The playwright said his intentions were for the performance to be historically accurate. For him, the past should not be sanitized – and he said the racial slur was used provocatively, to make audience members feel the impact it had in real life. The scene depicts one of the three students in the play, who is white, showing the black student how he would be treated on his journey. Training sessions like the one described were common at the time and aimed to help people understand the seriousness of the behavior they might be facing.
Mr Brown, who joined the listening session on a video call, said the piece appears to have become a catalyst for a discussion about race relations on campus that is separate from his work.
“As the conversation continued, a few students came over and looked at my image on the screen and said, ‘This is not your play, Mr. Brown; it’s just not the game in this place, right now,” he said in an interview.
Last year, the president of the Black Student Association went on a hunger strike to raise awareness about the lack of diversity on the Texas Wesleyan campus. Among the sources of his dissatisfaction: The university had no substantial courses focusing on ethnic or racial studies, despite a diverse student body; and no established multicultural center existed for students to congregate.
The protest, along with other student comments about campus climate and diversity concerns, prompted the university to announce earlier this year that it would emphasize “community, engagement and inclusion” through a strategic plan, which included measures such as integrating multiculturalism, inclusion and combating intolerance in its programme; engage in culturally relevant teaching to connect with students from diverse backgrounds; and identify space on campus for multicultural student programs.
However, discussions around the room showed that students’ grievances had not been addressed to the extent they wanted, said Jaylon Leonard, student body president.
“It wasn’t the room itself, but some things we had dealt with in the past with the school in regards to diversity and inclusion recently” which the administration responded to but did not satisfy pupils who had raised concerns, he said, adding that “For it to be added to these issues, it was something that we were not prepared to accept.”