Race, Academics, and Context
Mar 4th, 2010 | 8 responses
I teach at Towson University which is the second largest public university in Maryland. Yesterday, it was announced that an adjunct art professor was fired because he used the “N” word during lecture. The adjunct, Allen Zaruba, said that he made the comment (click here for the comment) in the course of illustrating the rights and benefits of adjunct professor at Towson University.
The statement of the Provost is here.
I have two takes on the matter. As far as Towson is concerned, I think it was an overreaction. There could have been an apology made and maybe some disciplinary action levied against Zaruba. The firing made this molehill into a mountain of questionable PR that the school may soon regret.
The other take is prompted by a local talk host Ron Smith in Baltimore. Yesterday, on his show, Mr. Smith said “I wondered what would have happened if he had been black.” Zaruba is white and the comment was said to assume that race is the primary reason why Zaruba was fired from his teaching post.
As an African-American adjunct, if I had used the “N” word during lecture, I would had a serious discussion with my chair, the dean and the provost before I was told that my services were no longer required. The issue here is not race but context and relationship.
I know that if I was to use that word in an academic environment, I would get tossed out on my ear. I also know that if I were to walk up to another African-American male and use the “N” word indiscriminately, I would probably be dodging a fist or another blunt object. The word, used in familiar relationships such as with friends or family is sometimes appropriate; in other settings – at best, it is best unused or altogether avoided.
Context and relationship matters – maybe one day we will understand that before jumping to conclusions.
A note of thanks to Polimom, CStanley and jchem who helped me to clarify my post. The clarification is appreciated and the “rightly so” is gone 
8 Responses to “Race, Academics, and Context”
Well, lets just put it out there….this is what he said…
“Towson University promptly fired an adjunct art professor after he characterized himself as “a nigger on the corporate plantation” in a classroom discussion last week.”
As one commenter on the board from this article wrote….
He could have just used the word “slave”.
As for the uni actions….I am not sure who was involved in the firing, but I would hope that a panel of profs, admins, and students made the decision.
I guess I'm not following you well Tony.
In re Zaruba, you said: “As far as Towson is concerned, I think it was an overreaction. There could have been an apology made and maybe some disciplinary action levied against Zaruba.”
But then you said that if it had been you: “I know that if I was to use that word in an academic environment, I would get tossed out on my ear and rightly so.
Are you not describing the same outcome? If so, why do you think the uni. overreacted w/ Zaruba, but “throwing you out on your ear” would make sense if you'd said it? (Maybe I'm reading this wrong?)
Tony will have to clarify to see if I'm right, but my interpretation was that he thinks this form of discipline is excessive for the infraction but also believes that it would be applied uniformly regardless of the race of the person committing the infraction.
I guess I'm not really following too well either, Tony. As Polimom noted, in one breath you call it an overreaction, and in another you say that had you done it the University would be justified.
From one academic to another, I think its a safe bet to stay away from saying such loaded words or phrases, regardless of the point you were trying to make. Because as soon as you say something like that, the rest of your point is often overlooked or forgotten. In this case, context is meaningless.
CS,
That is exactly what I meant. Towson would have fired me as well. Both of those actions would be overreactions.
Thanks, CS and Tony, for clarifying.
FWIW — it's the “rightly so” that threw me off.
You will have to excuse me for sounding old fashioned, but wouldn't it help us to return to simple good manners where broaching them is its own punishment? Where instead of being shocked and offended we are embarrassed for the person who said that awful thing? Didn't your mother teach you any better than that?
I guess I am showing my age. Feel free to register shock and show offense.
The comment made by this professor is pretty offensive even beyond the use of the n-word. I've heard that being an adjunct is kind of a paying-your-dues position, and it's a lot of work for not a lot of pay, but a “nigger on a plantation”? Way to appropriate what may be the single worst human rights violation in the history of the US. What a martyr syndrome this guy has. While an African American professor might use the n-word, I doubt very much that it would ever be used in this context. Kind of like how you never hear sexual assault victims talking about how the IRS “raped” them.