Michael Jackson Dancers Banned From School

WE all react in our way to news of Michael Jackson’s death. And Kent’s Motley “Border” Morris Men have blackened their faces with burnt corks and make ready to make merry.

But the Morris Men are not welcome at Chantry Primary School in Gravesend.

Says head teacher Hazel King:

“We organised the event to bring a diverse and fragile community together. To celebrate all cultures we booked a Morris troupe, having failed to recognise the possible significance for our community of their tradition to perform with blackened faces. We found ourselves in a difficult position of weighing up any potential offence versus not wishing to compromise the Morris dancers’ tradition.”

For shame that so many years after the Windrush generation settled on Blighty’s lapping shores, and in Obama’s post-racial world, we can still see this prejudice against a black face.

The Motley Morris Men’s Squire, Pete Hargreaves, is disappointed:

“It is the third event this year that we have had cancelled. We get to the point where everything is set up and then they suddenly realise that we are a black-face Border group. They say people might be offended without investigating why we dance with black faces.”

So much for multi-culturalism…

Anorak

Posted: 30th, June 2009 | In: Strange But True Comments (3) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink