The diversity of music traditions and performances at the 2017 National Folk Festival was a feast for the ears and spirit. The three-day event brought strangers together in shared enjoyment, and hopefully, recognition of how enriching and indispensable the arts are to our community.
However, I couldn’t help but notice that the same diversity in the musical lineup and cultural performances wasn’t nearly as evident in the crowds. Though many African-Americans and members of Greensboro’s international community attended, the festival seemed to draw a predominantly white — mostly middle- and upper-class — or student crowd. The adjacent community of east Greensboro seemed remarkably under-represented despite the festival’s free entry and the availability of free public transportation. What a shame that those who are most often deprived of access to the arts for some reason either choose not to attend or do not feel welcome.
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Unfortunately, this marked disjuncture is the norm for many of Greensboro’s social and cultural events. It reveals the persistence of historically segregated communities and our willingness to accept this divide. At multicultural forums like the festival, it does seem fitting to ask why self-selecting audiences continue to fill the crowd and what, if anything, we might do to change this.
While the festival did a great job at citywide advertising, including a thorough edition of Go Triad and a conspicuous downtown banner, this was clearly not enough. The demographically homogeneous audience demonstrates the need for targeted advertising that appeals to and reaches the distinct populations that make up Greensboro’s diverse community.
Now that Greensboro has taken the reins of subsequent festivals, we have the opportunity to jump-start socially engaged marketing strategies that recognize the ways access is distinctly understood by different populations.
In future festivals, it would be ideal to have canvassing in working-class neighborhoods or publicity taken directly to specific churches reflecting the different communities that were under-represented during the previous three years. Public schools should send flyers home to parents, and teachers should work to link these types of community events with the classroom.
But we all play a role in dismantling the inherited assumption that one just doesn’t belong in certain spaces or at certain venues. Simple choices reinforce default patterns. I can’t be the only one who notices that the farmer’s market is one of the rare occasions when white people venture into mostly black east Greensboro. When my mother and I go to theater events at N.C. A&T, we are almost always the only white folks present, and the expressed appreciation by other members of the audience, the ushers, staff and families for simply having shown up is almost embarrassing. I wonder what holds others back?
A healthy city is one in which all its populations participate — and not in separate spheres. Not everyone in our community will have the same interests, but let’s at least be sure that interest is what’s truly holding people back.
Discovering ways to proactively and creatively harness opportunities to make each other feel, not just be, welcome at public events invigorates and affirms the entire community. Our willingness to make such efforts reflects the true margins of our commitment to creating a culturally, ethnically and economically inclusive city. Individually and collectively, we could use some affirmative action these days.
