Shame, shame, shame on the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. To remove Lassiter and Walton choruses from the ASO's joint holiday performance because they lack minorities is an embarrassment. Why should these groups of young people, who have no influence on the racial makeup of their neighborhoods, be punished?

If the ASO had any real integrity, then it would have made room for Lassiter, Walton, AND Grady High Schools to perform.

And let's be clear, the ASO has not improved "racial diversity" in this city or this state by removing teenage chorus groups from performing. If the ASO believes their decision reflects "good" work, then they've allowed their egos to get bigger than their brains.

But what the ASO has done is made it very simple for me to spend my time and money supporting organizations that genuinely promote inclusion, community, and the arts. That's not at the ASO.

This is incredibly unbelieveable to me. Since when is it ok to discriminate against color/race - regardless of what it is??!! I think this is shameful and they should not be allowed to do this. What would happen if a dominately black high school was told that they could not participate because they are not diverse enough?? It is no different.

I am shocked at the racism displayed by the ASO here. If this is how they run things, by appearances and skin color instead of by merit, then I will no longer be a supporter of the ASO or the Atlanta Youth Symphony. To discriminate against young people on the basis of their skin color is despicable.

My daughter sings in the Walton High Chorus, and we were so looking forward to the concert again this year. When she told me they were not allowed to sing, I was floored!! I thought she was kidding, but no! Unfortunately, we will no longer be able to support the ASO.

Merit being , does the student have talent, can they sing?
I am trying to find a photograph of the ASO to see what the racial balance is of those sitting in the chairs. If you have a recent photo please post it for us all to see.
I can only assume also tryouts are open to any and all who would like to be a part of the chorus? I think Shelleys comment is worth rereading.

Whoa.....is this not reverse racial discrimination????? Why is this being allowed???? My child is not in chorus and does in fact attend a totally racially diverse East Cobb High School, but if she were attending Walton or Lassiter and wanted to sing, I'd be singing REAL loud right now myself.

Just another example of liberal racism. Somehow I'm not surprised coming out of a city that sponsored the APS test cheating scandal. Mayor Reed must be so proud. Wasn't Atlanta once called the 'City to Busy to Hate'? To busy to hate unless you are from a predominantly white suburb with a merit based program. So much for a post-racial America...

How shocking! How unfair to the students who have actually earned their position in the chorus. You guys should be ashamed of yourselves for this decision. Think again!!!!

You could make the arguement that Grady is not diverse enough either, i.e. not enough caucasians. If any random organization int he USA were to ban an "all black" group from performing somewhere on the same premise (not enough of a certain race represented), you bet your life all the "reverends" (Sharpton, Jackson, et.al.) would be on CNN and BET screaming as loud as they could. What the ASO has done has put themselves at the front of a racial discrimination lawsuit. Are you proud of yourselves now, ASO?

When are we going to stop this focus on race and qualify pariticpation on merit? If ASO thinks this benefits minorities they are incredibly misguided. Grady HS should be insulted to be given this opportunity over another chorus because of their racial makeup. ASO is saying that Grady's kids' talent alone is not enough. Ability should be all that matters.

" Merit - based " must be a new code word for racism.

This is disgusting. The ASO should be ashamed of themselves. I guess I won't be supporting them unless they back down from this. If they have the talent to perform, it should not matter about diversity.

As I said in the FB comment section, I believe the choruses, if filled with beautiful voices, should be allowed to perform with the ASO. That should be the ONLY criteria.

How sad for these kids. All they want is for people to hear the the beautiful music that they can create as a group. I would ask the deciding members of the ASO to close their eyes and listen to the sound being generated by these two choruses. Then I would ask them to tell me how many Asian voices they heard. This is the worse case of discrimination I have seen in a while.

I don't see diversity when I look at the photos of the ASO. So who are they to say the Walton and Lassiter groups aren't diverse enough? Neither is the ASO. Check the photos of the conductors and musicians...
http://www.atlantasymphony.org/About/ConductorsAndMusicians.aspx#.01 Conductors

Shameful! How can a school or a program control voluntary participation?

So the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra chooses to use an Atlanta high school over a mix of two East Cobb high schools because they thought it more represented Atlanta, and you folks are outraged? This article was written in a biased, inflammatory way and you guys drank the Kool-Aid! Congrats!

Since when does talent have anything to do with diversity? This is horrible.

ASO doesn't seem to be "diverse enough" either. Perhaps they should not play, or be replaced with an orchestra that is "diverse enough". Question: Exactly what are the specifications for a group to be considered "diverse enough"??

I don't know why everyone is surprised by this. ASO is another liberal organization, run by liberals, catering to liberals, bending over backward to assure other liberals they aren't racist. I looked at all the ASO pictures. There are two - TWO!!! - blacks in the whole ASO... A trombone player and a librarian. There are a number of Orientials, but I guess they don't count. Walton & Lassiter have a make-up commensurate with their demography. Perhaps more bussing is the answer. Wouldn't that be delightful??? Unless we stop looking at the color of someone's skin this WILL NOT CHANGE. To hell with ASO. I'll never attend another performance again.

