Arts & Science Council Receives Backlash After Apologizing For Funding 'White, Western Eurocentric Organizations'

An arts advocacy group in Charlotte, North Carolina, is facing backlash after it apologized for funding 'white, Western Eurocentric organizations', The Daily Mail reports.

The Arts & Science Council issued the apology in February after its report examined funding for these organizations, including the city's symphony, ballet and children's theater.

The report said black- and minority-focused groups have historically received far less funding from ASC than 'white' organizations.

"ASC has been complicit in upholding funding practices that elevate certain cultures, creative traditions, identities and art forms above others," it read.

The report drew outrage from leaders at the organizations mentioned, who said it perpetuated the stereotype that certain art forms are only for certain people. The report did not acknowledge that people of color do participate in these groups.

Acting president of the Charlotte group, Krista Terrell, wrote a blog post last week entitled 'The Uncomfortable Truth'.

'While I knew the facts in the report were startling, I never thought I would experience so intimately the uncomfortableness, the defensiveness, and the scaredness of white people reacting to the unvarnished truth,' Terrell wrote.

Terrell also spoke out against those who criticized the report's findings, saying that the backlash was 'solely from white cultural leaders'.

Charlotte Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors Mike Rutledge wrote to the Observer, applauding the Council's "deep commitment to cultural equity."

"However, I worry that their labeling of the Charlotte Symphony as a 'white, Western Eurocentric organization' in their Cultural Equity Report could undermine that goal by perpetuating the stereotype that orchestral music is only created by, and for, certain people,'" he said.

Terrell concluded her blog post with, "There is great fear with change and the truth, especially playing out in the public realm. As a Black woman leading a legacy organization, I know I am seen as the manifestation of that fear."

Read more on The Daily Mail.

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