From left: Alexis J. Roston as Nina Simone; Matthew Harris as Sam (at the piano) and Brittney Mack as Sweet Thing in KCRep’s 2024 production of “Nina Simone: Four Women” (photo by Don Ipock)
In KC, government-funded performing arts organizations are committed to, but reluctant to discuss DEI
The Trump Administration’s war on diversity, equity and inclusion extends all the way to local arts organizations, many of whom are now having to do their work with less money after draconian cuts to federal arts funding.
Boiled down to its essence, DEI is all about giving historically disadvantaged and under-represented ethnic and cultural groups — including African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, Asians, women, immigrants, gays and trans citizens — a fair shake when it comes to career opportunities.
President Joe Biden, on his first day in office, signed Executive Order 13985 with an explicit goal: “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.” The order “established that affirmatively advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity is the responsibility of the whole of our government.”
Biden’s plan recognized that the federal government was the country’s largest employer and “must be a model for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, where all employees are treated with dignity and respect.”
Flash forward four years. Trump and his team quickly signaled early in his second administration that the concepts of diversity and equal opportunity had been consigned to the dustbin. Throughout the federal government, including the military, the message was pretty clear — Trump wanted a government led and represented primarily by white males.
And although much of the rhetoric coming out of Washington has characterized DEI as a cultural threat undermining America’s so-called Anglo-Saxon heritage, the concept is hardly new.
Writing for Forbes in late 2024, Julie Katz broke down DEI’s history, beginning with the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964, which “made discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin illegal in employment…”
“(M)ost DEI supporters cite the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 as the first step leading to the modern DEI industry.”
Katz pointed out that in the ’60s, efforts to create a level playing field for minorities were “primarily focused on race.” But in the 1970s, after the rise of the feminist movement, the vision was expanded to encompass gender. In the following decade the focus expanded yet again “to embrace a broader spectrum of diversity” encompassing more groups, including ethnic, religious and LGBTQ communities. Eventually the concept was represented by groups such as the MeToo movement and Black Lives Matter.
But here’s the thing — the arts, like professional sports, had embraced DEI for decades before Trump hit his panic button and began appealing directly to the most intolerant segments of society.
Kansas City’s performing arts organizations have played a central role in the push for greater diversity and inclusion. Following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis in 2020, statements began appearing on the website of some area arts organizations.
“Since mid-2020, KCRep has engaged in a deliberate, strategic and heart-expanding process of educating and involving our board and staff in the important work of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Anti-Racism (IDEA),” read a message on KC Rep’s website. The posting concluded with this: “We are committed to being part of the solution that advances equity and creates a more inclusive KCRep and American Theatre, and we invite you all to join us in this on-going evolution.”
“The Lyric Opera of Kansas City is a Company that celebrates diversity to foster a positive, flexible, engaging work environment, a place where building relationships and empowering colleagues is encouraged,” read a message on the opera company’s website.
And the Kansas City Ballet offered this: “Kansas City Ballet believes in the right for all to experience full equity and inclusion, regardless of race. Our hearts are deeply saddened by the losses across our country and the pain we have all witnessed. We stand united with hope for better, more just and equitable days ahead.”
Yet, when interview requests were submitted for this article, the leadership of those performing arts companies declined comment. So did Khalia Davis, the new artistic director of the Coterie, even though she is among six leaders who formed an advisory board within New York-based TYA/USA, a national nonprofit founded in 1965 committed to denouncing violence and racism toward communities of color.
You have to look to organizations that receive no NEA money to find leaders willing to speak on the record.
To date Kansas City has two respected theaters of color: The Black Repertory Theater of Kansas City, founded by actor/director Damron Armstrong, and the Melting Pot Theatre, co-founded by Harvey and Linda Williams after Harvey decided that forming a theater company was the only way to get his plays produced. Other theaters can point to histories of hiring artists of color and producing ethnic material.
Kansas City Actors Theatre made history in 2020 when it chose to redefine itself. In a public mea culpa that was updated the following year, the respected theater company declared itself in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and committing to bringing in artists of color to join the organization.
KCAT has done what it promised to do, adding diverse members to the board of directors, the artistic ensemble and committees that collectively chart the company’s path forward.
“We do four shows a year and make a point of having one of those shows written by someone of color,” said John Rensenhouse, KCAT’s artistic chair. “We don’t receive any sort of national grants so we have no reason to be pulling back from our DEI commitment.”
Rensenhouse is up-front about how KCAT’s leadership wanted to change its profile — shifting from a virtually all-white theater catering to a white audience to a company dedicated to diversity. For years, the only African American actor KCAT audiences saw was Walter Coppage, one of the company’s founders. Coppage is still part of the theater, but now the artistic ensemble also includes actor Chioma Anyanwu, actor/directors Teisha Bankston and Nedra Dixon and director/stage manager Ari Hernandez and actor/projections designer Jerry Manan.
Ernie Nolan, now in his first full season as the Unicorn Theatre’s artistic director, said the company no longer applies directly for National Endowment for the Arts grants.
“Theater has always been a home for outsiders,” Nolan said. “And the stories that theaters have gravitated to are stories about outsiders. Back to the Greeks, theater has always been a place for various voices to arise.”
According to Nolan, the Unicorn has a commitment to and a history of commitment to diversity.
“Inclusivity is in the DNA of our organization,” he said. “People come to the Unicorn for new work, the diverse programming and the diverse people on stage.”
Theatre for Young America, founded in 1974 by Gene and Sheryl Mackey, is based in Union Station after a rather nomadic existence through the decades. Virtually from the beginning, the company has been dedicated to diversity and color-blind casting.
“Theater has a little more freedom in ideas about casting and how a play might be done,” Gene Mackey said.
Artistic director Valerie Mackey, the founders’ daughter, said complaints about color-blind casting have been part of the company’s reality for years. She said the company caught flak when Angela Wildflower, an African American artist, played Goldilocks.
“It’s been around since I was a kid,” Valerie said. “It was not something I had to think about because it was part of what we did. It didn’t matter what skin color they had. What I love is what I see in young people. They accept (color-blind) casting so readily. They don’t even think about it. They just accept it.”
Gene Mackey said, “Young people have grown with the times and are comfortable in inclusion.”
Inclusion is the lens through which the Mackeys view some politicians’ intolerance of diversity.
“I think the arts are one of the most powerful weapons we have and that is why Trump is diving into it so much,” Valerie Mackey said. “He has a healthy fear of what the arts can do. We’re all drawn to great storytellers that shine a light on our humanity, and he sees that. I think it’s all fear-based.”
