Okay, I'll talk about this incel guy who got into the program.

(CW - racism- a few instances, just a heads-up)

I'll call him Brett for the story. He got into the program around the same time I did. He was a fairly athletic white straight guy.

If I were to gauge his politics, he'd be anti-trump lib or uncomfortable trump supporter who pretends to go with lib politics for the sake of avoiding criticism.

Anyway, he was very willing to experiment with different themes, which was ironic, given that his characters were all transparent author-inserts. Author self-inserts who were racist incels. He would routinely share bits of his writing for workshop and it was a day of dread talking about it in class the next day. One memory that sticks out is him not quite getting that a person cannot tell if someone is Mexican by looking at them. He described a woman working in a service job as such while the character would have no way to know that. His counter was that Mexican people exist. :galaxy-brain:

I'd heard from a friend in the program that Brett experimented with having a character use the N-word.

The thing is, artistic circles can be hesitant to curb free expression (:freeze-peach:), especially if it's a well-connected white guy. Especially in a space of academia. Don't let them fool you.

The professor handling this assignment tried a very cautious (cowardly) approach and gave a broad warning for the class that if you're going to make 'bold or controversial choices,' you need to be aware of potential criticism. I tried to take Brett's writing as misinformed, but in good faith and said that as a black writer myself, I've never submitted a piece of work using the N-word. That I was sure he could tell the story he wanted to tell without alienating so many people. He did a quiet nod, but that was about it.

Fortunately, Brett tried to workshop the piece in a different class (without changing it at all) in my friend's class. My friend had a different professor that read the work and planned a response before said friend even reached out. Students were expected to write feedback to the work on a forum. According to my friend (also black), the responses were generally supportive, or called Brett bold for trying something like this.

The next day, however, when it was Brett's turn for the workshop, the professor addressed the class.

I don't have the exact quote anymore, but according to my friend, it went like, "Brett, what you wrote was racist and I will not tolerate this in the class. You will not speak to defend this work. And the rest of you who said this writing was bold, you're wrong. It's poison and you should know better as graduate students."

And he sat there as the professor laid into him. It's not much, but I wish I could've been there to witness the take down.

Brett didn't seem to lose stride though. He didn't take anymore classes with that professor and he retired that specific work. But other highlights during his career included a rant-filled manifesto directed at women and a piece with obscure references to nazis.

He was reported to several members of faculty and staff once for plagiarizing a writer of color - "to deconstruct the work."

I won't miss the guy, but I only wish I was harsher in my interactions with him before I knew what he was about.

Bright side - a couple of friends and I founded an anti-racist organization on-campus to keep people in the know about goings-on in the class like this. After all, if it's a one-time occurrence (to your knowledge) the faculty is less pressured to take action.