My name is Tiffany Martínez. As a McNair Fellow and student scholar, I’ve presented at national conferences in San Francisco, San Diego, and Miami. I have crafted a critical reflection piece that was published in a peer-reviewed journal managed by the Pell Institute for the Study of Higher Education and Council for Opportunity in Education. I have consistently juggled at least two jobs and maintained the status of a full-time student and Dean’s list recipient since my first year at Suffolk University. I have used this past summer to supervise a teen girls empower program and craft a thirty page intensive research project funded by the federal government. As a first generation college student, first generation U.S. citizen, and aspiring professor I have confronted a number of obstacles in order to earn every accomplishment and award I have accumulated. In the face of struggle, I have persevered and continuously produced content that is of high caliber.
I name these accomplishments because I understand the vitality of credentials in a society where people like me are not set up to succeed. My last name and appearance immediately instills a set of biases before I have the chance to open my mouth. These stereotypes and generalizations forced on marginalized communities are at times debilitating and painful. As a minority in my classrooms, I continuously hear my peers and professors use language that both covertly and overtly oppresses the communities I belong to. Therefore, I do not always feel safe when I attempt to advocate for my people in these spaces. In the journey to become a successful student, I swallow the “momentary” pain from these interactions and set my emotions aside so I can function productively as a student.
Today is different. At eight o’clock this morning, I felt both disrespected and invalidated. For years I have spent ample time dissecting the internalized racism that causes me to doubt myself, my abilities, and my aspirations. As a student in an institution extremely populated with high-income white counterparts, I have felt the bitter taste of not belonging. It took until I used my cloud of doubt and my sociological training to realize that my insecurities are rooted in the systems I navigate every day. I am just as capable if not more so than those around me and my accomplishments are earned.
This morning, my professor handed me back a paper (a literature review) in front of my entire class and exclaimed “this is not your language.” On the top of the page they wrote in blue ink: “Please go back and indicate where you cut and paste.” The period was included. They assumed that the work I turned in was not my own. My professor did not ask me if it was my language, instead they immediately blamed me in front of peers. On the second page the professor circled the word “hence” and wrote in between the typed lines “This is not your word.” The word “not” was underlined. Twice. My professor assumed someone like me would never use language like that. As I stood in the front of the class while a professor challenged my intelligence I could just imagine them reading my paper in their home thinking could someone like her write something like this?
In this interaction, my undergraduate career was both challenged and critiqued. It is worth repeating how my professor assumed I could not use the word “hence,” a simple transitory word that connected two relating statements. The professor assumed I could not produce quality research. The professor read a few pages that reflected my comprehension of complex sociological theories and terms and invalidated it all. Their blue pen was the catalyst that opened an ocean of self-doubt that I worked so hard to destroy. In front of my peers, I was criticized by a person who had the academic position I aimed to acquire. I am hurting because my professor assumed that the only way I could produce content as good as this was to “cut and paste.” I am hurting because for a brief moment I believed them.
Instead of working on my English paper that is due tomorrow, I felt it crucial to reflect on the pain that I am sick of swallowing. My work is a reflection of my growth in a society that sees me as the other. For too long I have others assume I am weak, unintelligent, and incapable of my own success. Another element of this invalidation is that as I sit here with teary eyes describing the distress I am too familiar with, the professor has probably forgotten all about it. My heartache can not be universally understood and until it is, I have to continue to fight. At this moment, there are students who will never understand the desolation that follows an underlined “not.” There are students who will be assumed capable without the need to list their credentials in the beginning of a reflective piece. How many degrees do I need for someone to believe I am an academic?
At this moment, I am in the process of advocating for myself to prove the merit of my content to people who will never understand what it is like to be someone like me. Some of you won’t understand how every word that I use to describe this moment was diligently selected in a way that would properly reflect my intellect. I understand that no matter how hard I try or how well I write, these biases will continue to exist around me. I understand that my need to fight against these social norms is necessary.
In reality, I am tired and I am exhausted. On one hand, this experience solidifies my desire to keep going and earn a PhD but on the other it is a confirmation of how I always knew others saw me. I am so emotional about this paper because in the phrase “this is not your word,” I look down at a blue inked reflection of how I see myself when I am most suspicious of my own success. The grade on my paper was not a letter, but two words: “needs work.” And it’s true. I am going to graduate in May and enter a grad program that will probably not have many people who look like me. The entire field of academia is broken and erases the narratives of people like me. We all have work to do to fix the lack of diversity and understanding among marginalized communities. We all have work to do.
Academia needs work.
TIFFANY MARTÍNEZ 
On behalf of college educated white men, I’m sorry.
My time at college was transformative because my assumptions and understanding of the world was questioned and challenged. This was largely due to people of color, the LGBTQ community, people of various religious practices, etc. Diversity of all kinds is something to be valued, both for its own sake and for the wonderful things we can learn from each other.
