England once again is a world leader—this time in pushing the woke diversity agenda to absurd heights. In the name of diversity, the English Touring Opera has just let go almost half of its orchestra members because they are white.
According to its website, the English Touring Opera (ETO) since 1979 has been producing “outstanding live productions and impactful education and community projects to more towns and cities than any other UK opera company. At the heart of our ethos is making exceptional artistic experiences available and accessible to everyone.”
Well, maybe not available to everyone; at least not if you are a white person working in ETO’s orchestra. ETO sent letters to almost half of its orchestra members—all of whom are white—telling them that their contacts will not be renewed because of the opera’s commitment to diversity. In the letter sent to the terminated members and published in the English Daily Mail, ETO’s director said:
“I am writing to advise you that English Touring Opera is going through some significant changes over the next few seasons…It does seem likely that ETO will not be in a position to offer you a freelance engagement in the Spring 2022 season, even if we would like to leave the door open for freelance engagements in the future…English Touring Opera is committed to increasing all kinds of diversity in its team, and while there have been appreciable, steady advances on stage in this area, we have prioritised increased diversity in the orchestra.” (Emphasis added.)
Besides being White, all the terminated musicians were between the ages of 40 to 66. Some had been with ETO for twenty years.
What must be noted is that ETO was terminating these musicians not because they had performed poorly. Not because they had engaged in racist or other immoral conduct. Not even because ETO itself had engaged in discriminatory hiring practices. But rather solely because the affected musicians are white.
The English Musicians Union (MU) was quick to attack this blatantly racist action of ETO. In a statement entitled “MU Appalled to Hear About English Touring Opera’s Recent Action”, the union was quite blunt: “While the MU lauds efforts to increase diversity in the workplace, this should be achieved fairly and legitimately, not by ‘sacking’ half an orchestra.” The union then noted the high caliber and loyalty of ETO orchestra members:
“The ETO orchestra have earned praise in the press year after year with some of the players (including those who have not been booked [fired]) being mentioned personally for the high standard of their playing. Despite being a freelance orchestra with no security of work, the orchestra have been loyal to the company and to each other as a collective.”
The Musicians Union then predicted that this racist action will end up backfiring on its promoters: “The MU strongly believes this decision is absolutely not about diversity and will set back diversity and inclusion agendas throughout the orchestral sector. Sacking half of the players works against creating an inclusive environment for more diverse musicians.”
The statement concluded in strong terms:
“If ETO are really serious about recruiting a more diverse workforce, then their focus should be on creating an orchestra where musicians are valued, respected and encouraged to fully participate. Sacking half the workforce under the guise of ‘improving diversity’ is insincere and bad practice.”
Once again the woke warriors of the Left are pushing a racist agenda in the name of “diversity.” This time, however, they are not even trying to hide what they are doing. When it comes to the woke, personal character and competence do not matter; all that counts is your group identity. The Left believes that when it comes to hiring, promoting, getting government contracts, or being accepted into universities, the only things that should be taken into account are your race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.; your actual qualifications are beside the point.
It is time for all people in all countries to come together to fight discrimination like that carried out by the English Touring Company and to demand that individual merit, not group membership, should be the determinant of success. Anything less will merely empower the radical left to continue its path of division and destruction and perpetuate the group-based discrimination we have been fighting since the ink dried on Marx and Engels’ ‘Manifesto’.