Cherry Hill RAGTIME Censorship Debate Continues at School Board Meeting

As BroadwayWorld reported yesterday, this spring, Cherry Hill High School will perform a different kind of Ragtime- without any racist or offensive language included. The school explained in an official statement:

The Cherry Hill High School East community is approaching the production of this show from a learning disposition. Within our educational community we have been engaging in a dialogue regarding the offensive language in the show. We are indebted to the Cherry Hill African American Civic Association as well as individuals in our community for joining us in this discussion regarding the use of bigoted language in the script. After a very open and productive meeting between representatives from the East Staff and the Cherry Hill African American Civic Association, we confirmed the decision to remove offensive language from the enacted script. In addition, all students at Cherry Hill High School East will participate in learning activities stemming from Ragtime in an effort to use our history to further expose the ugliness of racism. We apologize for any negative impact that the potential inclusion of the racist language had on members of our community and we are thankful that we have educational leaders, student leaders, and community leaders with whom we can partner when concerns arise.

Since then, the National Coalition Against Censorship, Dramatists Guild and Arts Integrity Initiative responded to the Cherry Hill School Board, saying: "We urge you to reconsider this educationally harmful and legally problematic decision and allow the musical to be staged in its full integrity."

Additionally, original star of Ragtime Brian Stokes Mitchell has weighed in on the matter, saying, "To take the ugly language out of Ragtime is to sanitize it and that does it a great disservice."

Last night, a school board meeting was held to discuss the issue, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Ezar Nugel, the student who plays the character that uses the N-word in the musical, explained: "I don't say it (the N-word) happily, but I know I have to. We want to hear these words to not let history repeat itself."

On the other hand, Camden County NAACP Vice President Carey Savage argued, "You can't call me the N-word and then tell me it's art. I don't care what your rationale is. I've been through too much for that."

A decision was not made at last night's meeting, but Superintendent Joseph Meloche revealed that they contacted Music Theatre International about approving changes to the script. MTI President Drew Cohen told the Inquirer that MTI "does not typically grant permission to change the Ragtime script."