A January theatre production out of Newton North High School has landed the school district under federal investigation by the Department of Education after the company barred white students from auditioning.
The Massachusetts school’s Theater Ink program put on a show titled ‘Lost and Found: Our Stories as People of Color,’ which according to the show’s audition packet acted as ‘a reserved safe space for this exploration and for people of color to be vulnerable and support one another.’
At the time of auditions last fall, the student director posted a video to the company’s website declaring that ‘All BIPOC [Black, indigenous and people of color] students at North are invited to audition.’
It was at that point that the grassroots national movement Parents Defending Education got involved and filed a complaint with the federal government that the school districted discriminated against students on the basis of race.