The Gatepost Editorial: Unpublished and unacceptable

By The Gatepost Editorial Board

The English department welcomed Professor Emerita Miriam Levine during the Alan Feldman Week of Poetry on Oct. 21.

The event consisted of a conversation between Levine, a published poet, and English Professor Patricia Horvath, as well as recitations of several poems from Levine’s poetry catalog. 

The audience included emeriti faculty, current faculty members, and students - some of whom were required to attend for their classes.

Unbeknownst to the English department, Levine elected to bring some of her unpublished work to read at the event.

One of the unpublished poems Levine read was titled “Zing.”

Levine, a white woman, said the n-word three times throughout the poem. 

She also used slurs that are offensive toward people of Jewish and Irish heritage.

The only “trigger warning” Levine gave before reading the poem was that the poem contained quotes from “rap lyrics.”

There is absolutely no excuse for this language to be spoken on our campus. Levine, a long-time member of the Framingham State community, should have known better than to use slurs. 

Levine’s use of these slurs was incredibly triggering, shocking, and hurtful to students and faculty at the event. Members of The Gatepost Editorial Board, including a reporter who covered the event for our Oct. 24 issue, were present and remain saddened and angered to have heard Levine use slurs in her work. 

Levine was allowed to continue on with reading other poems, even receiving applause from the audience at the end of “Zing.” 

When she concluded her reading, English department Chair Lisa Eck called for a question-and-answer session. 

A Black, female student stood up and asked why Levine felt comfortable using the n-word and why the use of the hard R was necessary. 

The use of the n-word by a non-Black person in any capacity is offensive and wrong - but particularly with the hard R, it is a dehumanizing slur that is a reminder of a time when Black people were openly lynched, persecuted, raped, and enslaved. 

Levine asked the student to come to the front of the room and repeat herself, inciting an inappropriate power dynamic that put the student on display and forced her to repeat a question she shouldn’t have had to ask in the first place.

Levine said she did not feel comfortable using the slurs, but that was the point of her using them. 

There is no scenario in which a white person should feel inclined to use a racial slur, even in a subversive way.

Levine did not apologize for using the n-word in her answer to the student’s question, nor did she do so retroactively. 

At no point did any faculty member condemn her use of the word or pause the event to acknowledge the harmful language. 

For professors who put a commitment to anti-racism in their syllabi every semester or mention the zero-tolerance policy in their classrooms, this lack of action made that commitment feel like empty words. 

We never think something like this is going to happen until it does - however, the people in power on this campus have a duty to protect their students from being hurt or discriminated against.

No student should ever feel trapped, unheard, or unrepresented. 

Taking action in this scenario can be seen as disruptive, which might be the reason why observers succumbed to the bystander effect. However, though it saves everyone from embarrassment, inaction is far more harmful, and stains the credibility of leaders on this campus. 

It invalidates everything we “promote.” 

If a white woman can come to our campus and have the audacity to say the n-word to a room full of students, including students of color, there is no reason why someone could not stand up and condemn those actions.

There is no excuse. 

The Gatepost Editorial Board recognizes this might be news to many students as well as some faculty and staff members. This is due to a lack of transparency and action after the event.

A week after the reading, Eck sent out a statement acknowledging what Levine said and maintained the English department was entirely unaware “Zing” would be read or contain racial slurs. 

No broader statement was sent to the entire campus community acknowledging that a speaker invited to an academic event used racial slurs, and little support was offered to students affected by it.

Further, the English department decided to post Miriam Levine on their Instagram to report on the event - with no mention of the incident. 

This is absolutely unacceptable. Why weren’t people informed? Are we scared to upset people? 

Because we should be upset. 

We are upset. 

Our entire community should be given the platform to discuss what happened and how we can move forward. And students who are struggling with this incident can visit the Center for Inclusive Excellence or the Counseling Center.

Levine’s connection to Framingham State should not automatically equal our trust - this should be true of any speaker. 

We hope Levine will not be invited back.

If the University and its faculty are going to continue to commit to anti-racism and uplifting standards of DEI, we need honest, transparent communication from our campus leaders so we can effectively understand what happened, why it happened, and how we can work together to prevent issues like this altogether and avoid the bystander effect. 

We do not condone racial slurs and hurtful language on this campus.

It is not enough to claim that we have anti-racist values. 

We have to act on them.