Posted on 12/14/2006 7:54:24 AM PST by meg88
A "silent night" as carolers told to stop singing at skating show
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) -- A high school choir was asked to stop singing Christmas carols during an ice skating show featuring Olympic medalist Sasha Cohen out of concern the skater would be offended because she's Jewish.
A city staff member, accompanied by a police officer, approached the Rubidoux High School Madrigals at the Riverside Outdoor Ice Skating Rink just as they launched into "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman" and requested that the troupe stop singing, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported Thursday.
Cohen, the 2006 Olympic silver medalist and 2006 U.S. National Champion, had just finished her performance at the rink on the downtown pedestrian mall, and was signing autographs.
Choir director Staci Della-Rocco said she complied with the request "because a policeman told me to stop. I didn't want to have a big old huge scene in front of my kids," according to the newspaper.
The city staff member, special-events employee Michelle Baldwin, could not be reached for comment. City Development Director Belinda J. Graham confirmed the incident.
"This request was simply made by a staff member who was attempting to be sensitive to the celebrity guest, without considering the wider implications ... or consulting with her supervisor for guidance," Graham said in an e-mail to the newspaper.
Mayor Ron Loveridge called the incident "unfortunate."
"You kind of wish people do a little checking first. You certainly have my apology," he said, referring to the choir members.
A spokeswoman with the New York-based PR firm that helped promote the event said Cohen did not make the request to silence the singers.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
And most Christians have absolutely no qualms about wishing their Jewish acquaintences Happy Hannukah.
My absolute fav picture of that super beautiful young lady.
Sasha Cohen does not seem very bright. She is so not bright, that I believe she is out of the loop on most decisions regarding her career.
Team Sasha may have done this, but I suspect Cohen knew nothing about it and I suspect she knows nothing about almost everything and that includes what her handlers do.
Gee - whatever happened to 'tolerance'?
That's a keeper! Why would Jews be offended by Gents holding one of them in such high esteem?
IOW, neither the request nor the decision to grant the request was made by Cohen herself or any of her staff.
Probably not ... not if she's been training right. The stretching exercises one learns in oriental martial arts hurt when you first start studying ... after a year, not at all.
I'm a long time skating fan. Sasha would never make such a stupid request. It was some official who had an overdose of political correctness.
What the heck?
The girl is pretty from head to toe.
Non-Jew insults non-Jews. So who gets the blame? The nearest JOOOOOO !!!!
Agreed.
I am sure Sasha knew nothing about this; the dumb over politically correct staff member is sadly typical and woefully ignorant.
I couldn't stand her anyway from the skating where she pouted like a spoiled bitch, that she is
Not sure political correctness was involved so much as the anti-Christian personal bias of the official involved. Just speculation on my part.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.