A Kansas University professor who used the n-word during a class discussion about race is on leave while the university investigates a discrimination complaint against her.
Andrea Quenette, assistant professor of communication studies, said she was notified Friday morning that five individuals, whose names she does not know, filed a discrimination complaint against her with KU’s Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access. She said her supervisors agreed to her request for a leave of absence with pay until the investigation concludes.
The formal complaint follows more than a week of public criticism perpetuated by graduate students in the communications department. Students have posted messages to Twitter with the hashtag #FireAndreaQuenette, shared a lengthy letter online and complained about her in a Student Senate meeting Wednesday night.
Sparking their outrage was Quenette’s use of the n-word and statements about retention rates at KU and the concept of systematic racism during her Communications Studies 930 class — focused on best practices for graduate students who teach undergraduate classes — on Nov. 12, the morning after KU’s heated university-wide town hall forum on race.
Quenette, who is 33 and has been teaching at KU for two years, said she believes academic freedom protects her comments and that they were not discriminatory.
Some Kansas University students filed a discrimination complaint with KU against assistant professor Andrea M. Quenette, who they accused of using racist language, in November 2015.
“I didn’t intend to offend anyone, I didn’t intend to hurt anyone. I didn’t direct my words at any individual or group of people,” she told the Journal-World tearfully in a phone interview Friday.
“It was an open conversation about a serious issue that is affecting our campus, and it will affect our teachers. In that regard, I consider it within my purview ... to talk about those issues.”
The graduate students saw it differently.
“It was outright racism,” said Amy Schumacher, a first-year Ph.D. student who was in the class, which she said is composed of nine white students and one black student. “I don’t think that it was an open dialogue — she wasn’t receptive to hearing any other ideas.”
Schumacher said she believes Quenette “actively violated policies” during the discussion, hurt students’ feelings — including the one black student, who left “devastated” — and has a previous history of being unsympathetic to students.
Class discussion in dispute
Diversity in the classroom was, coincidentally, on the syllabus for Quenette’s Nov. 12 class.
Inspired by the previous night’s forum, Quenette said, a student asked how they could talk about race issues in their own classes, and the conversation naturally shifted to how the university should address problems.
“I tried to preface everything I said with, ‘I don’t experience racial discrimination so it’s hard for me to understand the challenges that other people face, because I don’t often see those,’” said Quenette, who is white.
She said she pointed out that racist incidents on other campuses, including the University of Missouri in Columbia, have been very visible, and she used the n-word when comparing KU to them.
“I haven’t seen those things happen, I haven’t seen that word spray-painted on our campus, I haven’t seen students physically assaulted,” Quenette said.
Quenette said she could have apologized “in the moment” if anyone had responded but that no one did, and the discussion continued.
On the subject of low graduation rates for black students and whether institutionalized racism is to blame — students in class said it was — Quenette said students who don’t graduate do so for a number of reasons, and from what she’s seen at KU it’s often academic performance. Quenette said she’s on a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences committee studying retaining and supporting students, and that “all students” who come to KU with low academic preparedness are at risk.
She acknowledged there was “confusion” during that conversation and that it ended “abruptly” when class was over.
Schumacher, who is also white, described Quenette’s interactions during the conversation as “disparaging” and “deeply disturbing.”
“They articulated not only her lack of awareness of racial discrimination and violence on this campus and elsewhere but an active denial of institutional, structural and individual racism,” Schumacher wrote in the letter signed by the students in the class, plus one other graduate student. “This denial perpetuates racism in and of itself.”
Schumacher said students “had no words” and most “just shut down” after Quenette’s use of the n-word in class.
The next class
Graduate students gathered with other communications faculty and administrators for a town hall of their own on Monday, to which Quenette was asked not to come.
At the next class meeting, on Tuesday, the graduate students demanded that Quenette read aloud their letter, “An Open Letter Calling for the Termination of Dr. Andrea Quenette for Racial Discrimination.”
Quenette said she began reading the letter but stopped partway through, stating that there were legal implications and that she would not read any more.
She then listened as some students read personal statements aloud.
“I feel terrible, upset and sad that I had hurt their feelings and made them feel uncomfortable, because I do care about them as people,” Quenette said. “I felt frustrated by some of the things written in the letter that I don’t remember happening like they described.”
Quenette had prepared a statement of her own to clarify her comments and apologize.
But she said several students said they didn’t want to hear her apology.
“Someone said, ‘No, this is over,’ and they all got up and left,” Quenette said.
Schumacher said students insisted Quenette read their letter aloud “to make sure that she got it.”
She described Quenette as calloused, dismissive and scoffing despite “pain” visible on students’ faces. Schumacher said it became clear that Quenette still was not respecting the students, so they told her they did not want to hear her statement and left.
Social media campaign
Jyleesa Hampton has been one of the main tweeters for #FireAndreaQuenette.
Hampton, a first-year communications graduate student, is not in Quenette’s class but did sign the letter demanding her termination. Hampton said she is one of two black students in the 13-student cohort, and after the Nov. 12 class several students immediately rushed to her office to tell her what had happened.
“People talked about being scared to return to class, scared to have her in charge of their grades,” Hampton said. “I don’t think it will be a safe environment for me” teaching next year, she added.
Hampton said the group took to social media to ensure they were taken seriously.
“My concern was that the university or the department may try and sweep this under the rug or not take this seriously because we are students,” Hampton said. “We wanted to create consciousness about the events in question to provoke a response.
“Social media is a powerful force to bring awareness to instances of racism.”
Investigation open
Quenette said the social media campaign has been “very hurtful.”
Fearing she could lose her job, Quenette said, she hopes to secure an attorney to represent her in KU’s investigation process, and her husband set up a “Go Fund Me” account online to help raise money they need to hire one.
“The current political climate, the nature of the situation, the seriousness of the allegations that have been put forth, I’m in the spotlight and under tremendous pressure,” Quenette said.
Administrative leave means that Quenette is relieved of all teaching and service responsibilities and will remain off campus until the investigation is complete, university spokesman Joe Monaco said. He said such leave is often used “to address substantial disruptions to the learning environment or concerns about individuals’ welfare while IOA conducts its investigation.”
Monaco said IOA’s investigation of Quenette will determine whether the behavior in question — which includes last week’s in-class discussion and other conduct prior to then — violated KU policy and the Faculty Code of Rights, Responsibilities and Conduct.
Where is the line between free speech in the classroom and inappropriate speech?
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little, speaking generally Friday in a separate interview with the Journal-World, said that’s difficult to define and can depend on a lot of nuanced factors, down to the goal of the class and a faculty member’s relationships with students.
“I don’t think it’s possible to draw that line in a clear way that everyone will agree that this is on one side and this is on the other,” she said. “I don’t think we’re going to get a bright line.”
KU conversation on race
● Nov. 11 — KU town hall forum on race draws about 1,000 to Kansas Union
● Nov. 13 — KU chancellor reacts to heated town hall forum on race
● Nov. 13 — Police investigating reported altercation involving racial slurs at Halloween house party
● Nov. 13 — KU Student Executive Committee demands top student body officers resign
● Nov. 14 — Call for student leaders to resign, hunger strike add to tensions on KU campus
● Nov. 15 — Alumni, community petition seeks KU student leaders’ resignations; status of hunger strike unclear
● Nov. 16 — School of Business, Hispanic student group latest to issues statements on racial issues at KU
● Nov. 16 — Facing calls for resignation, KU Student Senate leaders issue multicultural action plan instead
● Nov. 17 — How KU Student Senate execs voted on contentious motion to oust top three officers
● Nov. 17 — KU administration announces first steps toward addressing racism, inequality on campus
● Nov. 18 — Investigation continues into alleged altercation involving racial slurs at Halloween house party
● Nov. 18 — KU plan for diversity training worries some GOP lawmakers
● Nov. 18 — Kansas Regents chair encourages respect, open processes as campuses deal with diversity issues
● Nov. 19 — At marathon meeting, KU Student Senate grapples with impeachment of student body leaders
● Nov. 20 — Attempted ouster of KU Student Senate leaders faces lengthy process
● Nov. 20 — KU professor who used n-word in class discussion is placed on leave
● Nov. 23 — The latest on the KU Student Senate leaders' impeachment process
• Dec. 9 — KU Student Senate forms committees to vet Invisible Hawk demands
• Dec. 9 — KU Student Senate defers impeachment talk
Contact KU and higher ed reporter Sara Shepherd
Have a tip or story idea?- sshepherd@ljworld.com
- 785-832-7187
- @saramarieshep
- @LJW_KU
Comments
Bill McGovern 1 year, 9 months ago
The lunacy continues....
Jeff Darby 1 year, 9 months ago
Idiocracy...
Bob Summers 1 year, 9 months ago
Funny movie.
Markey Farrell 1 year, 9 months ago
At least this time it is the liberals eating one of their own.
Jamie Andrews 1 year, 9 months ago
Don't assume she is a liberal. As an academic, I can tell you that many conservatives among our ranks have to learn to adopt the progressive lingo (e.g. my dissertation took a post-structural stance), or must positions themselves as libertarians. But even those of us who pretend to be progressives are sometimes outed by our faint praise of progressivism.
Scott Quenette 1 year, 9 months ago
Andrea is apolitical. Her course of study is political communication and she looks at it completely as a scientist.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
Good observation, Jamie. In fact, the ringleader is actually a far right, card carrying teabagger. (and I kid you not).
Odd that after all these years of hanging with peoples' of color worst enemy, she has inexplicably appointed herself as Protector-In-Chief of the Black Community.
I wonder if her so-called progressive comrades realize who they are sleeping with. Sleep with the wrong folks, and you never know what you're gonna catch.
