Teaching Racially Sensitive Material at SLU

Imagine being the only person of color in an English classroom, and a white professor reads aloud a racial slur to a class whose remaining students are white. Over the summer there was a professor who used the n-word while reading a poem in class. Granted, there was a preface regarding the contents of this poem, but not to the necessary extent for students to understand and process further. The use of racial slurs in class is not a new experience that Black students have faced. Markedly, this type of behavior is something that has been a reoccurrence at St. Lawrence University for a while. 

We recognize that academic freedom allows for some forms of expression in an academic setting and that the professor’s intention was not to be offensive. Nevertheless, the student felt very negatively impacted by the use of the slur and was deeply hurt by the professor’s actions. 

This word has a long history and a depth to it that they, as a white person, will never understand. The n-word has deep ties to slavery and the dehumanization of Black people and could have easily been skipped over or replaced with a non-derogatory term. There is no reason why a Black student should ever feel that their being is under attack when trying to further their education. Educational settings should be a safe environment for all people, regardless of their identity. Unfortunately, on several occasions, St Lawrence University has failed to create this safe environment. However, this is not a problem that St. Lawrence University students and academics are facing alone; this is something that is faced by academics in universities and colleges around the world who teach racially sensitive material.  

“Overall, the whole experience felt very dehumanizing. They did not see me as a person with feelings at that moment.” 

The student who was harmed in this process wrote,  

“I was extremely uncomfortable and anxious to even say anything because mainly I am the only person of color in that class and have dealt with racism before. After they finished reading, I told them that I found it extremely disrespectful and that I was uncomfortable being the only black person in that class...I now feel extremely uncomfortable with just the idea of having to go back to their class. I don’t know why they thought they could almost justify them saying this to show an example to the class. I felt like I was used without taking my feelings into account.” 

Other students who were included in the discussion of this event also had important things to say.  

“Knowing that this professor has been teaching sensitive material for a while, it would’ve been obvious to skip over the “n-word” without it interrupting the flow of the lesson/poem. Yes, I agree with the fact that there’s academic freedom but, with freedom comes rules and regulations to maintain it. The n-word has deep ties to slavery and the dehumanization of black people, and she could’ve easily skipped or even replace the word with another non-derogatory term. Overall, this is not only a singular professor problem; this is a St Lawrence University problem and is something that should be addressed within the creation of a race training program.” 

• Student 1 

“I don’t think the use of a racial slur was necessary to get the point of the poem across. Firstly, the professor did not even question the class on how comfortable they would be with saying that word. Though they did give a warning, it was followed by the use of the racial slur very quickly, not giving students enough time to even process what was said. Though the case may be that they did not mean this in a harmful way, the result of this action left a student feeling extremely uncomfortable, and more thought should have been put out on how to approach this situation.” 

• Student 2 

“I believe that the actions of the professor are not only a reflection of their character but also how the university has failed us. As a white professor, if you choose to teach a course that reflects on other people’s race, culture, or religion and it doesn’t reflect you in any manner then you have to educate yourself. Our society has unequivocally condemned that word because of the hurt and pain that black people had to endure. There is no excuse that will take away from this fact. There are many other outcomes that could’ve taken place that would have led to different results. This professor can hide behind academia and allow it to protect her, but it doesn’t dismiss the harm she has done.”  

• Student 3 

As the Black Laurentian Initiative, we feel that regardless of the professor’s positionality or intentions, it was inappropriate behavior for the language to be used in the classroom. Academia has allowed the space for professors to utilize this type of diction at their own discretion and we ask that this no longer be the case. In this situation, the means did not justify the ends, and the end was at the detriment and expense of Black student in their class. 

We as students have faith in St. Lawrence and are asking that preventative measures be taken to ensure an incident like this does not occur again. This further points to the need for diversity and inclusion training for professors, because we acknowledge that there is important but necessary material that needs to be covered that contains inappropriate language.  

We commend the professor for choosing to actively educate students on this kind of material in a general English poem class. The perspective could have easily been excluded and disregarded as it has been, however, it could have been done in a more culturally sensitive way. We are, however, also hurt as a body with the way the incident has been handled by the university. We are appreciative of the array of classes that are offered at St. Lawrence to students so that they can gain diverse worldviews that center around race and enables students to immerse themselves in different cultures. But we must verbalize how we feel when a part of these educational systems results in creating more harm than good. We are hopeful that in understanding this situation, St. Lawrence University as an institution will be implored to introduce better policies for professors so that these racially sensitive topics are acknowledged in a more professional, appropriate, and supportive mechanism.