[Wash Times] A white theater director defended Saturday his decision to identify as black, a case that has sparked an identity-politics debate in Great Britain after he received a publicly funded grant intended for minority artists.Anthony Ekundayo Lennon, a director for the black-led Talawa Theatre Company in London, said he had "no doubt that I have some African ancestry" after coming under fire for winning an Arts Council England award meant for "theatre practitioners of colour."
"I will not allow anyone who can’t accept or understand my life to be relevant to my existence," said Mr. Lennon in an op-ed for the [U.K.] Guardian.
His critics, including some British theater figures, accused him of misappropriating a racial identity and hijacking public funds meant to support minority thespians after the [U.K.] Sunday Times broke the story Sunday.
Actress Kelechi Okafor tweeted Saturday that, "However ’black’ you might ’feel’ it is unethical and immoral to access funding that is specifically meant for actual black people," adding that "I’m shocked that people are actually entertaining this nonsense."
"The leap to claiming blackness for himself is almost breathtaking," said Paula Akban, an advocate for black women, in a Monday [U.K.] Independent column. "Not only has Lennon chosen to wear black identity like a costume, he has actively chosen to take up space and pilfer resources that were never meant for him."Mr. Lennon, 53, who changed his middle name from David, said that he began identifying as "mixed heritage" as a boy after being frequently mistaken for black.
He said he had to use an Afro comb growing up because "my mum couldn’t manage my hair." One of his brothers has similar physical traits, he said, and neighbors would "arrive on the doorstep to gawp at us."