The recent dismissal of a white New York professor for reading aloud the "N-word" from a Mark Twain novel has shone a spotlight on the use of racial slurs in American classrooms. The incident came after another professor, also white, this time at Duquesne University in Pennsylvania, was dismissed for using the slur during a course. Vershawn Young, a Black communications professor, takes a different view. Wendy Kaminer, a lawyer and writer who used to be an American Civil Liberties Union board member, said "the distinction between quoting a racial slur and using a racial slur has been completely erased." For Lester, the Arizona State University professor, the answer is to talk about the word and its complex history without uttering it.

Source: The Star June 27, 2021 12:22 UTC