Read on Twitter
Black prof here, with some views n the & #39;n-word& #39; controversy at uOttawa. Not sure if Twitter is a hospitable place for these very tentative ideas, but it& #39;s better than keeping them in my head.
Academic freedom is a core value without which a university cannot thrive. The professor at the heart of the controversy has academic freedom and the choices that go with it. Choices don’t operate in a vacuum, and academic freedom does not relieve one of the need to be judicious.
Is it judicious to discuss the n-word in a university classroom? It might be, but the contexts are so limited that there& #39;s risk in probing them. It may be more justified when discussing a major work of literature versus, say, repeating the mundane words of a racist politician.
Personally, I would find it really hard to say the n-word in my classroom or elsewhere in my life, regardless of my context or audience. My gut feeling is I would find the Eng. version hardest. I would have to think hard of a thoughtful response if a student said it in class.
So I try hard to put myself in the position of a white professor who can say it. Perhaps they were braver than me. Perhaps it comes more easily. Perhaps they thought the context was right. Maybe they felt it was & #39;licensed& #39; (esp. as some, like Dany Laferrière, lean this way).
If someone said it near me, my ears would perk up and I would probably be on guard for what they said next. Take that as a cue about what the word might mean for ‘human dignity’ (or whatever we call it). Others might react differently and with much more, or much less, hurt.
A university is an institution in society, a society in which racism is persistent. Visions of the university as a kind of boxing ring of ideas miss the mark — that’s not how ideas work or circulate, and not everyone can take the same punches. This is not opposite to ac. freedom.
The two following things can be true: 1) The student-as-customer is not a healthy model of education 2) Students are adults, can exercise judgement and can ask professionals they work with to be accountable. Racialized students have special perspective on this n-word controversy.
As a post-script, users of the word ‘woke’ in 2020 — many of whom are piping up on this controversy — almost universally mean it disingenuously and disparagingly. They claim today& #39;s antiracism has strayed from some more noble roots (which they likely never cared for either).
In the wake of open letters circulating, don’t be lured into an anglo-franco fight about who is the better (non-)racist. I see some accounts on here hijacking a discussion about race/education to try and score points with the same old prejudices they had well before all this.
