School begins performances of musical with racial slurs

Published March 17, 2017

Student actors at a New Jersey high school have launched performances of the musical "Ragtime" that includes scenes where they utter racial slurs.

Cherry Hill school district officials initially planned to remove instances where characters said the slur and disparaging lines that targeted various ethnic groups.

But they later decided to allow the students to perform the musical as written after their decision was met with resistance by students and community members of all races who said it would be wrong to sanitize the show.

The musical's eight-show run started Friday night at Cherry Hill High School East. Before the performance started, two of the actors told the audience that while they personally decried the use of slurs, they hoped people will focus on the show's message.

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