If you feel comfortable talking with this professor 1-on-1 you might try that first, but that doesn’t seem like it’s the case. I’m not sure if the rules or proceedures of your school, but when there was a grievance at my school betweeen a professor and student (initiated from either group) there was a committee of students and faculty that adjudicated. I would encourage you to follow some such process. That professor needs to know that they handled that situation poorly, to say nothing of their implicit bias.
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Getting through graduate school, my kids bachelors, and an additional AA degree in a totally different area, my impression is that professors encounter a lot of suspected or obvious plagiarism. BUT, whatever their personal approach to it is, I’ve never heard of a professor engaging in public shaming of a student for plagiarism. That prof is pretty messed up.
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The professor owes you an apology. Professors are humans, they can be 100% wrong but at least they are supposed to follow professional procedures. As a professor, I can say that I never accuse anyone of plagiarism unless I can prove it. The main tools for that are Google, and anti-plagiarism software like turnitin. If I can’t find anything to prove it, then I have to accept that the student has actually performed well. I believe that you should demand evidence from the professor if indeed he wishes to make an accusation of plagiarism.
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For me, it is the public accusation that makes this so damning.
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I came across this as I sat in the library procrastinating, with no desire to finish my readings. However, your article was a reminder that AS LATINAS, WE MUST KEEP PUSHING FORWARD. As a second year law student at a PWI, your entire article was ALL TOO FAMILIAR. It is mentally exhausting to deal with this as often as we have to, but these battles we are fighting aren’t only for ourselves, they are also for the entire Black/Latino community. As upsetting as this was to read, I hope you see ALL of the blessings in this. Do not allow this experience to discourage you, instead, use it to propel you. I do not know anything about you, but from this article, there isn’t the slightest doubt in my mind that YOU WILL SUCCEED. This is all a part of the process and in the end, it will make for a beautiful story, continue to FLOURISH! ❤
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Suffolk, as you know, has problems on many levels. While I recognize the need to be wary of retribution, ideally this bit of academic malpractice should not go unreported. Do you have a useful advisor? A Dean you know well enough to talk with? I strongly suspect, hell, I guarantee, this prof. has a track record of this sort of bigotry.
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A public accusation of plagiarism is a **very serious charge** for an ordinary student, even more so for an aspiring academic. Because 1) you didn’t plagiarize, and 2) you were targeted based on the crudest form of racial ethnic stereotyping – you need to go to the dean!
If he wasn’t a crude bully, absent objective proof, he would have talked with you about it alone by telling you to come see him in his office hours. It is not difficult to verify if a piece of work belongs to the student (though can be harder to prove it doesn’t). I’m amazed his racism drove him so far out on a limb, given the absence of personal knowledge or results from readily available programs many professors use that match the sentences and specific word proximities of the paper against journal articles and other student papers available to the program.
That part aside, he’s an idiot. Oh, hell, I won’t even begin to address the “hence ” vocabulary issue, or the fascinating questions of language acquisition and use it brings up. Basically, his assumptions in this area prove he’s a very poor academic too.
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Plain and simple your instructor is an ignorant and biased dick. I am working on my doctorate, mostly online. Many of the students I have interacted with have Hispanic names. I’ve interacted with students of all races and all ages throughout the process of my education and there is no minority, the classes are of students willing to learn and everyone looks past skin color and age. The instructors that I have had were also a wide variety. However, I have occassionally run into tje one that doesnt read content but looks for grammar errors. I’m not sure what part of the country you live in and maybe they are still pretty much biggots. You got this, and your writing will naturally improve. Prove them wrong, you are equal to everyone!
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“My professor assumed someone like me would never use language like that.”
Nah. It’s just the professor’s opinion that your use of the word “hence” came off as stilted. A difficult task when editing academic papers is trying to rein in the use of jargon and florid language. My grad school major professor’s first drafts of research papers were always unreadable owing to the density of his writing. I regularly gave him a healthy ration of shit about making life hard for the readers of his first drafts.
Ask your prof if he meant that your use of the word “hence” seemed unnatural. However he responds, you don’t have to agree that he’s right. Even if you think he’s wrong in this case, you can still assume that he’s trying to ensure that your writing style remains genuine.
If he answers that he thinks you plagiarized that single word—which doesn’t really make sense, if you think about it—you should ask him if he has any evidence of that, or if he’s just having random feelings.
The worst thing you can do is wallow in your sense of victimhood. If you think academia is the place where people who look like you and with names like yours are being held back, good luck in the real world.
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A public accusation of plagiarism in a university classroom is a serious thing. Clearly it is a world that you do not understand well, or you are engaging in mindless knee jerk defense of ethnic bias.
