It’s not every­day stu­dents attend­ing a school func­tion hear the “n-word,” much less com­ing from the stage.

However, those who attended 5-star come­dian W. Kamau Bell’s pre­sen­ta­tion on Dec. 1 in Williams Auditorium were in for a sur­prise. His can­did speech and frank dis­cus­sion about race kept stu­dents laugh­ing, but also forced them to con­front some touchy topics.

Bell trav­els to col­leges per­form­ing his pre­sen­ta­tion enti­tled “The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour.” His pre­sen­ta­tion pro­vides an hon­est and straight­for­ward look at what racism is, where it comes from, who is affected and how to stop it.

Evan Pazkowski, FSU fresh­man in MIMA and main con­tact for the event, expected a favor­able response and good turnout for the show. Pazkowski was not con­cerned with peo­ple being offended, as Bell addressed stereo­types regard­ing many dif­fer­ent races.

“He insults every­one and tells you how to get bet­ter,” Pazkowski said. “He’s great with the audience.”

Many peo­ple showed up to see Bell’s pre­sen­ta­tion, and he kept them laughing.

FSU stu­dent Keith Knapp, a junior in social stud­ies edu­ca­tion, enjoyed Bell’s humor and thought the com­edy made racism a more approach­able topic.

Justin Price, FSU senior in pre-medicine, said he was sur­prised to learn the tech­ni­cal def­i­n­i­tion of “white.” According to Bell, peo­ple from the Middle East and North Africa, among oth­ers, are white, so celebri­ties such as Snooki and Kim Kardashian are con­sid­ered white. This chal­lenged views Americans have regard­ing those of Arab descent, as they are white, but are the vic­tim of stereo­types and judgment.

However, not every­one agreed with Bell’s pre­sen­ta­tion method. Bryan Smith, FSU senior in tele­vi­sion and dig­i­tal media pro­duc­tion, thought that although some of the jokes were funny, some were not appro­pri­ate for such a sen­si­tive topic.

“I felt it was more com­i­cal than try­ing to break bar­ri­ers,” Smith said.

However, Smith did agree with Bell that racism is some­thing we cre­ate ourselves.

“People iden­tify them­selves with a race based on cul­ture and how they were raised and what they were taught to believe,” Smith said.

FSU stu­dent Alexandra Carhart, fresh­man in busi­ness admin­is­tra­tion, thought con­tro­ver­sial pre­sen­ta­tion meth­ods have both good and bad aspects. She said too much con­tro­versy can offend peo­ple, but it is good to get peo­ple talking.

“It’s a good thing because you hear his point of view on [racism],” Carhart said. “It’s not like he’s chang­ing any­thing, so you’ll be satisfied.”

Entertainment Unlimited, the cam­pus pro­gram­ming board spon­sored W. Kamau Bell’s presentation.