Context: this is about an opera by George Gershwin, Porgy and Bess https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porgy_and_Bess https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porgy_and_Bess .

Context: this is about an opera by George Gershwin, Porgy and Bess https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porgy_and_Bess https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porgy_and_Bess . Apparently, Gershwin's heirs request that "an African-American cast" be used in performance. This might actually make some sense as the opera itself is a bit divisive towards Black culture, and there is a rather long history of performances by non-African Americans tending to make it even more so. This statement by the opera cast can be seen as a clarification that they did intend to properly respect the work, although one can of course argue about this.