Texas Wesleyan University canceled a play after students rallied against it, concerned that it depicts a white character threatening and using racist language...
Students were concerned about racist language used but the playwright, who is Black, said it’s meant to reflect history.
After a campus discussion among school and theater officials, the playwright and students, the university decided not to mount the production in support of the concerns voiced by students. Taylor, a Texas Wesleyan freshman who did not state her last name, shared that although such aspects of history cannot be erased, having a white actor say the hateful slur sends a “terrible message.”
The video recording shows the campus community discussing the events in which the play takes place, such as Freedom Summer — a 1964 volunteer campaign that aimed to register as many Black voters as possible in Mississippi — the use of the racial epithet and how these affect those at Texas Wesleyan today.
“But when have we ever … learned anything in our comfort zone?” Lewis asked. “You don’t learn anything new until you get out of your comfort zone, and I think that is what Mr. Brown intended for this play to do.”The play was originally slated to run from Thursday through Oct. 9.
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