CBC ran a casting call for a children’s show it runs called Patty and Mamma Yamma that had some very interesting stipulations recently.
At first glance, the ad sounded inclusive – until the last paragraph in the ad, which read: “Please only submit if you match the following criteria: Male between the age of 23-35 years, any race except Caucasian.”
I’m sure the people who drafted up this rather narrow request for auditions thought that excluding white people – a race that’s traditionally seen as overrepresented – would be fair and within reason. I’m sure they thought themselves proud of what I can only imagine they construed as a judicious helping of affirmative action.
In an obvious attempt to look diverse, CBC went full-circle and deliberately excluded a race – a truly hypocritical thing to do when you want to put your best foot forward as a multicultural and fair organization.
Unfortunately, whatever they conceived of this ad to be when they drafted, reviewed, and eventually publicized it, it’s fallen short, and is nothing but a heavy-handed, botched, and offensive attempt at social and racial progressivism. It doesn’t matter who you exclude, if you’re excluding anyone, you’re not diverse. You’re in diametrical opposition to diversity if you’re excluding anyone.
If you want to foster an image of multiculturalism, you need to make sure you’re including everyone. At no point does it become acceptable to discriminate against a race in any way, no matter what history says.
CBC describes itself as a company that “(reaches) out to our partners in production to ensure that a concerted and documented effort be made … to cast actors who reflect Canada’s diversity,” according to a letter from CBC forwarded to casting agencies.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand what they’re trying to do. I understand that they, as a Canadian company want to befittingly represent Canada’s inclusive, unique, and accepting cultural climate. Alas, by the same token, I also understand how badly they’ve screwed up in the process.
The silver lining of this misguided and tragic tale of affirmative action gone wild is that eventually an agent working for CBC had the presence of mind to rescind the ad, explaining in the process that the casting call was, as a matter of fact, open to all ethnicities.
As if CBC didn’t have enough problems of its own already, with recent maneuverings by the Harper government to directly influence company and employee bargaining.