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Uh… You sure, buddy? Because the phrases “this is not your language”, “this is not your word” do not mean “your language is stilted”. They mean, “you plagarized.” They mean, “you do not own this word in your vocabulary.” The professor selected that word because they took it as proof that that part of their paper was plagarized: “Please go back and indicate where you cut and paste.”
It’s been psychologically tested – and shown – that academia – and the real world – will judge you not just by the skills you have but by your name and skin color. There have been studies – take, for example, one in which a scientist sent out falsified resumes to ask certain people if this is the sort of person they’d hire. They sent out two copies, double blind, randomly. One set of copies were a white name and white face; the others, other races, other names. Even without pictures, people would often judge the non-white ones much more harshly, and return much less positive reviews.
That’s the long and the short of it, really.
However, this professor also violated FERPA by accusing this student of plagarism publicly and loudly. There is no way for an observer to take “this is not your language” as anything but “you plagarized this paper, i just can’t prove from where.”
Doubtless, the reason the professor made such a big deal out of it was that they struggled to find where this person “plagarized” from – ran it through databases, refused to give up on their stubborn conclusion that this person *could not have used this word*, and, refusing to let go of their biases, attempted to force the student to tell them where they plagiarized from. “This is not your language” means “you did not write this”. “Please go back and indicate where you cut and paste” means “tell me who did”.
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Wow… not even a tiny bit of either white or male privilege in that putrid little bit of condescension.
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Mirrorbob — I spent a decade getting my B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in the Univ. of California system, followed by several years of lecturing at UC Davis. It is a world that I understand very well.
Pembe — I am not denying that ethnic bias exists. I read the blog post carefully a couple of times, and not all of it rings true, so I don’t necessarily take every claim at face value—I was trained as a scientist, and healthy skepticism is part of that training. I’ll give you a couple of examples: (1) Ms. Martinez claims that the professor wrote a comment asking her to show where the copy-paste began and ended. That is FAR more inflammatory and damning than the “not YOUR word” comment that she pictured, which is ambiguous at worst and helpful at best. So why didn’t she picture the copy-and-paste comment instead? My hunch is because it doesn’t exist. (2) She claims that she was dressed down by the professor in class, and implies that this is typical of a pattern of abuse that has made her weary. As I said to Mirrorbob, I was in academia for a long time. I never witnessed in all my years such behavior by a UC professor. I find it hard to believe that this event occurred as described.
What I do recall is an event where one of my most brilliant professors—evolutionary biologist Francisco Ayala—was delivering a lecture to an undergrad genetics class when a frat boy complained about his accent. Dr. Ayala had three Ph.D., earned when he was a Dominican priest, prior to losing his faith. No less than a half-dozen student sitting near the frat boy told him (more or less) to take a flying fuck at a rolling donut.
Sanjati — You presume that I’m white. Like our president, I’m biracial. When I was a grad student at UC Davis, I had a bright and earnest young Mexican student who was having trouble because he’d only been in the country for a few years and had very limited English. I spent the next two years mentoring him, spending 2-4 hours a week helping him with his homework. The student exceeded the teacher—he’s now a professor at Universidad de Puerto Rico. We go sailing on his boat nearly every year or so, and every other year I spend time at his research site in Central America as a research assistant. He named his second child “Esteban” after me. Ms. Martinez will encounter bias in her life. I did. I’m an adept writer, and I was accused of plagiarism as early as high school. I pushed back. Ms. Martinez is free to wallow in self-pity if she feels that she’s been beaten down by The Man. It’s her life.
White male privilege? It exists, but it’s also okay to ask how much it weighs. In the case of Ms. Martinez and what the professor was most likely trying to tell her, it probably weighs nothing.
Or, in short: You and that frat boy can both take flying fucks at rolling donuts, Sanjati.
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Hey Buzz FlederJohn,
Here’s a link to another post of this, and here it shows the proof of all of her descriptions.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/tamerragriffin/a-professor-circled-hence-on-a-latina-students-paper-and-wro
As a skeptic, it’s very good that you recognize what could differ from the actual truth, BUT, with that said, you should very well know not just assume the other side either. That called making assumptions.
As a skeptic, you should just keep your mind open, for either of what can true and false.
Hope this makes your assumptions about her description better! 🙂
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As a graduate from Suffolk and now living half-way across the world, I am sorry this is how my alma mater gains attention. I’m sorry that the professor responded to your paper in such a very unprofessional, demeaning, racist manner. Hang in there! Latinas are kicking butt and breaking down barriers! Suerte!
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Reblogged this on Live.Love.Learn.ASAP and commented:
A must read.
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Kudos to you Tiffany, for using your pain and writing a most powerful piece!
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Love your writing. Keep it up!!!
You have the edge that many envy and that hurt some.
Don’t look back…
Look forward.
