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[KSweeley]

Link: https://apnews.com/44f0c6da6692457e...-Festival-boots-Rachel-Dolezal-after-backlash

BALTIMORE (AP) — Organizers of the Baltimore Book Festival have disinvited Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who led others to believe she was black.

The decision by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts came days after defending its choice to have her there. Dolezal recently published a memoir, ”In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World."

The Baltimore office had justified its decision to invite Dolezal, saying the festival seeks to expand understanding of people and thinking that may be different.

But the office said in a Facebook post that after hearing opinions from its constituents, it had to consider how Dolezal's appearance would affect the audience and the other authors.

”A top priority of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts is to listen to our constituents," communications director Tracy Baskerville said in a statement.

The festival is scheduled for September. It has been held for 21 years.

 

[Slayven]

Fuck them for inviting trash in the first place.

She is an opportunist, what is there to understand?

 

[Loudninja]

Good she should have never been invited anyway.

 

[Alavard]

Well, at least they made the right decision in the end. She's a health hazard. Everyone in attendance would have been at risk of losing their eyes from rolling them so hard.

 

[ColdPizza]

This lady needs help, and not a platform from which to speak.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

Why do universities and big events keep inviting pieces of shit, liars, etc? Are they that out-of-touch with the world or willfully ignorant?

 

[Dynomutt]

Ya'll leave Rachel alone...
Go buy her album...

Spoiler

J/K. She crazy!

 

[ColdPizza]

Why do universities and big events keep inviting pieces of shit, liars, etc? Are they that out-of-touch with the world or willfully ignorant?

Because they think they're clever when they claim to be all-inclusive or wanting a broad spectrum of opinions. They gave zero thought to the side show and distraction they were creating when they invited her, which really is a disservice to the other authors and people in attendance.

 

[Monocle]

How dare they keep a strong black* woman down!

Spoiler

* some creative interpretation required

Ya'll leave Rachel alone...
Go buy her album...

Spoiler

J/K. She crazy!

Man, Cipher's sister has seen some rough times.

 

[Escape Goat]

Anythings possible if you sound Caucasian on the phone.

 

[Monocle]

Anythings possible if you sound Caucasian on the phone.

This is so true.

They should print that on the dollar bill.

 

[KSweeley]

It was an online petition in part that caused BOPA to rescind their invitation of Dolezal: http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bs-fe-bookfest-dolezal-20170530-story.html

The Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, which organizes the festival, announced Dolezal's removal from the lineup in an unsigned statement.

Dolezal had been slated to read from her autobiography, ”In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World," at the September festival.

”A top priority of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts is to listen to our constituents," the statement said, ”and after hearing from a cross-section of opinions on having Rachel Dolezal participate in this year's festival, we had to consider how her appearance may affect both the audience and the other extraordinary authors we have planned for the Baltimore Book Festival. For that reason, we believe it would be appropriate to remove Ms. Dolezal from the festival line up."

It's unusual for the Book Festival, which has presented more than 3,000 authors over two decades, to court controversy. Now in its 22nd year, the festival has a reputation as a family affair in which presentations by a sprinkling of national authors and a larger slate of local ones are interspersed with cooking demonstrations and encounters with adoptable pets.

When it was announced that Dolezal would be a presenting author for the 2017 festival held on Sept. 22-24, it touched off an immediate response. An online petition that garnered more than 100 signatures urged BOPA to rescind the invitation, which some saw as racially insensitive.

Kimberly Mooney, a Baltimore resident and middle-school Spanish teacher, started the online petition because she thought that inviting Dolezal to speak ignored Baltimore's recent history of racial strife.

”I saw it as a bad publicity stunt that was really hurtful to a community that has already suffered enough," she said.

She was elated at the organization's decision.

”I think it's wonderful that they listened to the community and made the right decision," said Mooney, who is white. ”Unfortunately, they didn't have the foresight to realize that it was a poor decision in the first place, but I'm glad they changed course."

Karsonya Wise Whitehead, an author who has appeared previously at the Baltimore Book Festival, thinks the annual celebration is the wrong platform for presenting writers who tackle hot-button topics. Whitehead would have supported Dolezal's appearance on a college campus with its typical freewheeling give-and-take. But she said that by making Dolezal one of its featured authors, the Book Festival appeared to be endorsing her views.

”The Baltimore Book Festival has a very hometown feeling to it," said Whitehead, who is black. ”But she is not one of us. She is someone who has mocked black culture and who has cashed in on it and misrepresented it. And still, she has a book deal and she has teaching offers and she still is front-page news. That is what I find most disturbing."

 

[Herr Schwarz]

Books piss me off.

 

[Jackpot]

It's really not worth using bold if you do it to the entire article. And bold + underline is even less readable.