Richard Warner 1 year, 9 months ago
I think when you use partisan insults like "teabagger" you only weaken your own case. On the political spectrum the Tea Party isn't far right, it's right and libertarian. It may include elements of the far right, but it can also include moderate or conservative Democrats. (No, I have no connection with them, but I do political and historical research that includes material from all sides.) At any rate, I think many progressives and conservatives (and all those in between) would support Andrea Quenette and can see that she was trying to be careful but accurate in her language and conversation. Hopefully the university will give more credence to the First Amendment than the demands of students who don't realize that this is a new form of McCarthyism. I'm going to link this article to my FB page and encourage others to support Andrea Quenette. Thanks also to her husband Scott for having her back and being supportive.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
I call em as I see em.
Markey Farrell 1 year, 9 months ago
This kind of liberal lunacy always reminds me .... Love this scene from 'Rescue Me' : (replace the DOT with a dot) ...
liveleakDOTcom/view?i=014_1377540520&comments=1
Aaron McGrogor 1 year, 9 months ago
Conservative lunacy. Making links that people have to edit to access. See the true lunacy of this?
Jim McAnulty 1 year, 9 months ago
FERGUSON.
Clark Hinds 1 year, 9 months ago
Whatever happened to sticks and stones? but words will never hurt me?
A local radio personality here in Memphis was all but run off the air for his use of the word "niggardly". Ignorance abounds.
Marco Guzmán 1 year, 9 months ago
in Return of the King (book), Aragorn says to Eomer something along the lines of "No niggard are you to give thus to Gondor, the fairest thing in your realm" When referring to his sister. Racist AND Misogynist!
Greg Cooper 1 year, 9 months ago
Sorry, Marco, but "niggard" means miserly, selfish, that kind of thing. It has nothing to do with race.
Gary Robert 1 year, 9 months ago
The irony is that you can say 'N word' without offending anyone. So this C word said the N word? WTF! Anyone have an idea of what I just said? Should you not be equally offended by the substitution? It is all so stupid and so exhausting!,,,
Umberto Cellini 1 year, 9 months ago
Diversity now means everyone having the same opinion.
Tolerance means ruing the lives of those with different opinions.
Inclusion means banning those whose opinions we don't value.
Welcome to the fascism of social injustice worriers.
Bob Smith 1 year, 9 months ago
Did nobody learn anything from Lenny Bruce?
Lawrence Freeman 1 year, 9 months ago
I just finished watching Coach Carter/ I think they should shut down the studio that produced it. :/
Monty Scott 1 year, 9 months ago
What we have here is a good old fashion witch hunt.
Does anyone know if she weighs the same as a duck? Or if she even floats.
Brad Barnett 1 year, 9 months ago
She turned me into a newt!
What? I got better...
Bill McGovern 1 year, 9 months ago
she's got the nose of a witch! http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsB/1801-12885.jpg
Mike Foreman 1 year, 9 months ago
a newt?
Scott Burkhart 1 year, 9 months ago
Monty Python reference. Excellent!
Hudson Luce 1 year, 9 months ago
Is she made out of wood?
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
An excerpt from the the student's page linked in this article.
We students in the class began discussing possible ways to bring these issues up in our classes when COMS 930 instructor Dr. Andrea Quenette abruptly interjected with deeply disturbing remarks. Those remarks began with her admitted lack of knowledge of how to talk about racism with her students because she is white. “As a white woman I just never have seen the racism…It’s not like I see ‘N_ [the professor used the full word] spray painted on walls…” she said.
Question: Instead of actually pronouncing the full word, if she would have said "the N word", does that change anything/ I don't think so, as context is everything. And in the context that she used the word, and in view of the academic setting, I fail to see how one can unequivocally declare that the professor is a racist.
Clara Westphal 1 year, 9 months ago
They can if their intent is to disrupt.
Tony Rains 1 year, 9 months ago
If your intent is to disrupt, then anything anyone says can be called racist.
Shawn Boultinghouse 1 year, 9 months ago
You are absolutely correct Bob. If I told a woman that she was a "B" word, would that not be just as back as actually saying the word?
Mary Darst 1 year, 9 months ago
I agree
Ginny Blum 1 year, 9 months ago
It sounds like she was referring to herself and not anyone of a race for whom that slur is used. She'd have been better of to have used a different example that made reference to herself. In that regard her statement doesn't seem well thought out.
Race is a touchy subject. Black people call each other the "N" word and it's not a cause for a twitter war.
As to the student being in tears after it was over, I assume it was the Black student. They need to prepare themselves because the world outside of college is a tough competitive place. The best revenge is doing well and that means no crying if someone calls you a name.
Nathan Anderson 1 year, 9 months ago
Regardless of whose version of events is accurate, the idea put forward by the grad student that these perpetual toddlers don't feel safe to attend class because a teacher used the n word in a class discussion is just insane.
Noah Fing-Whey 1 year, 9 months ago
What?!? How so?
Debbie Trotter 1 year, 9 months ago
Please! These and almost every student on every campus across this country have heard the N word and to act so ridiculously childish and so not believable. It's in almost every rap song played on the radio every minute of every day and you want me to believe that in the context of a racial discussion that they are now frightened to hear the N-word. That's what I call phony feigned outraged!
Brock Masters 1 year, 9 months ago
Were they outraged when the president used it? Most likely. Ot. Selective outrage.
Nathan Anderson 1 year, 9 months ago
JFK? Are you serious? The same reason it would be insane to think that Huckleberry Finn is a dangerous book.
Lawrence Freeman 1 year, 9 months ago
It is banned in the library.
Monty Scott 1 year, 9 months ago
In the sixties, it was the age of Aquarius. In the seventies, the era of disco.
Now, we have the age of Social Media Vigilantism. If you don't like sometime just tweet about.
This nonsense doesn't solve anything, it just makes matters worst. I don't have the answer to this very real issue. What I do know is the court of public opinion just muddies the waters. In the end, the turbulance which it creates makes the solution that much harder to find.
Markey Farrell 1 year, 9 months ago
Cry-Bullies. the on-the-ground boots of the liberal Verbal Gestapo.
Marco Guzmán 1 year, 9 months ago
What gets me more than anything is the whole "We don't want to hear it". What's THAT all about? They are actually, literally throwing a collective tantrum. They have stuck their fingers into their collective ears and scream in unison "neener neener!!!!!"
Mike Riner 1 year, 9 months ago
These students had better stay in school perpetually, because they'll never survive in the real world with such thin skin.
Fred Whitehead Jr. 1 year, 9 months ago
Yup... I used to work around two employees who used the word freely in describing their hatred and bigotry against the President of the United States. And the management do not think anything particularly wrong about this toxic atmosphere.
It is out there and it will be until most of the bigots and racists are dead and gone.
Mike Riner 1 year, 9 months ago
I have an acquaintance who uses the "N" word when referring to African Americans. I have told him I find it offensive and inappropriate. He said that's how his dad always referred to Black people. I asked him to please not pass that along to his own kids, but I'll not hold my breath. I think that, unfortunately, that kind of behavior is learned and passed on from generation to generation. Hopefully with time and education, it will be eradicated.
Joe Davis 1 year, 9 months ago
I may hear a white person using the word that cannot be spoken (by whites) LESS than once a year. I hear black people using it almost daily. Just a fact.
Jorge Gonzalez 1 year, 9 months ago
Cool story bro. Got any others you can make up at the spur of the moment?
Greg Cooper 1 year, 9 months ago
Joe is absolutely correct, Jorge. I have heard the word used between blacks in referring to other. Blacks, and it absolutely does appear in "rap music". That that occurs is odious in my opinion, but raises a question in my mouth no: who is allowed to use a word that, from one group, is considered offensive and, from the other, perfectly OK?
In this classroom setting, from what can be gleaned from reports, the word was used in a teaching situation. Is that all right? I guess it depends on the context in which it was uttered. But, I think, the bigger question is what the hell is the difference between actually saying it and tiptoeing around the word with codes, like "the N-word"? We're talking about a group of people who prefer to be called adults who should be able to differentiate between racial slurs and learning situations.
I don't use the word, hate to hear it, and wish it (and the implied slur behind it) would go away. But if those who hate it continue to use it, there is a huge question as to how denigrating it really is.
Hudson Luce 1 year, 9 months ago
Your last sentence - was the pun intended?
Nathan Anderson 1 year, 9 months ago
I read their letter, and it comes off as hyperbolic and petty. What I find disgusting is that these kids are using Title 9 to stifle speech they disagree with, similar to what happened with professor Laura Kipnis at Northwestern, creating an atmosphere of self-censorship for professors.
Bill McGovern 1 year, 9 months ago
Those offended could have told the professor in the beginning, and I'm sure she would have apologized and explained that she did not mean to offend anybody. Today's society loves to pounce on anybody who isn't "politically correct." I don't think she should lose her job for this. She's issued an apology, let's move on.
Johnny Kay 1 year, 9 months ago
Bill McGovern: I do not believe Professor Andrea Quenette should have apologized. She expressed an opinion with which some students disagreed, and in the course of expressing her opinion, she referred to the n-word in reference to the word itself. If students disagreed with her opinion or how she expressed it, they could have articulated that disagreement in class.
Professor Andrea Quenette owes no one an apology; the Kansas University administration that has sacrificed her reputation and career to appease the childish pretensions of the mob should apologize to her.
Nathan Anderson 1 year, 9 months ago
I see no problem with a professor showing sympathy for how the word made a student feel and explaining why she chose to say the actual word rather than sanitizing the discussion by using "the N word".
Mark Luttrell 1 year, 9 months ago
I'm trying very hard to keep an open mind on this. I'm very much wanting to give the students the benefit of the doubt here, if not just a little. Unfortunately, the optics of this article just seem a bit odd. The timing with all the heated racial tensions on Mizzou's campus and elsewhere is also difficult to ignore. I dunno, I wasn't there, but these accusations just don't quite seem to add up terribly well. These students may very well be correct in their accusations. They really better be if they're about to destroy a woman's collegiate teaching career, and essentially marking her in a negative light for any future job position she may attempt.