More dbags to boycott. If they'd just keep quiet, I'd never know....

As a former East Cobb resident and a person of color/mixed races now living in Canada, I am appalled by the gall of the ASO to deny these two choirs to participate because they "lack racial diversity". The pot calling the kettle black. . . I counted 8 people who could be classified as "minorities" among the ASO's musicians.

I am a graduate and former chorus member of Lassiter High School, class of '02. I can't speak to the current set up, but when I was there, the chorus was comprised of 4 different choirs. Two of them were for ladies only; the other two were ladies and gentlemen. If you wanted to be in any of the choirs, you had to audition with one of the chorus teachers, and you were then placed in whichever choir the teacher believed you were best suited for. It was not a matter of race or ethnicity. If you didn't audition, you couldn't be included, simple as that.
I would imagine that the current chorus teacher chooses the students he/she believes are the most talented and not what race or ethnicity the students are.

if it was just a matter of a better representation of Atlanta City Schools over East Cobb Schools--they should have said just that!!
And I certainly hope if ASO changes their mind due to all the flack they are getting--that these 2 schools will not go back!!

Someone is doing some serious backtracking here... Either ASO told this Jay Dillon person about racial diversity being the reason ASO was dumping Walton & Lassiter - that's what my daughter who is in the Walton chorus said she was told in chourus on Monday - or Dillon made this up. Either way there are some pissed off parents here in Cobb county. ASO is denying they snubbed us, and the Cobb County Schools spokesman is still crying "foul!". Both can't be right. Before this kind of thing gets published and gets everyone's bowels in an uproar, Patch needs to have its facts right. A bit more digging on Patch's part would have gotten to the bottom of this and had the straight poop. Now it appears we'll never know for sure.

Does the $14 all Cobb County parents are asked to donate per child each year for the PERFORMING ARTS go to the ASO? If so, I will be canceling 3 checks I have already written. I wonder how the make up of Spellman and Morehouse qualifies for racial diversity.

Here is the report from 11Alive. http://www.11alive.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=1787093122001&odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|featured

It seems to me that the message is pretty clear.

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For all products from China, we should have China pay Democracy Tax to America, because price competition has to be fair.
Democracy costs too much, and the costs of democracy such as the election and division of the three powers are added on all products from toothbrushes to cars.
The cause of the recession and unemployment lies in the Communist China.

The message from ASO was abundantly clear...listen to the ASO rep. speak the words himself "the chorus is not diverse".

I'm done supporting ASO in any way, as small as my contribution is.

Is anyone willing to appear on camera? The local news stations are looking to interview parents

Did Tim Lee's remark about opponents of T-SPLOST being racially motivated play a role? I think so.

There's something fishy about all of this "racist uproar". As someone that grew up in the East Cobb school systems, I know the fine arts programs are incredibly talented across the board. There's no doubt about it. There are many parents of these students who enjoy fine arts and are patrons of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Why, then, would the director of the ASO say something so radical and offensive and not expect backlash? I suspect because he never said it. There is no proof, otherwise I would be just as shocked as the rest of these commenters.
What I do sense is some animosity from Dillon-- it seems to me that they were floored that the ASO were to give other schools a chance to perform, and perhaps felt the need to project his own reasoning as to why things didn't pan out. I partially have to feel for these other kids. East Cobb is well known for being affluent. A lot of these kids are born into great opportunities, whether or not they have talent. There are kids at schools that aren't appraised as the best public schools in Georgia that also have talent. I think it's great that they would also be able to perform. These kids are not professionals that have beat each other out-- they're kids getting an opportunity to feel special. I think a four year run is awesome for Walton and Lassiter. I also think it's time other kids got to enjoy that sort of performance.

Helen, I not only grew up in the East Cobb school system, I am a Walton graduate - so now we've pointlessly compared our credentials long-standing suburban Atlantans- let me respond to your statement "East Cobb is well known for being affluent. A lot of these kids are born into great opportunities, whether or not they have talent." You imply, intentionally or not, that Walton and Lassiter performed at ASO based on affluence, not on talent. That is poppycock. You made a statement I completely agree with: "I think a four year run is awesome for Walton and Lassiter. I also think it's time other kids got to enjoy that sort of performance." However, when my daughter came home on Monday, she didn't say Walton wasn't going to perform at ASO so that other, less affluent schools could participate, she said Walton was not invited back "because there are not enough black faces" in the chorus. This was corroborated by an official statement by Cobb County School Board by way of Mr. Dillon. I challenge you to explain how Mr. Dillon's statement could possibly qualify as "animosity." He said "the schools were informed by Symphony officials that their choruses are not diverse enough, and that the Symphony would be inviting a third, more diverse chorus." Where is the animosity in that, or than in your imagination?

The ASO decision is the lead story on FoxNews.com. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/17/georgia-high-school-choruses-reportedly-not-diverse-enough-to-perform-with/