's sake, it was an elementary school! What a wonderful opportunity to tell the children the history of Morris dancing.
But no, PC had to take precedent over education.

The teacher was sorry she 'inconvenienced' the dancers...who no doubt had slotted that time for the children.

But in the end, the children were the ones who lost.

And also ban showing "The Song of the South". Oops, too late. One of the Disney movies from my youth that is no longer PC.

[Lady Nicolette]

This all made me think of when I got one of my favorite all-time books from when I was a child for my son...Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories."  Due to the time period he was from, he used a certain word that I find particularly repugnant on occasion in the book.  I didn't even remember that word being used in there from my childhood, I just remembered the phrases about the "green-grey greasy Limpopo River," and the way that the narrator would describe how the leopard got it's spots, or how the rhino got it's skin to "dearly beloved,"  and his really fascinating pen and ink sketches that accompanied the stories.  

But when I read it aloud to Aeron (since he wasn't reading yet, but was an avid listener to tales), I came across this word and rather than censoring it, I said it and then explained that in Kipling's time, it was in common useage.  I didn't know if he was a racist or not from his useage, just that that's the way it was then and he was writing from his experiences and from his place in time.  And that since then and now, that was a word that was not to be used, because of what it meant and how it was meant.  I used it to teach how to be more accepting of others instead of pretending that it didn't happen.  Knowledge is power.