Clara Westphal 1 year, 9 months ago
The one grad student wasn't even a part of the class and she signed the letter. She just took the word of the others who said what had happened. The meeting they had that they told the professor not to attend sounds like a kangaroo court. Sad that this is happening at KU or anywhere else.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
An interesting take on the issue by the progressive Harvard Professor and Civil Libertarian Alan Dershowitz:
http://www.businessinsider.com/alan-dershowitz-thinks-student-protesters-dont-want-true-diversity-in-colleges-2015-11
Nathan Anderson 1 year, 9 months ago
I read that article a few days ago and he's spot-on. Superficial diversity but no diversity of thought. Free speech for me, not for thee.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
I have a lot of respect for Dersh.
William Weissbeck 1 year, 9 months ago
Except he's referred to Ted Cruz as one of the smartest students he's ever had. And Dersh can be a bit narrow minded on American-Israeli issues.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
So what? There are a few very intelligent right wingers out there. remember William f. buckely? Ever heard of George Will? What about William Safire? Referring to someone as intelligent does not mean an endorsement of that person's political beliefs.
Richard Aronoff 1 year, 9 months ago
Welcome to Hashtagastan.
Anyone know if "Huckleberry Finn" has been banned at KU? And can you imagine the uproar if a film professor showed a class "Blazing Saddles"?
In the mid-60s, my friends and I used to go up to Harlem to listen to Richard "Groove" Holmes play the organ at Count Basie's (best Over the Rainbow ever, by the way). You could hear THAT word a dozen times in an hour. I think the patrons who used THAT word realized that by shunning it they would be empowering the word.
There was another phrase that those patrons used. These students should learn it -- "Get over yourself."
Tim Browne 1 year, 9 months ago
I do know there's a version floating around with the n-word...
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
People like Amy Schumacher who are awarded "Participation" trophies as kids invariably end up in "shock and disbelief" when the "N" word is used in a clinical setting on a college campus.
Amy and her generation have done more to piss away the social justice victories that previous generations of Americans, including my grandparents, parents, and siblings fought for with their sweat and blood for decades.
She wouldn't recognize a real issue of social justice if it bit her on her behind.
Paul Beyer 1 year, 9 months ago
someone like this Amy should have never been accepted into the PhD program in any field. Hopefully her department and advisers will quickly remove her from the program. With her attitude she will not represent KU in any positive way.
Michael Kort 1 year, 9 months ago
I was watching a show recently on PBS about how the human brain responds to a persons' own identity group, as opposed to it's response to strangers to ones own group . After seeing that show I could have assumed that humanity is doomed to self destruct.......the proof of which is on the daily news from all over the world and buried for the readers' discovery in all of recorded history . It is never a good day when an inteligent life form meets a lesser inteligent form of life ( as in the mentally slower form of life ), so I am not hoping that aliens from outer space are going to show up and solve our basic human problems of thinking in terms of "US VS THEM " which is human history, in a nut shell, which renews itself with each new generation and each older generation, of would be " Judge Judie's " . Sometimes both us and them are unjust in our approaches .
Brad Barnett 1 year, 9 months ago
The fallacy in this whole movement is the fact that these "offended groups" wholeheartedly embrace these labels - "Black" this, "White" that, when all that does is continue to segregate people - not only physically, but socially and psychologically. I find it painfully ironic that these groups cry out against institutional racism, when by very definition, they are perpetuating it with these labels. There is no "Black". There is no "White". These are "man-made" labels. Until people stop identifying with them so personally, institutional racism will exist indefinitely.
Nathan Anderson 1 year, 9 months ago
It's called identity politics and it comes, ironically, from many of the offices and departments that are supposed to be dedicated to the inclusion/study of minority groups. Identity politics does nothing but cause further division. Case in point, look at Princeton, where students are demanding separate housing for those interested in learning about African and African-American culture, effectively segregating themselves largely by race.
Aaron McGrogor 1 year, 9 months ago
If you read about it, you'll find that they're making these "demands" as a response to the lack of action by Princeton to remove the name "Woodrow Wilson" from the university, as Wilson is regarded as a racist.
Bill McGovern 1 year, 9 months ago
hey McGrogor how's it hangin?
Aaron McGrogor 1 year, 9 months ago
A little to the left. I appreciate your concern.
Bob Summers 1 year, 9 months ago
...and there is a question if these KU students should be carrying a hand gun on campus?
Scott Quenette 1 year, 9 months ago
Since the letter got linked, here the gofundme https://www.gofundme.com/helpdrq I also encourage anyone who wants to know what my family has gone through the last week to look at Twitter. If anyone has questions, I'd like to be as open and honest as I can and give my wife a break from the pressure. My email is squenette@gmail.com.
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Bob Summers 1 year, 9 months ago
Hang in there bro. She did nothing worthy of the treatment she is experiencing
Who knows why students have emotionally devolved. Maybe it's part of the transformation of America?
Clara Westphal 1 year, 9 months ago
It is the 'browning of America'. I am sorry your wife has to endure this. Hopefully, it will come out in her favor.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
Greg Cooper 1 year, 9 months ago
Clara, please explain "the browning of America", if you would.
Johnny Kay 1 year, 9 months ago
Bob Summers: You ask, "Who knows why students have emotionally devolved. Maybe it's part of the transformation of America?"
I suggest that students have been conditioned to believe that a pretense of sensitivity will score points for them, and the more outraged they pretend to be at some perceived slight, the more points they will score.
Bob Summers 1 year, 9 months ago
I think their behavioral condition goes deeper. But then, I am not an expert on such psych matters. I just observe.
Nathan Anderson 1 year, 9 months ago
Hi Scott. I'm very sorry for what is happening to your wife at my alma mater. I read your gofundme page and suggest that you contact 1st amendment non-profits for help if you haven't done so already, particularly FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.
https://www.thefire.org/resources/submit-a-case/
Scott Quenette 1 year, 9 months ago
Thank you, we are in contact with them. Peter Bonilla personally reached out to Andrea last week. They are monitoring the situation.
Erika Northcutt 1 year, 9 months ago
I am a graduate student at KU (different department) and would like your wife to explain the context in which the word was said so that students who are not able to form an educated opinion can. Many of us feel that if she was referring to the word itself, she should not lose her job.
Jim Slade 1 year, 9 months ago
The context was that as a white women she is not subjected to racism, and therefore doesn't hold the same perceptions as those from another race.
“As a white woman I just never have seen the racism…It’s not like I see ‘N_ [the professor used the full word] spray painted on walls…” she said.
I dare say, she now IS a victim of racism.
Armen Kurdian 1 year, 9 months ago
I have to hold the University Administration partially at fault here. At some point they need to come down on this supposed entitlement to feel offended by anything and everything, as these groups of spoiled students actively seek out situations to feel indignant about. It is disgraceful that this level of PC exists at my alma mater. You hang in there, I will be supporting your campaign.
Bob Smith 1 year, 9 months ago
Professors being denounced for incorrect thoughts or incorrect speech? Sound like something Pol Pot would support.
Calvin Miller 1 year, 9 months ago
This was a graduate class. Do the "students" in this class have any concept of irony when they are trying to suppress free speech in a Communications class. I'm more concerned about how well these so-called grad students have educated themselves rather than the us of the N-word in an academic setting. Apparently, these students are unaware of the difference in the use of the N-word in an objective sense as compared to directing the N-word to a particular person or group. In short, these "students" need to get a life. They are not going to survive in the real world if every self-perceived threat or "micro-aggression" causes them to whine and complain.
Charles L. Bloss, Jr. 1 year, 9 months ago
This is insane. I grew up in the TX, where this word was used frequently. I never liked it, and as a child never understood the discrimination. The required sitting in the back of the bus, the separate restrooms, drinking fountains, and restaurant facilities. We had a black maid who was one of the most wonderful people I have ever known. I loved her as I loved my Mother. She refused to enter our home by the front door, though we told her to do so many times. She said it wasn't right. The n word was used in a classroom setting in a university where supposedly learning is taking place. How can one learn about discrimination without describing it? I grew up with it. This professor did nothing wrong, and this entire response is silliness by a group of stupid people. I would suggest that all of them need to grow up.
Michael Shaw 1 year, 9 months ago
I would suggest reading the letter before commenting. The Chancellor's remarks seem to me to respond to the entirety of the letter, not the item the journal world chose to put in the headline.
Fred Whitehead Jr. 1 year, 9 months ago
I hope this whole thing blows over and the perpetrators are disciplined. Racism is not to be tolerated, but this type of witch hunt should be just as objectionable. The university ought to be fined for trying to create some situation that did not exist and the "students" that started all this crap ought to be dismissed.
And for the record, just what the hell is " KU’s Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access"??
Sounds like another "Safe Student Area? for rabble rousers.
Nathan Anderson 1 year, 9 months ago
They handle Title IX complaints, including sexual assault. Earlier this year they sponsored a screening of "The Hunting Ground" which has been widely panned as paranoid propaganda that fuels campus rape hysteria.
Bob Smith 1 year, 9 months ago
Crimes should be handled by the police, not some jumped-up campus office.
Kyle Neuer 1 year, 9 months ago
Does context mean nothing these days? Banning the word does nothing to combat racism. Especially when the ban only seems to extend to white people.
Awwww, the kids heard a word they don't like. I wonder how they're going to react when someone says something they don't like outside the classroom?
Dorothy Hoyt-Reed 1 year, 9 months ago
Years ago, I used to teach "To Kill a Mockingbird" in a reading class. We discussed the use of the n-word and it's terrible meaning and history. When we read aloud, I said if you are uncomfortable with reading the word aloud, just replace it with "n-word", and that's what I read when I was reading aloud.
I wasn't a witness to what this teacher said, but I think her use of the "n-word" is less disturbing than when she said that racism doesn't exist, because she has never seen it. I would question her powers of observation. As a white person, racist coworkers and family members assume that they could tell racist jokes around me, until I was old enough and brave enough to set them straight. Maybe she has led a sheltered life, but someone who actually says that racism no longer exists is living in a different world.
I have seen the racism in workplaces too. In the '70's I worked in a factory where I was one of a few other women who were hired to fill their "quota" of "minorities", because they didn't want to hire a Black person. One guy told me that they hired a Black man once and he didn't know how to read a tape measure, so according to their small minds, all Blacks couldn't read tape measures.
