Fired for corn rows

she needs to lawyer up

White woman lasted two weeks running a rock opera — booted for wearing cornrows at Burning Man

Baltimore Rock Opera Society hired Kelly Carnes as executive director effective Sept. 8.
Days later, a video showing the white arts executive wearing cornrows prompted complaints about “cultural appropriation.”
Carnes was soon out, four of the organization’s six board members are departing, and she says she is exploring the matter with a lawyer.
Apparently even rock opera has a dress code now.

The Baltimore Rock Opera Society is dealing with a remarkable leadership implosion after its newly hired executive director, Kelly Carnes, appeared at an organization event wearing cornrows she had gotten for Burning Man.

Carnes, who is white, began the executive director job Sept. 8.

BROS formally announced her appointment Sept. 14, praising her more than two decades of experience in arts leadership, nonprofit strategy, fundraising and communications.

Then came the hair.

Carnes had recently returned from Burning Man in Nevada, where she said she chose the braided hairstyle as protection against the festival’s notoriously dusty desert conditions.

She kept the braids afterward and wore them to a BROS event.

A video featuring Carnes was subsequently posted online, where members of the organization’s community raised concerns that the hairstyle amounted to cultural appropriation.

BROS removed the video.

The organization later acknowledged the controversy in a public statement specifically describing footage of its new executive director, “who is white, wearing cornrows.”

The board said it regretted removing the video without initially explaining why and promised additional action.

That action included revising its anti-discrimination policy to more explicitly address “cultural representation and dress,” implementing anti-racism leadership training and establishing a working group focused on culture, community voice and racial equity.

Carnes did not survive the controversy.

LINK