Ministers Intensify Calls For School Play's Cancellation

Editor's Note: An updated story is available here.

INDIANAPOLIS -- A ministers' group has again called for the cancellation of a school play that uses a racially sensitive word, this time holding a news conference with a state representative outside the Perry Township school administration building.

Concerned Clergy Inc. and state Rep. Bill Crawford, D-Indianapolis, said Monday that Perry Meridian High School's upcoming production of "Ragtime" should be canned because the play's dialogue uses the "N-word" nine times.

"There are still those that believe they know what is best for us -- that we cannot define ourselves, that we cannot define our culture and our history," said Crawford, who is black. "They keep telling us, 'Get over it.'

"I will suggest to you that the N-word is not getting over it. It is a hateful, hateful, painful, sorrowful, violent word that has no place in public education."

Superintendent H. Douglas Williams said earlier this month that the play -- scheduled for this Thursday, Saturday and Sunday -- is an important teaching tool against racism, and that the community can handle the word in the context of the play.

Williams, who is white, does not intend to cancel the play, district spokeswoman Karen Cantou said Monday.

"I spoke with the superintendent this morning, and he feels this is a positive thing that we are doing. He doesn't feel that it is negative," Cantou said.

Earlier this year, Concerned Clergy wrote a letter to the school, asking for a cancellation in the name of "human decency." On Feb. 7, Perry Township school board member Rubie Alexander, who is black, told 6News that she also was opposed to the play because of its use of the N-word.

Two of the teen actors in the play -- one who is white and one who is black -- told 6News on Feb. 7 that they believe the play is a history lesson that should be seen.

At Monday's press conference, Concerned Clergy's Margie Oakley said the group first sought a compromise before asking for a cancellation.

"In the beginning, all that was asked that they change the word from the N-word to Negro, and they said no," said Oakley, who is black.