On April 24, 2023, a student in Greg Mortensen’s theater arts class refused to participate in an acting exercise that contained a racial slur. In an attempt to educate the class on the use of racial slurs in acting, Mortensen recounted a personal story and used the N-word in his tale. This prompted three students to walk out of the class in outrage. The professor was placed on leave within the week of the event.
This opened up a discourse on the use of racial slurs in an academic setting. Should this professor face consequences for these actions? Was it justified?
Two writers from the Viking News have weighed in with their opinions on the matter.
Tyler Bermundo: The professor was doing his job and should not face any consequences
A white theater arts professor said the N-word in class and three students walked out of the room. It sounds bad at face value, but once the situation is broken down, professor Gregory Mortensen was justified.
Mortensen used a personal anecdote as an example and used the N-word without hesitation in his story. He wanted to show students that slurs in theater and acting exist. To succeed in the industry, controversial speech has to be authentic.
If he were to give a story about saying slurs and avoid saying the slur, he would be contradicting his own opinion.
Mortensen never said the slur at a black student or anyone else in the class. If he said a slur that was intentionally at a student or a group of students then the line would have been crossed.
There should be sympathy for Mortensen. His reputation, his credibility and his job are being put on the line for teaching students the reality of industry. He was not being racist.
Because Mortensen was teaching students the parts of the industry that aren’t advertised, he will never be seen the same.
The argument is not to use slurs in day-to-day conversations. In general, people acknowledge the N-word as extremely racist and should not be said today without reason.
In this case, his statement including a slur was educational and proved a point.
Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Through performing arts, people learn the mistakes of the past and to drive those points home, performances have to be authentic.
In the theater and arts industry, slurs are necessary for controversial performances. Omitting or substituting slurs conveys a similar point, but it loses its realism.
100 years ago, slurs were considered normal, including the N-word. We cannot judge history based on the standards of today. That is why slurs are kept in literature and scripts.
The minute a professor is using slurs directed at students with no educational value, then that professor should never teach again. Mortensen used a slur to help students understand. He needs to be reinstated immediately.
Jordyn Wieck: The professor should not have said the racial slur and should face consequences
When LBCC theater arts professor Greg Mortensen said the N-word during an acting class lecture, three students walked out of the classroom.
The action prompted a valid response from students and led to a conversation surrounding the bounds for racial and offensive language in academia.
Considering the context of the event, Mortensen should not have used the N-word.
It appears Mortensen was trying to make a point that saying a racial slur is OK in acting and the exercise given was simply training the students for a career in acting.
In using the N-word in a direct quote while recollecting and sharing a personal story, Mortensen took the lesson too far.
Although the professor was trying to educate the students on the use of racial slurs in the art, it was absolutely unnecessary for him to use the term in this scenario.
Another example could have been used to get his point across to the students. Mortensen could have led the exercise the students were hesitant to participate in. In this case, he would have been justified to use a word that is directly in the script.
It is vital that Mortensen faces consequences for these actions. Even with academic freedom, this was an inappropriate use of a racial slur.
If this professor is reinstated, students and colleagues alike will now respond differently to his teaching style.
Whether the administration’s consequences for this event are termination, suspension, or any other form of leave for Mortensen, it is justified.
Even if those consequences aren’t given, moving forward, morally, it is very likely that this professor will be “branded” as the professor who said the N-word.
Again, it is understandable to use racial slurs in acting, that is a given in this field, but to feel the need to say it simply to prove that he could say it, is wrong.