Yes, it does. They just replaced Brittain Ashford, who originated the role of Sonya in “Great Comet” from the very first production off-off-Broadway, with Ingrid Michaelson for three weeks to boost box office. (I believe Ms. Ashford will go back in the show after IM leaves) Sting went in to play a role in his…

There was a 25% drop in ticket sales after he was put in the role.

That’s bullshit and you know it. 42% of white women didn’t vote for Trump, so that’s an excuse for lumping them in with “wypipo?” Millions of people like myself went out to vote against Trump, while black voting was down compared to the Obama years, and yet “white allies” is the worst thing The Root can think of?…

OK but my point is that it would have also been disrespectful to a white actor so why are we even talking about race?

‘Do you not understand how the entertainment industry works and how actors of color are constantly looked over for white actors?’

I don’t think 1) is a fair assumption to make. In fact, I think it’s wrong at face value.

Every time a black dude gets canned its not because of racism. Sorry.

Well, I guess if your goal is simply to employ black people then thats one thing but if youre in it to make money then those types of decisions will have to be made sometimes.

So this is the new normal now - once a role has been cast with a POC, it can never be played again by a white actor, even though the character is clearly white, as part of a 19th century russian play? This is no longer about equality, this is simply bullying others to stake a wider claim. This is how an internet mob…

Having relatively unknown actors doesn’t make financial sense, if your play was relying on big names drawing people in.

I’m having a lot of trouble getting fussed about a (relatively unknown) black actor being replaced by a (relatively well-known) white actor for a role that he held for only a handful of weeks that was previously played by Josh Groban (and other white dudes) in a play set in 1800s Moscow high society.

Cities only have the right to exist based on grants from the state, so that’s why it is easy for a state to just erase a local law. When it comes to State vs federal, it’s a lot more complicated and the states have a lot more room to push back on the Feds (see also: the travel ban case — it was state AGs that led that…

Only pig headed and self righteous morons would seek to demean and defund what is probably one of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in their state just for political gain.

They’re both doing other things. They’re just also doing this, and this isn’t as shitty as you think it is.

American Horror Story: The Purge

It’s a 100% accurate documentary about the 2016 election and aftermath. True American Horror.

Didn’t say it was special treatment, just different response. All whites are devilized in the media these days, in an effort to encourage, doubt, and self loathing / hate. I have never heard a black person say “I hate black people / black people are terrible” but I hear that kind of self hate from white people more…

Not being shot by the cops isn’t some kind of unearned privilege that needs to be taken away from white people. It’s a human right. What is the point of this?

Just a subnote re: 4 - while black people do get proportionally shot way more often than white people, and it’s impossible to believe that it’s just a year-after-year random blip in the data, it’s still true that white people do get shot and killed more often than any other group.

We need to rethink criminal justice in general in this country. Everything is based on this weird punitive notion that does little to better society. The idea of locking up massive portions of the population actually excites some people. They like to hear about criminals being raped in prison. They like to hear about…