They didn't see their sexism. One time when I confronted a worker about his sexism, the manager pulled me in and told me he wasn't being sexist. Who was he to tell me what sexism is? I was passed over for a promotion for lead person, even though I was good enough to do the lead person job when my lead person was on vacation or sick. Another time there was sweet revenge. One guy saw me slowly shoving a trash can towards the dumpster. Thinking it was just the little weak lady that needed a knight in shining armor to come and save her, he went over a picked up the trash can full of glass, and promptly threw out his back. But of course, the mean old feminist was just being too sensitive by finding it insulting that she was considered weak.
This woman may just not be very worldly. She is quite young. Another time in an education class, a woman said that "Indians" were almost extinct, that you just didn't see any around anymore. Never mind that she lived in a town with a Native American university (well, it was juco back then). Some people just live sheltered lives. This woman grew up in Kansas and had never heard of the Kickapoo, Potawatomi, etc tribes who reside here. She didn't even know that Kansas is a Native word. I would like to think that she was just ignorant of the facts, and that once she learned them, then she would realize how wrong she was, but who knows? Maybe she still doesn't see "Indians".
But I really don't know what happened in this classroom, and will await the university's investigation. I would hope that those who are upset by this possible "political correctness" are also upset by the "toe the party line or your out" political correctness that is being pushed by our tea party Republican leaders.
Dorothy Hoyt-Reed 1 year, 9 months ago
And on the other hand, the students may be too sensitive. Why not set them all down to discuss this? Was she being insensitive? Were the students misunderstanding what she was saying? Did she not allow open discussion? Were the students backing their opinions up with facts or emotion? Mediation should really be a first step, before calls for firing a person. Maybe both students and teacher could learn something.
Johnny Kay 1 year, 9 months ago
Dorothy Hoyt-Reed: I suggest that the students are not being sensitive, but pretending to be sensitive. They have been conditioned to believe that a pretense of sensitivity will score points for them, and the more outraged they pretend to be at some perceived slight, the more points they will score. At the very least, I doubt that the ten students in Professor Andrea Quenette's class will be doing much homework for the remainder of the semester. . .
Joe Davis 1 year, 9 months ago
"I think her use of the "n-word" is less disturbing than when she said that racism doesn't exist, because she has never seen it."
--What article did YOU read? Are you really not able to comprehend what she said? Why would you twist her words and intent 180 degrees? Astonishing.
Bob Smith 1 year, 9 months ago
That's par for the course for our Dorothy.
Dorothy Hoyt-Reed 1 year, 9 months ago
Obviously you didn't finish reading all my rather lengthy post and my thought processes either. You don't know what happened in that classroom, I don't know what happened in that classroom. Both could be quite wrong. My point is that racism does exist, and to deny that is naive at the best. Until the investigation is finished we will not know all of the facts, and even then it might boil down to a he said, she said situation. And instead of taking sides, I can't understand why someone wasn't brought in to mediate. Try reading my whole post next time.
Jim Slade 1 year, 9 months ago
Dorothy- she didn't say it doesn't exist. She said because she is white, she doesn't experience it.
“I tried to preface everything I said with, ‘I don’t experience racial discrimination so it’s hard for me to understand the challenges that other people face, because I don’t often see those,’” said Quenette, who is white.
She said she pointed out that racist incidents on other campuses, including the University of Missouri in Columbia, have been very visible, and she used the n-word when comparing KU to them.
“I haven’t seen those things happen, I haven’t seen that word spray-painted on our campus, I haven’t seen students physically assaulted,” Quenette said.
Stating that she doesn't experience racism isn't the same as saying it doesn't exist.
I haven't personally experienced or even witnessed a beheading by ISIS terrorist. That doesn't mean I don't think it happens.
Richard Heckler 1 year, 9 months ago
"The graduate students saw it differently.
“It was outright racism,” said Amy Schumacher, a first-year Ph.D. student who was in the class, which she said is composed of nine white students and one black student. “I don’t think that it was an open dialogue — she wasn’t receptive to hearing any other ideas.”
Schumacher said she believes Quenette “actively violated policies” during the discussion, hurt students’ feelings — including the one black student, who left “devastated” — and has a previous history of being unsympathetic to students."
Yes this only the LJW however there is not much hard evidence that which should be present in order to substantiate the suggestion of racism. Assuming such is not acceptable. Yes I've been around some discussions whereby this "N" word was tossed into the fray to stimulate discussion.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
Schumacher is a far right teabagging birther radical prolifer, family values shouting neoconservative Bush apologist. And probably a war monger to boot.
Don't believe me? Check out her Linkedin profile. She is Sarah Palin, but worse--Sarah Palin with 10 more IQ points and a real college degree.
Remember Drill Baby Drill. You bet your boots. Schumacher has that covered as well.
Very weird, very very weird, She doesn't believe black women should have control of their own body, but she is determined to protect them from the horrors of that awful word.
.
Perhaps this is what "compassionate conservatism" looks like in the flesh
You want my honest opinion? I think she probably cares about black folks about as much as Jeremy Farmer cares about the hungry.
but hey, Jeremy fooled a lot of folks, so do we give Schumacher's camp followers a pass?
Nah. These foolishly reckless children need to be "spanked". They are an affront to decency.
Can anyone direct me to a copy of the KU Code of Student Conduct?
P.S. for those of you who don't have time to suffer through the longest and most self-absorbed Linkedin resume I've ever seen for a twentysomething kid, and who are otherwise not familiar with the organizations and politicians she apparently likes to hang with, I will fill you'll in later.
If these knaves weren't in the midst of destroying a young professor's reputation and career, I'd probably be having a really hearty laugh at the moment.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
While we are talking about "hearty" and Blazing Saddles, try this one on for size:
A Laurel and Hardy Handshake by mbsunwest
Nathan Anderson 1 year, 9 months ago
I noticed that too. AEI intern, etc.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
And the former congresswoman she worked for is a contemptible and discredited multifaceted teabagger--a true sarah palin on steroids.
Rich Maier 1 year, 9 months ago
you have Schumacher pegged as a RACIST
Bill McGovern 1 year, 9 months ago
I don't think she's a racist, I think she's a moron looking for sympathy.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
I have no idea whether or not Schumacher is a racist. I do think she is ignorant about race relations. And I think her invovlment in this issue is nothing more than rank opportunism.
Jesse Ulery 1 year, 9 months ago
Anyone offended by the use of that word should not be using it at all. Anyone who uses it while ranting against another's use of it is at best a hypocrite. They should be insisting that all movies, music, magazines etc should be burned that uses that word, or people need to just grow up and get a life.
Joe Davis 1 year, 9 months ago
‘I don’t experience racial discrimination so it’s hard for me to understand the challenges that other people face, because I don’t often see those,’” said Quenette, who is white.
--Now that she HAS experienced racial discrimination maybe she can be more competent in her capacity as an instructor.
Johnny Kay 1 year, 9 months ago
Joe Davis: What you say is true, but Professor Andrea Quenette’s statement, "I don’t experience racial discrimination so it’s hard for me to understand the challenges that other people face" is an apology for existing, just like "I'm ashamed to be white" or "I'm ashamed to be a man" or "I'm ashamed to be straight."
Everyone has been mistreated or ostracized at some point in his or her life. Apologies like the one made by Professor Andrea Quenette buy into the notion of black exceptionalism, and that only encourages the pretense of grievance and injury so common today.
Johnny Kay
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
I don't see it as an apology at all, but instead a refreshingly honest statement from a member of a profession that sometimes exhibits excessive amounts of pendantry
Daniel Rachell 1 year, 9 months ago
When the blacks stop using the word - so will I
Bob Summers 1 year, 9 months ago
The word means friend in the hood.
http://onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-definition-of/nigga
Greg DiVilbiss 1 year, 9 months ago
This situation reminds me of when Susan Wagle attacked Prof. Dennis Dailey's class on human sexuality. She objected to the content and went on the national talk show circuit to shut him down.
It is my recollection that the University supported the professor and freedom of speech.
It is my opinion that all aspects of human behavior and speech should be allowed to be studied AND discussed, even if it is offensive to some.
A personal attack or a direct slur towards an individual is one thing. Discussing a controversial topic with words that relate to the topic is something else altogether.
Unlike like comedians who have stopped touring college campuses due to the students thinking they are being harmed by language. The Academic community needs to stand firm and not censor themselves if what they are doing is academically relevant.
Here is Chris Rock discussing the situation.
What do you make of the attempt to bar Bill Maher from speaking at Berkeley for his riff on Muslims?3
Well, I love Bill, but I stopped playing colleges, and the reason is because they’re way too conservative.
In their political views?
Not in their political views — not like they’re voting Republican — but in their social views and their willingness not to offend anybody. Kids raised on a culture of “We’re not going to keep score in the game because we don’t want anybody to lose.” Or just ignoring race to a fault. You can’t say “the black kid over there.” No, it’s “the guy with the red shoes.” You can’t even be offensive on your way to being inoffensive.
When did you start to notice this?
About eight years ago. Probably a couple of tours ago. It was just like, This is not as much fun as it used to be. I remember talking to George Carlin before he died and him saying the exact same thing.
...It is scary, because the thing about comedians is that you’re the only ones who practice in front of a crowd. Prince doesn’t run a demo on the radio. But in stand-up, the demo gets out. There are a few guys good enough to write a perfect act and get onstage, but everybody else workshops it and workshops it, and it can get real messy. It can get downright offensive. Before everyone had a recording device and was wired like xxxxing (LJ World Censorship) Sammy the Bull,4 you’d say something that went too far, and you’d go, “Oh, I went too far,” and you would just brush it off. But if you think you don’t have room to make mistakes, it’s going to lead to safer, gooier stand-up. You can’t think the thoughts you want to think if you think you’re being watched.
http://www.vulture.com/2014/11/chris-rock-frank-rich-in-conversation.html
Patrick Bass 1 year, 9 months ago
"Don't call me N----r, Whitey. Don't call me Whitey, N----r"
I don't think anyone would ever call Sly Stone (Sly and the Family Stone) a racist, but he penned and sang that song all the way to the top of the charts. I guess it's OK because he was black?
