No Whites/Asians Need Apply

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In a brazen attempt by an American orchestra to expunge classical music’s history of racism, NRO explains how the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s (BPO) is using the tool of racism to combat racism.

David Thomas, the pen name of a current conductor working with professional and semi-professional orchestras on the East Coast, gives an egregious example from the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO):

Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s recently announced posting for a “Conductor Diversity Fellow,” a position whose responsibilities — if one reads the job description carefully — are virtually identical to those of an assistant conductor in peer orchestras, but for one key difference: that the posting explicitly solicits applications onlyfrom those who “self-identify as members of historically underrepresented groups in American orchestras, including but not limited to African-American, Hispanic, Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander descent.”

Two major races are conspicuously left off that list of “underrepresented groups,” and the subtext is clear: No whites or Asians need apply.

The BPO might be the first to clearly contravene federal equal-employment-opportunity rules, reports Mr. Thomas. The rules Mr. Thomas is referring to state: “no job posting can discourage an applicant to apply because of his or her race.”

White Elitists Feeling Better about Themselves

But without any apparent backlash forthcoming from orchestra members, board members, or audiences, this is unlikely to be the last.

Whites Historically Underrepresented in R&B

One NRO reader brings up this offensive thought:

Whites have been the victims of systemic reverse racism, especially in the 60s and 70s.

Motown, the American label company founded by Barry Gordy, Jr., instead of giving recording contracts to Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye, should have given recording contracts to “Muskrat Love” Captain & Tenille.

That would have accomplished two things: brought to the masses (1) racial justice and (2) a lot of bad music.