On August 6 last year, PlayGround acknowledged to the leaders of #WeSeeYouWAT, the Living Document, and our community as a whole “our role and responsibility to eliminate white supremacy, actively build an anti-racist institution, end harmful behaviors and practices, and ensure PlayGround is a safe and welcoming space for all theatre practitioners to build on their craft and create community.” We committed to engaging our full organization in this work and to establishing a workgroup with diverse representation from PlayGround leadership, staff, board, company, writers, audience and supporters to begin this process. Last September, we came together as the PlayGround Equity Workgroup, meeting monthly to review and address the demands of #WeSeeYouWAT and the Living Document BIPOC Equity Action Plan, and to help review and establish PlayGround policies to assist in this critical work. While the work is ongoing and will continue, we wish to share an important step taken in our work toward building an equitable theatre for all — the development and adoption of PlayGround’s Anti-Racist Policy. As noted, the policy is applicable to all members of the PlayGround community. The policy will be published on the PlayGround website, and shared with all board, staff, employees, contractors, contributors, attendees and the greater community through email, social media and our digital playbill, and will be updated annually. We look forward to sharing more of our efforts in the weeks and months to come.

In community and solidarity,

PlayGround Equity Workgroup
Angel Adedokun / Diana Burbano / Victoria  Evans Erville / Norman Gee / Jim Kleinmann / Brittany Mellerson / Katja Rivera / M. Graham Smith / Chris Steele / Annie Stuart /  Jomar Tagatac

Anti-Racist Policy

2021

This procedure is applicable to: all members of the PlayGround community, including employees, independent contractors, volunteers, audience members, donors, and general members of the community.

AUTHORIZED BY:      Equity Workgroup
VERSION:                      Version 1
DATE:                             March 2021
REVIEW:                       January 2022

Introduction

PlayGround recognizes the impact of racial oppression within society and the American Theater and that we have been complicit in White Supremacy culture. Our goal is to co-create safety for our community by identifying and interrupting instances of racism and all forms of oppression when we witness them, through specific actions rooted in the principles of anti-racism and accessibility. In its endeavor to address the implications of our history, PlayGround is committed to its compliance with the following fundamental rights:

• The recognition of inherent dignity and worth of each human being.
• The recognition of equality of all human beings.
• Recognition of rights of ethnic, racial, cultural, linguistic and religious groups.
• Equality and non-discrimination.

Purpose of the Policy

• To dismantle all forms of racism and racial prejudice and unfair discrimination at PlayGround.
• To challenge anti-Blackness, colorism, and texturism in our society and in the American Theatre.
• To ensure that every person working at or who is affiliated with PlayGround is treated with dignity and equality.
• To create an environment where no one is unfairly discriminated against on the basis of their nationality, race, ethnicity, skin color, place of birth, socio-economic status, religion, gender, sexual orientation, language or culture.
• To provide processes and resources on how to deal with racial discrimination.

Please note that PlayGround has a Concern and Grievance Policy and Standards of Conduct Policy in place. This document supplements and does not replace these policies.

Scope and Compliance

• This policy applies to all PlayGround employees, independent contractors, volunteers, board members, audience, donors, and third parties.
• It is the duty and responsibility of the above mentioned individuals to ensure that they read, understand and comply with this policy.
• Any and all infractions of the anti-racist policy will be addressed and PlayGround will take all immediate and appropriate actions to hold individuals accountable, up to and including censure, termination, and removal from engagement.

PlayGround is committed to the following principles:

• Dismantling racism, racial prejudice and unfair discrimination at the workplace, in our creative spaces, and in online platforms.
• Creating and maintaining an anti-racist and rights-based culture, which includes respect for human dignity and diversity through its policies, procedures, processes, practices and structures.
• Promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment through inclusive policies and practices by building an organization where all artists, staff, audience, and the broader community that we serve feel valued and represented at PlayGround.
• Recognizing that diversity and inclusion in all its forms are core institutional values.
• Promoting work-life balance and career advancement in an environment that is anti-racist and anti-discriminatory.
• Demonstrating anti-racist practices in our organizational and personal behaviors.
• Providing ongoing opportunities for training and education relating to anti-racism in the American Theater.

Conduct that may be considered as racist.

PlayGround acknowledges that racial discrimination and harassment in the workplace can take many forms. It can be subtle or obvious. It can be initiated by a co-worker, a supervisor, or audience member. While there is no exhaustive list of acts that can be considered racist, the following acts must be immediately reported if they occur within our organization:

• Making inappropriate comments, jokes or using derogatory language and/or prejudicial codewords based on an individual’s race, ethnicity, or race-related characteristics, such as skin tone, hair texture, or facial features.
• Unfairly disciplining certain employees on the basis of race.
• Prejudice and overt bias, i.e., racial discrimination in the form of overt prejudice, hostility or negative feelings held against an individual of a certain race.
• Stereotyping, i.e., attribution of the same characteristics to all members of a group, regardless of individual differences.
• Racial profiling, i.e., any action undertaken for reasons of safety, security or public protection that relies on stereotypes about race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, religion or place of origin rather than on reasonable suspicion, to single out an individual for greater scrutiny or different treatment.
• Failing to hire, train, mentor, cast or promote a qualified individual based solely on the basis of race or ethnicity.
• Any other adverse behavior that the complainant may feel is racist or racially motivated.

Procedures

• Racial harassment may be brought to the attention of the PlayGround Artistic Director, PlayGround Ombuds, direct supervisor or front-of-house manager by the victim or any other person aware of such harassment.
• Complaints of racial harassment and/or discrimination should be reported to the PlayGround Artistic Director, a PlayGround Ombuds, direct supervisor, front-of-house manager, and/or reported via the online incident report form and in conformance with the PlayGround Concern & Grievance Policy.
• All incidents will be reported to the PlayGround Artistic Director and the PlayGround board.
• If the alleged perpetrator is part of management, the complainant may report the matter directly to the PlayGround board.
• Staff and/or board shall then follow the procedure laid out in the PlayGround Concerns & Grievance Policy and in conformance with the PlayGround Employee Handbook Sec. 4: Standards of Conduct.
• It is advisable that incidents of racism be reported as soon as is reasonably possible in the circumstances. However, late reporting of an incident by the complainant or victim will not necessarily have adverse consequences for the process of decision-making relating to the merits of the case.
• Any complaint of racial harassment must be recorded in writing by the PlayGround Artistic Director or their designee and properly and securely documented in PlayGround’s permanent concern/grievance log.
• The PlayGround Artistic Director, working in consultation with PlayGround senior staff and the appropriate PlayGround ombudsperson(s) will be responsible to take all reasonable steps to ensure that such a complaint is dealt with in terms of disciplinary procedure, set out in the PlayGround Concern & Grievance Policy and PlayGround Employee Handbook Sec. 4: Standards of Conduct; such disciplinary procedure must be executed expeditiously and appropriately.
• PlayGround considers racial harassment/discrimination gross misconduct. Any person found guilty of racial harassment and/or discrimination may be discharged from employment and/or barred from participation in PlayGround.
• In the case of a third party, or independent service provider, the termination of a contract may ensue.
• While PlayGround must and will adhere to all federal, state and local employee laws, PlayGround will always work to secure a safe and equitable environment for all current and future employees, contractors, audience, and community members.
• Subsequent to the exhaustion of available internal remedies, all parties retain their rights to pursue the complaint in a court of law.

Policy Owner

• PlayGround is the owner of the Anti-Racism policy. This policy will be reviewed and updated annually.