david jary

PIERS MORGAN CORNERS a BLACK LIVES MATTER activist over a Black-only theatre night: “If I put on a whites only show, you would call it racism.” Her response? “Context.” His comeback? “Exactly! Exactly my point!” Piers Morgan: Those who are not black are asked not to buy tickets. The Theatre Royal Stratford East in London says no one's excluded from attending their new show, Tambo & Bones, but promotional material makes clear that white people aren't wanted at the production on the night in question. It says a Black Out night is a purposeful creation of an environment in which an all-black-identifying audience can experience and discuss an event in the performing arts free from the white gaze. So does this mean I can go if I identify as a black man? There'd be some on the woke side who would have trouble disagreeing with that given they believe in limitless self-identity. But more importantly, is it ever okay to exclude audiences based on skin color? What would happen, for example, if it was the other way around, if this was a whites-only audience? Well, I'm joined by the TalkTV contributor Esther Krakue and the Black Lives Matter organizer and activist, Iman Ayton. It's alright, Iman, I'm just trying to picture what would happen if I put on a theatrical production in London and said it was for whites only, or people identifying as white, which is obviously a ludicrous phrase, but you would go nuts. You would say that is blatant racism, segregation, dragged us kicking and screaming back to the dark days of appalling bigotry. You would. Iman Ayton: Well, it depends on the context, right? Piers Morgan: No, it doesn't. Whites-only audience, no black people allowed. What would you say? Iman Ayton: Well, I think you're perfectly right, it would be akin to racists finding more ways to be more racist. Piers Morgan: So why is it okay this way round? Iman Ayton: Okay, so we have to put it into context. It was one out of the 29 shows... Piers Morgan: Doesn't matter. Iman Ayton: Yes, it does. Let's put it into context, Piers. You want to forget about context, context is everything. It is one out of the 29 shows that was targeted towards black people. And at no point did they say certain people were excluded. In fact, they actually said it verbatim on their website: "no one is excluded." And yet, you have found racism. How does that work? Piers Morgan: No, no, I just read the rest of what they said. It's pretty clear you are not supposed to go if you're not black. Iman Ayton: No, please consider booking other dates. Piers Morgan: Right. Exactly. Esther Krakue: I think the context is important. I think the issue here is when it's talking about blackouts and it's trying to gather an audience of black people that they believe have the same experience, this doesn't transpose the same way it does in the US in the UK. A black person in the UK could be black African, black British, black from the Caribbean. In the US, their conversation around race is completely different, and that's why it's a problem. Obviously, when you bring this to the UK, people are going to be like, "what are you talking about?" This is especially in London, the most multicultural city in the country. Piers Morgan: Can you see any merit to it? Esther Krakue: Of course not, and I don't even think it makes sense in the American context. Iman Ayton: But why is that? If you're talking about safe spaces, because let's just be clear we're talking about safe spaces. Piers Morgan: What is a safe space? What does that mean, you wouldn't feel safe if I came along?