A white stage performer who alleges her one-woman show at the Rancho Santa Fe Library, in which she was set to perform as significant Black historical figures, was canceled due to her race, is suing the county library system.
The federal lawsuit filed by Annette Hubbell states that the Rancho Santa Fe Library contracted her to perform as Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Tubman and Mary McLeod Bethune.
Hubbell alleges that library officials selected those portrayals, but months later, they asked her to play other white historical figures because they were uncomfortable with having a white woman play Tubman and Bethune.
When Hubbell declined, the show was canceled, and now she alleges the library “chose to silence these stories because of my race.”
A news release from the Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing Hubbell, alleges the show’s cancellation was unconstitutional.
Andrew Quinio, a Pacific Legal Foundation attorney, said, “The Equal Protection Clause forbids the government from denying Annette this opportunity because of her race.”
The lawsuit filed Thursday also names the county, Board of Supervisors, county Chief Administrative Officer Ebony Shelton and county library director Migell Acosta as defendants.
– City News Service
