Law prof who wore blackface at Halloween party 'wounded our community,' university president says
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A University of Oregon law professor who wore blackface to her off-campus Halloween party “wounded our community,” according to a letter to students written by university president Michael Schill.
Regardless of her intentions, Schill said, law professor Nancy Shurtz was wrong to choose such a costume, report the Oregonian and Inside Higher Ed.
“Indeed, one of the things that troubles me most about this incident, Schill wrote, “is that a member of our law faculty in 2016 would not understand that the use of blackface is deeply offensive and an act of racism.”
In a statement last week, Shurtz said she applied blackface and wore a doctor’s lab coat and stethoscope because of her admiration for a book that explores race relations in society, report Law.com and the Register-Guard.
The book was Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine. Shurtz said her daughter was a medical student and there was not a single black man in her class. Schurtz’s daughter succeeded in getting a portion of the book assigned to all students.
“I intended to provoke a thoughtful discussion on racism in our society, in our educational institutions and in our professions,” Shurtz wrote. “In retrospect, my decision to wear black makeup was wrong. It provoked a discussion of racism, but not as I intended.”
Shurtz has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into whether Shurtz or anyone else violated any law or university policy. An outside law firm will assist in the investigation.
Schill said that some campus members had received hateful and racist comments after the incident, and university police are investigating, though there is no evidence the communications came from within the university community.
Twenty-three of Shurtz’s colleagues at the law school signed a letter (PDF) last week that asked Shurtz to resign. The letter read, in part: “If these allegations are true, and you did in fact wear blackface to a Halloween party, you need to resign. It doesn’t matter what your intentions were. It doesn’t matter if it was protected by the First Amendment. Blackface is patently offensive. It is overtly racist. It is wildly inappropriate. It reflects a profound lack of judgment. There is no excuse. We are angry that you would alienate our students, staff, and faculty of color. We are angry that you would destroy what others have worked hard to build. Your actions implicate all of us and our community. If you care about our students, you will resign. If you care about our ability to educate future lawyers, you will resign. If you care about our alumni, you will resign.”
Shurtz is an expert on tax policy and estate planning, according to a prior story by the Oregonian.
Schill said Shurtz will be afforded “all of the procedural rights she is entitled to under the law and university policy.”
“And even as we condemn the use of blackface,” Schill said, “we must consider that these actions may be protected by the First Amendment and our university’s tradition of academic freedom. While many of us feel that what Professor Shurtz has done is wrong, I also would ask that you leave space in your hearts, words, and actions for forgiveness and compassion. Although we all must be held accountable for our actions, I would also hope that we would ultimately be judged for what we do on our best days as well as our worst.”