Ginny Blum 1 year, 9 months ago
you got it.
Willem Reese 1 year, 9 months ago
Nice, LJ...Remove a satirical comment with no profanity or racism & no worse than others posted. You're as weak as the PC administrators at some of these schools.
Pearl York 1 year, 9 months ago
Spending tax-payer money to send people to college these days not only does not provide them a valuable education, but actually seems to cause many of them to revert to toddler-level emotional immaturity. Time to pull the plug on government-subsidized education. When people have to pay for it themselves, they'll be highly motivated to make it worthwhile. Now, it's just another form of entertainment.
Ash Gokli 1 year, 9 months ago
let's ask Chris Rock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v56A4...
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
And while we are at it, lets not forget Louis CK
Offended by the "N word" by Nathanie Infante
For all of you WASP communications graduate students who are hyper sensitive to hearing the N-word actually spoken, I have excerpted it below with politically correct dashes so you can fill in the banks yourself if you wanna really get get wild and crazy. As a word of caution, you might want to first get your shrink, therapist, life coach, or mommy on the phone.
"They found a way to say n-----. It's bull$hit because when you say 'The n-word....' you put the word n-----in the listener's head. That's what saying a word is. You say the "n word" and I go "Oh, she means n-----" you're making me say it in the my head. Why don't YOU fu--ing say it instead and take responsibility for the $hitty word you want to say."
Johnny Kay 1 year, 9 months ago
The situation at Kansas University, the University of North Carolina, the University of Missouri, and other higher education institutions is reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution in China under Mao Tse Dong. What is most disheartening is how so many run scared and grovel before these silly children. . .
We have descended into an abyss of cowardice and stupidity.
Regarding the “n-word”, I suggest that the obsessive sensitivity to the “n-word” is not intended to protect black people, but to weaken them. Think about it -- the “n-word” is the only word in the English language that cannot be spoken aloud (by a white person) even in reference to itself. Why? Because it’s supposed to be psychologically devastating to any black person who hears it.
Where did that come from? Why did the “n-word” surpass other racial slurs in power and importance? It wasn’t by black people. The hypersensitivity did not originate with them, but with the corporate media, politicians, and black “spokesmen” -- well-paid university professors and other black “leaders” assigned by the corporate media and political establishment to represent the official “black” point of view.
The real message -- the intended message -- behind the elevation of the “n-word” to its current deadly status is that black people are so simple-minded and emotionally fragile that if the “n-word” is even written out, black people will be insulted to the point of paralysis as all the latent memories of slavery and Jim Crow come flooding back. . . Unfortunately, many black people embrace that limiting, self-defeating mindset because they see it as empowering -- as granting them extra points.
The media and political hype surrounding the “n-word” is another destructive social pathology foisted on black people by the corporate media and the political establishment, joining other damaging social clichés such as: Illegitimacy is a natural consequence of discrimination; differences in achievement between races can only be attributed to discrimination; and “authentic” blackness is demonstrated by lower-class speech and behavior.
In summary: I advocate neither the n-word's use nor disuse. My debating points are that the “n-word” should not be debated; that the “n-word” should have no special status and be regarded as just another ethnic slur, neither more nor less offensive than any other; that the media and the government should stop telling black people to be upset when they hear it and black people should stop pretending to be upset when they hear it; and that black people should reject the attempt by the media and the government to manipulate them into traveling down yet another self-destructive path.
I guess my point is that the contrived controversy over the “n-word” should be abandoned and the “n-word” itself ignored.
Johnny Kay
Keith Schoose 1 year, 9 months ago
I bet if you took the Black student's phone and perused their song list, you would find plenty of songs that use the N word. The idea that someone could be traumatized by a single use of the N word is ludicrous.
Will Trice 1 year, 9 months ago
Way to stereotype.Keith. Do you honestly think ALL Black people listen to songs with the N-word in the lyrics? You do realize that the consumers of rap music are people from ALL racial and ethnic groups, don't you? And, honestly, only 1:9 students in the class is Black, the other 8 are white. Odds are better that some of the white students in the class may have songs with the N-word on their playlists.
Greg Cooper 1 year, 9 months ago
So what? It's OK for all to use the word or it's not OK for anyone to use it. If these kids are offended only when a non-entertainer uses it there is a huge disconnect that had best be explained before ANYONE is allowed or not allowed to use it. This double standard, in my mind, obfuscates any argument against the word's use.
Noah Fing-Whey 1 year, 9 months ago
I didn't catch the context. Did she say "the people failing were a bunch of n-words" or something like that?
Nathan Anderson 1 year, 9 months ago
No. They were discussing events at Mizzou and she was recounting epithets being hurled at black students. That's the context as I understand it.
Jeff Lovell 1 year, 9 months ago
Okay. I can agree that use of the n-word is offensive. But let's agree on the rules. It's not okay for a white, caucasian woman with no history of offensive speech to use the word. Rule two: it is okay for any african american to use it at any time and under any circumstances. It is not permissible to use it in any connotation if you are white. Blacks, however, can use it whenever and under whatever circumstances they wish. Have I got is so far?
Bob Smith 1 year, 9 months ago
We should not be niggardly when expressing disapproval of this student witch hunt. Before anybody gets all steamed, "..."Niggardly" (noun: "niggard") is an adjective meaning "stingy" or "miserly". It can be traced back at least to the Middle English word nigon, which has the same meaning, and is perhaps related to the Old Norse verb nigla, which means "to fuss about small matters"..." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_about_the_word_%22niggardly%22
Richard Aronoff 1 year, 9 months ago
Years ago, a municipal official had to publicly apologize for referring to a financial appropriation as niggardly. It was ridiculous then. It would be ridiculous now.
Jamie Andrews 1 year, 9 months ago
Two concerns here. First, the utter lack of wisdom on the part of this faculty member to use the term in the current hyper-rhetorical BLM climate, especially if she isn't tenured. Second, that the classroom climate has evolved over the past 40 years in such a way that students think they are entitled to call for the dismissal of a faculty member. In an earlier era, reasonable recourse would have been to withdrawal and boycott future courses. But to be entitled demanding what is tantamount to a summary dismissal is a grave threat to academic freedom.
Tim Browne 1 year, 9 months ago
Have you ever met a "communications" major, much less a faculty member? They're not the sharpest tool in the shed. You'd think anyone with half a brain would know never ever to use that word for any reason...
Tony Rains 1 year, 9 months ago
The blacks who are targeting whites for whatever reason don't want equal treatment. They want special treatment. I would hope the J school and leadership will see this for what it is, anti-white racism by a group of black students. If America is as anti-black as these students think then how is it we elected a black president?
Will Trice 1 year, 9 months ago
Nice narrative; too bad it's not based on the facts reported above. There are 13 students in the current first -year cohort of the PhD in Communications. Two of the 13 students are Black- one who was in the class in question when the professor made her remarks, and another who is not enrolled in the course, but who has spoken out about the incident on social media. Five students have filed an anonymous grievance against the professor. Even assuming that the two Black students are members of the group of 5, that means that the other three are not.
So I ask, in all seriousness, how is this incident one in which, "... blacks are targeting whites?" And, I'd also like to know how this incident is "...anti-white racism by a group of black students?"
Shawn Boultinghouse 1 year, 9 months ago
Yea, how did that happen if the black people are being oppressed?
John Smart 1 year, 9 months ago
Wow. ISIS does scare me a little...but honestly graduate students are scarier. The real scourge on society right now are graduate students. . They are insane fascists who seems to believe they are not fascists.
Bob Summers 1 year, 9 months ago
It looks like to me, the Liberals are reaping what they have sown in public schools and Colleges. The chickens, so to speak, have come home to roost.
Bob Summers 1 year, 9 months ago
"Where's all the White women at?"
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
You made me laugh Bob. I loved Blazing Saddles.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
Where The White Women At? - Blazing Saddles by Teenage Mutant Ninja Churchill
Bob Summers 1 year, 9 months ago
A fantastic movie during a fantastic time in America. A time when Americans could laugh at one another without hating.
Woody Carson 1 year, 9 months ago
"At the next class meeting, on Tuesday, the graduate students demanded that Quenette read aloud their letter, 'An Open Letter Calling for the Termination of Dr. Andrea Quenette for Racial Discrimination.'" The Red Guard strikes again.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
Sounds more Pol Pottish to me.
Shawn Boultinghouse 1 year, 9 months ago
This sounds like a bunch of little kids. "Mom, Billy is looking at me funny. Make him stop!". Are we going to let a bunch of children tell us what we cannot say?
Bob Summers 1 year, 9 months ago
Are we going to let a bunch of children tell us what we cannot say?
Not me.
But, then, I'm a hater. A bully. A bigot. A racist. And not a Liberal.
Mike Riner 1 year, 9 months ago
Well, apparently the University of I-have-no-backbone is willing to let these children do just that!
Lisa Naumann 1 year, 9 months ago
“They articulated not only her lack of awareness of racial discrimination and violence on this campus and elsewhere but an active denial of institutional, structural and individual racism,”
What acts of racially-motivated violence have occurred on the KU campus?
John Devereaux 1 year, 9 months ago
Who knew skin color affects the thickness of the skin so much?
Brock Masters 1 year, 9 months ago
Was Amy offended when the president used the word?
And using the n-word instead of saying the actual word is silly. Means the same thing and you hear the actual word even though it wasn't said.
Doug Hensley 1 year, 9 months ago
It's a very bad idea to use a word that simply cannot be used without giving offense. If you must bring it up, bring it up indirectly. "That word", or whatever.
But as to "denying" racial violence on campus, is this of itself racist?
