ITHACA, N.Y. – What started as a local issue became toxic for students when the cancellation of their spring play “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” went viral this week.
The play was canceled in January after Ithaca High School students raised concerns about diversity and inclusion. This week, students involved have received significant backlash after national news coverage prompted a flood of derogatory comments and even death threats, that have led to an increased police presence at the school.
When the cast list revealed that the role of Esmeralda, the female lead popularly portrayed by a woman of color in the Disney version of the retelling, had gone to a white student, several students banded together this winter to speak out, noting their experiences with color-blind casting in the ICSD theater program.
“I was so excited when they announced the show,” said Prachi Ruina, who initially tried out for the part. “I just thought ‘finally, there’s going to be a girl of color up there on the stage’.”
Ruina, 16, and other students at the school — Maddi Carroll, 17, Ari Cummings, 16, and Eamon Nunn-Makepeace, 14 — created a list of demands for the school district and theater department in hopes of diversifying general casting practices and creating a culture of diversity. After several meetings and community discussion, however, the school district canceled the play.
Related: Ithaca High School cancels spring play in wake of student diversity demands
In the few weeks since the cancellation, students had been hoping to work out plans for a new spring production. Instead, those plans were interrupted by national threats directed to the students after the story went viral.
Fox News picked up the article and headlined it with “High school cancels musical after white student lands lead role.” As of Thursday, there were more than 9,000 comments on the article. Other outlets, including Breitbart and The Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi and white supremacist site, have also picked up the story.
On the message board site 4Chan, the article from Fox News was posted several times, eliciting dozens of racist comments. The students’ Facebook page was shared and anonymous posters commented saying people should “dox” them, which usually refers to releasing personal information about people to harass them.
“Getting individually targeted threats not just from throughout the country, but from throughout the world, has been frightening. But with the support of people who love us, and complete strangers, we are getting through it,” the students said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
As a result of all the national attention, people began flooding the Students United Ithaca group on Facebook with one-star reviews attacking the students. Commenters are based all over the country.
A New York Times article states that the students were threatened with lynching, and other comments easily found on social media have also threatened the students with death or physical harm.
Superintendent Luvelle Brown has not responded to a request for comment. This story will be updated if he does.
At the request of the Ithaca City School District, the Ithaca Police Department has increased its presence at the high school following the influx of threats directed toward the members of Students United Ithaca, according to Public Information Officer Jamie Williamson.
“We were requested to increase our presence at the high school,” Williamson said.
He said police officers are patrolling the high school but was not able to confirm how many officers are patrolling or how long they will be there.
“I am disappointed and angry that a small group of people are personally attacking the student activists and their families on social media,” wrote Saskya van Nouhuys, Ruina’s mother. “I don’t want to reward their often racially charged comments in this letter, but the anger behind their comments, and the personal nature of their attacks, has shocked me.”
In a public post on Facebook, Howard Sherman, director of the Arts Integrity Initiative at the New School for Drama, sided with the students and said he spoke with them via Skype last week. He said the students “are a thoughtful cohort that deserves to be heard.”
“Whatever your position on the Disney Hunchback, the original Victor Hugo novel, color-conscious casting, equity in high school theatre, the portrayal of race and disability, and the many other topics encompassed here, I hope we can agree that no one should be treating high school students – frankly, fellow human beings – as trolls have opted to treat this group. I have read some of the messages sent their way, and the language is truly vile.”
Managing Editor Jolene Almendarez and Reporter Kelsey O’Connor contributed to this article.
Featured image: Ithaca police officers patrol Ithaca High School on Thursday. Provided photo.