“They articulated not only her lack of awareness of racial discrimination and violence on this campus and elsewhere but an active denial of institutional, structural and individual racism,” Schumacher wrote in the letter signed by the students in the class, plus one other graduate student. “This denial perpetuates racism in and of itself.”
Doesn't it depend whether there is in fact racial violence on campus? Has the Journal-World documented this? There can't have been lynchings; the whole world would have been up in arms. There can't have been murders, ditto. So whatever violence there has been has been on a less drastic scale. But are we talking beatings, draggings, and the like, felony assault? Or are we talking metaphorical violence, which can mean anything and is a matter of opinion whether it's really violence?
And what about institutional discrimination? Judging from what is happening in this case, the powers that be at KU are not knocking back cocktails and having a good laugh over this affair. They're taking it seriously. How much institutional discrimination can there be, then, if something such as a one-time use of an illicit word brings instant punishment?
Johnny Kay 1 year, 9 months ago
Doug Hensley: You are taking this at face value. There is no serious ideological debate here. You ask, “Doesn’t it depend whether there is in fact racial violence on campus?” The answer is that it is metaphorical violence -- i.e., hurt feelings. In the racism/sexism/cultural appropriation/transgen/triggers/micro-aggression game, definitions are determined by the group politically ascendant, and what definitions they choose are dependent on the expediency of the moment.
Students believe that a pretense of sensitivity will score points for them, and the more outraged they pretend to be over some perceived racial/ethnic/gender slight, the more points they will score. Plus, it’s fun -- children love getting the upper hand with adults -- and how much homework do you think the students in Professor Andrea Quenette's class will need to do for the remainder of the semester?
The sensitivity game is a source of distraction, division, and intellectual suffocation. People are channeled into self-destructive paths of thought and perception, and genuine education is subordinated to slogans and indoctrination.
What the students don’t realize is that they are pawns, serving the corporate elite as the proverbial Useful Idiots. For example, step back and look at Black Lives Matter.
Black Lives Matter is a front group for the corporate elite and is funded by billionaires including George Soros, Paul Egerman, Tom Steyer, Leah Hunt-Hendrix, and Robert McKay. The purpose of Black Lives Matter is to promote the agenda of the corporate elite by re-directing potential opposition into pointless inter-racial conflict.
Black Lives Matter purposely behaves offensive and menacing -- the shrieking, shaking, interrupting, and threatening so common to Black Lives Matter appearances, the absurd denunciation of the phrase “all lives matter” -- to discredit Blacks and make them look foolish and dangerous. Black Lives Matter purposely attempts to confirm the worst stereotypes others have of Black people by actions such as those on display at a recent town hall-style meeting at the University of North Carolina when members commandeered the stage while banging on drums and chanting, “We comin’! We ready!”
The goal is to repel Whites and Hispanics so Whites and Hispanics are less likely to support any initiative supported by Black Lives Matter -- including the legitimate demand that police officers be held accountable for their actions. By re-framing police violence as only affecting Blacks and then engaging in chaotic displays of intimidation, Black Lives Matter encourages non-Blacks to defend police violence and to believe that it is necessary to combat the criminal behavior of Blacks.
It’s just one more example of how the corporate elite maintains its control over the rest of us.
Rebecca Woolfolk 1 year, 9 months ago
Black Live Matter has nothing to do with this. Why introduce it?
Black Lives Matter has to do with the very real unjustified killings of black citizens by police who are then not help accountable. This current kerfuffle is about some youngsters who can't hear a word that makes them uncomfortable, even if that word is used in a non-offensive context.
Paul Beyer 1 year, 9 months ago
Read Amy's linkedin profile. All any intelligent person needs to know to understand who and what she is. She needs to be dumped from any PhD program dumb enough to to admit her
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
I am curious as to why these white students, who probably haven't lifted a finger in their life tp promote an issue of social justice, have miraculously been transformed themselves into the standard bearers of a civil and decent society.
My guess is that they are mere rank opportunists who, recognizing the increased racial tensions on college campuses, have a twisted need to give a black person a high five and a soul brother handshake to a person of color just like their favorite bigot, Don Trump.
Donald Trump and Ben Carson AWKWARD Handshake About Iraq by G4ViralVideos
Theodore Calvin 1 year, 9 months ago
The same folks who claim they aren't racist and understand racism because they went to high-school with 3 black people & even had a class with one of them where they were group partners for the semester? Ohhhh wow, you're so diverse & have been exposed to many different situations.
Willem Reese 1 year, 9 months ago
Whether some people fall under the description of your straw man construction or not, they have more right to declare themselves "not racist" than those who would imply they're bigots based on such thin concepts as "white privilege", or as you do, "lack of diversity".
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
Mr. Calvin: Are your comments directed towards me? I come from three generations of civil rights activists. My father was a body guard for Larkin Marshall, a newspaper editor from Macon Georgia who ran for Congress in the late forties. My father and his 17 year old brother were almost lynched by the KKK for attempting to register black folks during that same period of time. I grew up in a black neighborhood in New Jersey in the sixties. In second grade my family and I were arrested at a sit in demonstration in Elizabeth New Jersey where they were building a new county court house and refused to hire black. We were the only white people there.
For thirty years my deceased father, a professor at KU, was known for championing the rights of the marginalized and oppressed. I worked closely with him on many of those issues.
Before you attempt to insult someone, learn a lilttle about them. Otherwise, you look foolish and ignorant/
Or maybe you were not attacking me. it's hard to tell from your words and context.
Marc Wilborn 1 year, 9 months ago
"Schumacher is a far right teabagging birther radical prolifer, family values shouting neoconservative Bush apologist. And probably a war monger to boot."
You just can't make this stuff up........
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
No, you can't. Read her self-authored linkedin resume and prove otherwise.
Grump Mann 1 year, 9 months ago
Obviously the so called "N" word is copy written and only for use by the Rapper music industry and Hollywood........ such a weak culture to be brought to their knees with these 6 letters......
Lawrence Tobb 1 year, 9 months ago
Brilliant. They felt like she wasn't open to hearing other views and then they walk out refusing to listen to her comments on it. They probably don't get the irony of it. What fools.
And these are PhD students. Folks, these are the next generation of teachers. What an embarrassment.
Roger Harris 1 year, 9 months ago
The N.*word is the word the Democrats used when they ran the Confederate flag up the SC flag pole and when they filibustered against the civil rights act and the voting tights act. I guess the Professor didn't get the memo the new hate word is Racist
Bob Summers 1 year, 9 months ago
KKK was a proxy group for the Democrats back in the day.
Dorothy Hoyt-Reed 1 year, 9 months ago
Again, Bob, please study history after WWII. Geez.
Bob Smith 1 year, 9 months ago
For years there was a US Senator who had been an official in the KKK, his name was Robert Byrd and he was a Democrat.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
Actually, dorothy,. the republican and democratic parties traded clothing long before WWii. FDR was a democrat, and he was first elected President in 1932.
Nathan Anderson 1 year, 9 months ago
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
Johnny Kay 1 year, 9 months ago
Lawrence Gladsden: Your position is based entirely on assumptions that you impose without justification -- assumptions about the over-all structure of the class, the intent of the students, the capabilities of the students . . .
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
And besides, she is the professor, it is her class, and it is within her sole discretion as to how the classroom is conducted.
In their online letter linked in the above LJW article, the students write as followd:
"We students in the class began discussing possible ways to bring these issues up in our classes when COMS 930 instructor Dr. Andrea Quenette abruptly interjected..."
What a bunch of sophomoric intellectually dishonest drivel. It's her damn class. She is paid to teach it, and it is her right and duty to "abruptly interject" as she sees fit. It's commonly known as "academic freedom," a concept that a typical graduate student should not only fully grasp, but respect. .
I guess these thugs would characterize a student talking as a "polite suggestion" whereas the professor's comments in her own classroom are characterized as an "abrupt interjection." What an absolute pile of horse manureish sophistry. These twits would make great propagandists for a third rate dictatorship.
Sue Sherrill 1 year, 9 months ago
I am so thankful to have been educated in an era when it was assumed one would be exposed to, even 'subjected' to, ideas different from those we already held. What a sad state of affairs! Rather than opening minds, education is now CLOSING them! The patients run the asylum!
Richard Heckler 1 year, 9 months ago
Amy Schumacher, a first-year Ph.D. student who was in the class claims the professor has previous history of being unsympathetic to students." What the hell does that mean?
Again there is no hard evidence that which should be present in order to substantiate the suggestion of racism. Assuming such is not acceptable.
Rich Maier 1 year, 9 months ago
RACIST
Bill McGovern 1 year, 9 months ago
usually those who run around calling others racist are prejudiced themselves.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
Great observation, Richard.
According to Schumacher's self-authored resume posted at Linkedin, this is her first semester at KU. In other words, she has only been on campus for around three months.
Despite the fact that she is a KU neophyte, she claims the professor has a previous history of being unsympathetic to students. Odd, but according to Quenette's husband, who is a well respected member of a large computer related company, she has received only positive evaluations from both students and colleagues, and on the many "professor rating" websites I found nary a complaint about her student/professor relationships. In fact, every comment I saw about her personal disposition characterized her as "nice" or words to that effect.
In the final analysis, the substance of Schumacher's critique is based on unsubstantiated and unarticulated hearsay, and that, my friends, is the recipe of a witch hunt.
Tom Whitehead 1 year, 9 months ago
You gotta be kidding me! She HURT the students' feelings??? For real?!? Wait until these idiots get out of their structured and protected environments and get a taste of the real world. Note to those with hurt feelings: the real world will not care about your feelings or your whiny attitudes. The real world will chew you up and spit you out. Get some balls for God's sake. Oh, I apologize if my mention of God has offended anyone. Nuf said, get over yourselves.
Bill McGovern 1 year, 9 months ago
we get it Rich, you hate white people. You should listen to some speeches by MLK, you could learn a lot from him.
Tim Browne 1 year, 9 months ago
They just shut down. Someone said the "n word" and they were so mortified. Like if preschoolers saw a squirrel hit by a car beside the playground. I may have to lay down myself, I'm so upset now.
Gary Robert 1 year, 9 months ago
So she would have been okay had she just said Nword rather than the specific word. Good news. So this Cword should have said Nword,right? WTF!!!! It is so ridiculous and so exhausting.
Dorothy Hoyt-Reed 1 year, 9 months ago
I don't know what exactly happened in this class, but I do know that questioning the authority of a professor should be ok, maybe not fire them though. When I was an education graduate student during my 5th year of the teacher certification program I had a professor who was supposedly expert in assessments and in charge of creating the state assessments. He spent a lot of time lecturing and lecturing about how to create good assessments. Then he gave us a midterm that broke all the rules that he had taught us. I barely made an A on it, but many students only made a C. The only reason I made an A is because I was good at memorization.
Afterwards we students talked about it, and I suggested that maybe he was going to have us analyze it to find the flaws, but that's not what happened. When we confronted him about it in the next class, we were shut down by him, and by a few of his "followers". We were right in pointing the flaws of his test and how he broke his own rules, but it didn't matter. We were accused of being "whiners" who were unhappy with our grade, even though I pointed out that I had nothing to whine about, since I had a good grade. At that point we just wanted to finish our certification process and get a job teaching (and there was no social media at the time), so we didn't pursue it like these students have. I did lose all respect for this professor though.
The students are being a bit extreme in their demands, but maybe they should be heard. And the professor should be heard too. If she did something that wasn't quite right, she could learn from it, and if the students are being too "whiney" or misunderstood what she was saying, then they could learn from it. Why set this up as "sides". Why not sit them all down and discuss it? People just don't want to listen to each other anymore.
Johnny Kay 1 year, 9 months ago
Dorothy Hoyt-Reed: You are taking all of this at face value. There is no serious ideological debate here. In the racism/sexism/cultural appropriation/transgen/triggers/micro-aggression game, definitions are determined by the group politically ascendant, and what definitions they choose are dependent on the expediency of the moment.
The students are doing this because it's fun -- children love getting the upper hand with adults. In addition, it makes them feel important, it makes them feel part of something larger than themselves, it enables them to identify with a group they believe is powerful, and they get out of doing actual college work -- for example, how much homework do you think the students in Professor Andrea Quenette's class will need to do for the remainder of the semester?
John McCann 1 year, 9 months ago
I blame the individuals that use the word that sounds like the N-word that means miserly and the other word. First off, the word used in place of miserly shows in most cases, a person who wants to show off their vocabulary and also a word that relatively few people in our society understand. Hence, people immediately attribute that word to one that has been burned into society's mind. Burned in not by people, but by the media's overwhelming need to cause controversy. Why use these words? It is like the person who has seen other people getting burned when they put their hand in the fire but saying: It won't happen to me! I would like college administrators to back their faculty on things like this, but there are probably 50K students at Kansas University. If the school does back the professor and 50% of the student body decides to demonstrate, and that demonstration turns to riot, the school risks it all.
I recommend that universities provide teachers with something akin to George Carlin's seven dirty words you cannot say on TV which now represent the X number of words you cannot say on campus. .
In this case, the ignorant and the petulant have won. Erase the words from Websters.
Bob Smith 1 year, 9 months ago
So we should start banning words because they might be confused for bad words by the ignorant? O, that way madness lies; let me shun that; No more of that.
Aaron McGrogor 1 year, 9 months ago
Well, goodbye Tigger. You and Poo were great.
John McCann 1 year, 9 months ago
Funny, but really not on point.
Paul Beyer 1 year, 9 months ago
One last comment from me on this thread. What does Amy know about discrimination and how it feels? She's obviously not black using her own description of the students in the class? Or maybe she's going to pretend to be black for her next job as one prominent "black" leader recently did?
Jimmy Blue 1 year, 9 months ago
Just the facts ma'm just the facts.
Over 70% of illegal aliens are from Mexico/Guatemala/El Salvador that makes them brown in color.
45% of all brown in color(technically Mexico is not Latin America, even though they want to be, it's North America) are in gangs.
35% of all blacks are in gangs
97% of all terrorist groups are Muslim.
Hmmmmm.. Am I racist for saying the facts? racism isn't prevelant in her life or she can't see racism around her. It isn't like black people have different bathrooms or water fountains anymore. The government has given way to much money to "pay back" lineage of slaves. It's gone too far. Now our schools are filled with ridiculous cry babies who I can't hire because they are useless. White, black or brown.. Grow up kids and realize our school system sucks in comparison to the rest of the world.
Also fun fact America, and to all you cry babies, go anywhere in the world anywhere and racism is massive. India, racist.. Green dots red dots, all across China.. That's right if you are white you can't ride in certain cars, stay in certain hotel rooms. The list goes on and on and on. Go to Europe anymore, more than half the population is Muslims. 100% of rape cases in Norway, from Arabs towards whites, 75% in Sweden Arabs towards white woman, 1/4 of all woman in Sweden are sexually assaulted. Let's stop being pre-madonnas and start understanding our environment.
I'm glad she made those comments and it's too bad she could t make mine.
Pamela McDermott 1 year, 9 months ago
Highly recommend this article:
http://darrowmillerandfriends.com/2015/11/19/safe-spaces-converting-students-jihadis-university-campuses/
I've been aggravated many times by the teaching on college campuses, but free speech is one thing that makes a free society. Come on college people...you'll be fine. And FYI, there aren't many more times in life where you'll get to make "demands" like you're doing. Good luck with marriage and parenting if that's your approach to things. Haha
Bud Fuller 1 year, 9 months ago
These kids are a bunch of wimps that need to grow up and face the real world. Can't you see all these crybabies in the workforce, whining all day getting no work done. They may get the liberal colleges to listen, but won't have much luck out in the world.
Rebecca Woolfolk 1 year, 9 months ago
I just feel nauseated by what is happening to Prof. Quenette. What is wrong with these students that they'd try to destroy a woman's career over something so minor? Have they no decency?
Johnny Kay 1 year, 9 months ago
Rebecca Woolfolk: You ask, "Have they no decency?"
Ah, no, they don't. Students believe that a pretense of sensitivity will score points for them, and the more outraged they pretend to be over some perceived racial/ethnic/gender slight, the more points they will score. Plus, it’s fun -- children love getting the upper hand with adults -- and how much homework do you think the students in Professor Andrea Quenette's class will need to do for the remainder of the semester?
Rebecca Woolfolk 1 year, 9 months ago
These are adults, though. Or should be.
Aaron McGrogor 1 year, 9 months ago
This is ridiculous. Is there any proof that she used the word in a derogatory form? If there is and if she did, then she deserves what she's getting. But from what I understand, she did not use it derogatorily. If what I'm getting out of this is true, then what is the fuss? African Americans use "the n word" all the time just referring to their friends. Why are we still hung up on this? I have personally been called "cracker" and "white boy". I find it offensive, but it is a double standard. If I were to respond "n----r" or "black boy", I would practically (or maybe literally) be tarred and feathered. The law stating that everyone was equal was enacted long ago. I don't understand why we're still focusing on this and not on the massacres that are occurring daily in the middle east.
And it's awfully interesting that the LJWorld will allow me to use the word "cracker", but "the n word" you can't post.
"Watch your mouth! The word "n----r" is not allowed here."
Bill McGovern 1 year, 9 months ago
hey McGrogor let's go bowling.
Aaron McGrogor 1 year, 9 months ago
Sounds great!
Marc Wilborn 1 year, 9 months ago
Both sides of this particular incident need to be heard but anyone who feels that using the "N" word in any context in the current environment is okay should really improve their ability to steer clear of hot button issues.
Rebecca Woolfolk 1 year, 9 months ago
Yes, education on the graduate studies level should be all about steering clear of hot button issues.
Marc Wilborn 1 year, 9 months ago
Sorry Rebecca but anyone who wants to use that word should do so at their own risk. The exact context will be lost before it is all over and others could also get thrown into the fray without their consent.
Rebecca Woolfolk 1 year, 9 months ago
I remember taking a creative writing course at KU in the early to mid 80s. The teacher assigned us to read several stories written by students in previous classes as an example of what was expected. One was by a Vietnam vet and was about a Vietnamese teenager being raped by several U.S. soldiers. One of the soldiers was 18 and newly arrived. They forced him to participate too.
Would that story be allowed now?
Tim Browne 1 year, 9 months ago
Oh god, were any of them black?
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
I think this is a good example of why Marxism will always fail. One cannot transform an "oppressive" society into an "egalitarian" one by means of a "dictatorship of the proletariat."
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
What this debate comes down to is that there is a profound difference between hurling the word at another individual or group of individuals as an explicitly ugly racial epithet, or using the word in another context, such as in rap songs, greetings between two people of color, or in an academic setting. That is why it would be unacceptable and inappropriate to censor such American classics as "To Kill a Mockingbird" or "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."
In other words, CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING.
Hey you graduate Communciations Studies students. Did you not learn this as undergrads?
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
A Suggested Credo for Graduate Communications Students at KU:
1) Knowledge is good. (I stole this one from Faber College)
2) Understanding that communication involves context is also good.
I will let the rest of you fill in numbers three through ten.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
OK, so the professor could have probably handled the issue more artfully. But that is not the point of debate here. She is accused of being a racist and some very misguided students are demanding she be fired. .
By arguing that she may have handled the matter better can be construed by some as tacit approval of the student's demands.
I don't think this blog is the most appropriate place for your comments. This is an unmitigated witch hunt, and i think we should all be focused on the indecency of such tactics.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
"Also, how can any discussion reach its full potential without looking at both sides."
It is impossible to have intelligent debate with those engaged in a witch hunt.
In a similar vein, it is impossible to have a intellectual discussion with a Nazi or a member of the KKK. There is simply nothing to debate.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
In a similar vein, it is impossible to have an intelligent conversation with an anti-semite.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
One final thought. These students are playing right into the hands of David Horowitz and other right wing pundits who have been falsely claiming for years that our college campuses are infected with professors who spew left wing propaganda.
On the contrary, most campuses today--KU included-- are mostly apolitical and self-absorbed communities who don't give a damn about the plight of marginalized people.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
Sorry, but I have never heard of you. And by the way, I am Jewish, so your suggestion that I am Jew-baiting you is way, way way, way off base.
Apparently, you don't know much about Horowitz. Many years ago, he was a self-described "socialist" and was editor of the .left wing publication "Ramparts." His transformation from a left-winger to a far right pundit had absolutely nothing to do with Israel. You might want to educate yourself in this regard. Instead, as Horowitz himself described in his first book, his transformation was based on an incident he was privy to where a woman who acted as a secretary to the local Black Panther Party (I believe it was Oakland, California if my memory serves me well) was allegedly murdered by her so-called comrades.
Horowitz's polemics in support of Israel came well after his "transformation."
In fact, many old-timers of the "Old-Left" have disengaged themselves from the movement known as "the New Left" based on their arguably anti-semitic support of the
Palestinians, a group whose goal is to wipe Israel off the face of the planet. .
As an aside, I consider myself a Zionist. Israel was the creation of two thousand years of gentile oppression, and has an absolute right to exist.
Your knee-reaction that I am attacking Israel is as thin-skinned and off base as the students who are claiming the professor is racist.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
I invite you to copy and paste on this blog the private messages I sent to you. I have nothing to hide. The reason I didn't post it publicly is that I thought it would be cruel to further embarrass you with a continued public lashing. And based on this inane response of yours, I will certainly not publish it for the public to view, as I believe it could be damaging to your psyche. But you are welcome to do so. Again, I have nothing to hide and will not be in the least embarrassed if you cut and paste my private messages. Go ahead, knock yourself out.
By the way, as a well educated person with an A.B. from Oberlin, a Masters from Smith, and a PhD from University of Mass at Amherst, why in the world would publicly comment on David Horowitz, as you did in an earlier post, when you now admit you know little to nothing about?
You are trying to bully me. You should know one thing that most bloggers here probably already know. Bob Forer does not suffer bullies very well. ,
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
P.S.
Lady, you are the coward. You started this fight by wrongfully accusing me of Jew baiting and when I defended myself, you attempt to rationalize your cowardly failure to defend your gratuitous remarks by proclaiming immediately above you "have no intention of being dragged back here again."
You are as contemptible as the KU students who have fomented a witch hunt against a young KU professor. The students wrongfully accused the professor of being a racist. In a similar vein, you wrongfully--out of sheer ignorance combined with an apparent inability to control your anger when confronted with beliefs that don't comport with your own--accused me of being a bigot.
Shame on you.
You are the proverbial shanda fer da goyim.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
P.P.S. What is good for the gander is good for the goose, no?
Since you find private messaging abhorrent, I am posting below the entire contents of a private message that you sent me. Such practice of yours violates your own proclamation that private messages are unacceptable. I find your duplicity and hypocrisy a tad bit amusing.
The user Barbara Johnson sent the following message to you via LJWorld.com:
==============================
Who are you and why are you harassing me on my private email. If you EVER write to me again on my private email, I will copy the entire email and post it on Facebook. If you can't say whatever it is to me in public, you have absolutely no business saying it any other way.
BTW, wonderful that you are also Jewish. But, you are also an ass! If the posting is on Facebook or the web in general, and accessible to me, and I decide to comment, I WILL COMMENT all I want about whatever I want. HAVE I MADE MYSELF CLEAR TO YOU??? You don't get to tell me that only people who agree with you are allowed to write. To do so makes you an ass.
I stopped reading your crap, so you had to search me out and write to me privately. Well boo hoo for you that you couldn't stand for someone else to leave before you got to say whatever it was you wanted so badly to say. You are not in charge of me and, frankly, after all this bad behavior by you, I don't particularly care what you think. Get a life.
==============================
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
By the way, folks, this lady is delusional. I took time in my private message to her to identify myself and specifically explain who I am, the type of family I come from, my background, and what I believe in.
And in response she starts off with "who are you???? Go figure,.
I will end this conversation, unless this lady further attacks my charactet further, which will force me to defend myself. I am not trying to censor her and welcome her thoughts. Her nasty personal attacks, however, are not welcome.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
and futhermore, I must furthermore say I used one too many furthers. Sorry. :):):)
Erika Northcutt 1 year, 9 months ago
In my opinion, it matters what exactly she said: If she said something along the lines of "the (n word)s don't graduate as much as white kids" Then that is a huge problem. If she said "Is using (n word) contributing to graduation rates" or "I don't see the word (n word) spray painted on our campus..." then I really don't think she should lose her job.
As a KU grad student, I find it concerning that other graduate students could not find their voice and speak up to say that she was making them uncomfortable. I find it disconcerting that they could not engage her in a dialogue at all. Ther communications department should make an effort to educate their students on creating a dialogue and being able to engage those they disagree with; if communications grad students can't do this, they do not deserve to graduate with that degree.
Tim Browne 1 year, 9 months ago
You'd think Communications grad students could... er... Communicate. The real tragedy here is that they wanted to discuss how to have a "conversation" about race in their classrooms with undergraduates... and couldn't even listen to their professor provocatively inquire about whether racism was really an issue on campus. Sheesh.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
You'd think Communications grad students could... er... Communicate.
A very simple yet brilliant way of posing the issue. I wish I would have thought of your incisive comment myself. .
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
"As a KU grad student, I find it concerning that other graduate students could not find their voice and speak up to say that she was making them uncomfortabe"
Very good point, Ericka. Perhaps they are cognizant of the poverty of their abject sanctimony and realize that it would be impossible in the context of a real, civil and intellectual conversation for their desire to have the professor fired bear fruit.
Their methods would make Joseph Goebbels very proud.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
Your self-absorbed perceptions are amusing. Erika has received, and will receive many more thumbs-up in addition to yours. Your narcissistic tendencies are also very evident in that my mention of Horowitz was very clearly not in response to anything you said. Not to mention the fact that as an obscure academic, you apparently think people should automatically know of you .
Are you Royalty?
P.S. In one of your earlier posts, you surmised that I had looked you up. Even if I had, which I most certainly did not, how in the hell could I distinguish you from the thousands and thousands of Barbara Johnsons resulting from a google search,.
My first thought is NPD.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
I must admit that I eventually found the time to try to figure out who in the hell you are. If my guess is accurate, you have just diminished the pride I take in my Oberlin College education.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
While the damage these scoundrels have caused Professor Quenette is unspeakable and beyond repair, we should also be aware that the story has hit the national publications, and plays into the national perception that Kansas is populated with a bunch of medieval, backward, right wing and racist Neanderthals.
From hence forward, i am fearful that those East Coast provincial "intellectuals" who believe "real life" ends on the west side of the East River will fail to understand my bumper sticker which reads:
Lawrence. Thirty Five Square Miles surrounded by Kansas.
Gee, thanks children. We Lawrencians are now all collective victims of your libel.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
One further thought. We Lawrencians can survive the libel. However, Professor Quenette and her family, who are the primary victims here, cannot unless we come together and collectively defend her.
Lawrence Freeman 1 year, 9 months ago
Question. Why is the "N-word" okay in movies, radio and TV, but never in print?
Bob Summers 1 year, 9 months ago
What's the "N-word"?
Bob Smith 1 year, 9 months ago
Think of the principal river of western Africa and add one consonant.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
Instead of speaking of the "N word," how bout if we say "the word that is similar to the principal river of western Africa--add one consonant."
Do you think these graduate communications students would find it less offensive?
I don't know, because it would require them to have a fifth-grader's knowledge of world geography. .
Stephen Voss 1 year, 9 months ago
I truly believe this will slay you.
Read the letter those students wrote, to get their teacher fired.
They used the n word!
I kid you not.
They should all be expelled.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
Irony can sometimes be a very effective rhetorical tool.
Nice!
Rebecca Woolfolk 1 year, 9 months ago
She's deleted it from her facebook page now, but yesterday when someone pointed this out in the comments to her facebook post, she explained that this was a joint effort - written by eight white students and one black one. When it came time to put that word in, the black student actually wrote it.
I wish I'd thought to make a screen print of the comments yesterday.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
"when it came time to put that word in, the black student actually wrote it."
Are you fricking serious? I am rolling on the floor laughing my butt off.
Take a peek, folks, this is the hilarity of political correctness.
It would make a great SNL skit
Whjte Student One: "I ain't gonna write the "N WORD."
White student Two: Hey, don't look at me.
(Three other students look down and away trying to avoid attention and become invisible)
White Student Three: Well, some body has to write it. And its not really writing, its typing, so I think that might be PC.
White Student Four: My keyboarding skills suck.
White Student Five: Well, lets show solidarity with our sister and have her fill in the blanks.
White Student Six: Kewl, man. Awesome. Right On .
Student of color is muttering under her breath, "oh please...... these ignorant white folks........"
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
The internationally known British ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and best-selling author recently declared on Twitter, "A university is not a 'safe space'. If you need a safe space, leave, go home, [and] hug your teddy...until [you are] ready for university."
None by Richard Dawkins
Paul Beyer 1 year, 9 months ago
Actually every single one who signed that letter should be expelled. Not one of them is worthy of even trying to get an advanced KU degree, much less a PhD.
Bob Forer 1 year, 9 months ago
Finishing their PhD is probably the least of their worries.
They obviously don't know the difference between publicly uttering a statement that contains articulated facts establishing probable cause for their allegations on one hand, and outright libel on the other.
These twits probably think that since "it's the internet" they can libel all the want and otherwise recklessly and gratuitously destroy people's careers. reputations, livelihoods and families.
I think they will probably be disabused of this childish notion if they are served with a petition and summons seeking "damages in excess of seventy-five thousand dollars" followed by a motion to amend pleadings to request punitive damages.
Bob Smith 1 year, 9 months ago
I suspect those letter-writing students are voxsplaining the world to their families over the Thanksgiving table today. The horror, the horror.
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