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Report this professor. At the very least on the course evaluation. But, and especially if this person is not tenured, I would email his/her dean or department chair. Good luck to you and keep writing.
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This has been a fascinating experience to me — absorbing the original post and the succession of comments. I write and have written much in my life, and the many occasions are coming to mind of when I have written some bit of language and my own internal critic has flared up at me to challenge “where I got that high falutin’ tone” or particularly poignant phrase — or those big words. I do notice when I am writing above my usual language level.
And there is no reason I should not write that way — other than increasing the probability that some reader will totally miss my meaning. I am nearly 70 years old. I was born and raised in the US of parents and ancestry that has been here for 10 or more generations. I have read widely, listened widely, and discussed widely in all those years. I have an undergraduate degree in science, a master’s degree in divinity, a past career in engineering, and a present careen in chaplaincy. I can and do write at many levels of language.
But, still, that inner critical voice will pop up and complain at me. We internalize that sort of criticism very early — particularly those of us of the female persuasion, who are often taught not to show off or to out-do the guys and thereby challenge their masculinity.
Thank you, Ms. Martinez, for sharing this journal entry and this glimpse into your world. I wish all the best for you meeting the challenges ahead.
Thank you, my friend Bequi, for sharing this insight into areas of your own concern. Much love.
Thank you, other commenters, for leading me into some personally fruitful reflection. I hope y’all are learning as much as I am from this adventure.
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And no way to edit that mistyping of “career” in the second paragraph. Sheeesh!
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Outraged. You’re an excellent writer and you should not have been put through this by an academic who should know better — which is not to say I think this encounter is aberrant, because the truth is that *may* academics should know better, but clearly don’t. Hopefully the attention your blog’s gotten will help engender a course correction.
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Reblogged this on ong going.
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You deserved better. I’m so sorry your obvious intelligence was ignored. Please bring your paper to the dean; that instructor deserves to be called before the dean!
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Although some people may want to dip into the “I too am hurt” pool, and you are not of this community, how about you just empathize. If this is not your battle (being a woc in academia) understand that. Also, everyone (especially white folks) should read Presumed Incompetent, a book about WOC in academia.
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Please accept my apology on behalf of my flawed profession. To you I want to say:
keep
being
awesome
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Wouldn’t worry about it. What could ignorant braggarts like that ever teach a scholarly intellectual like yourself?
There is no lecture or textbook that can’t be put onto the internet. The only purpose accredited schools should serve in today’s world is as testing facilities, and perhaps some limited hands on applications when available.
This is why there is such a big push for socializing colleges in this election cycle. These kinds of institutions are desperate for a way to remain valid in a changing world that frankly doesn’t need their outdated fascist methods anymore.
For far too long Academia has ruled the careers of young adepts with big dreams. Universities control the direction of scientific research by invalidating any lab that doesn’t meet their peer approval, and protect close mindedness by granting tenure to good little monkeys who serve them well.
The methods are archaic, waning, and frankly no longer necessary. With advancing technology – knowledge should be freely shared, not horded for profit.
The only peers that need to be sought for approval is the commonwealth itself. The only grades that matter is the grade of results yielded by the application of work done.
The only tests that matter is the test of accomplishment over the challenges the world deals you day by day.
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Dear Tiffany:
As an educator all I can say is I am sorry for the inability for those in higher education to see your gifts. I hope that you printed this off and put it in their mailbox for them to read. People can not change if they are unaware of their inexcusable behavior. Please keep the faith that you are an intelligent and amazing young woman who is articulate and writes with such passion and tenacity.
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I taught high school English in Los Angeles for 12 years. Occasionally, I’d receive a paper from a student that I suspected had been plagiarized. I’d copy a sentence or long phrase which I didn’t believe the student had written on its own into Google’s search bar. If the words in question didn’t appear on any sites, then I assumed the student had written it originally. Most times, however, the group of words would show up in an article or essay somewhere on the Internet. I’d copy the entire work and staple it to the back of the student’s paper.
When I returned the papers to the class, I always had a private conversation with the student who’d lifted someone else’s work. Usually, having been caught red-handed, they’d apologize. With the first offense, I’d give the student a chance to redo the assignment, but at 50% of its original worth. I never once had to deal with a second instance of plagiarism from anyone. They all got the message the first time.
So, Tiffany. In my opinion, your professor acted inappropriately on several counts. First, you don’t accuse someone of plagiarism because of one word. That’s ridiculous. Second, if you’re not absolutely certain a student stole from another source, you don’t make an accusation. Finally, if you are sure that plagiarism has occurred, you handle the problem in private. Calling out a student in front of the class is unprofessional.
I’m sorry you had to go through this episode and understand your sense of injustice. Hopefully, not all teachers are as narrow-minded, biased and amateurish as this one.
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I’m so sorry.
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This article resonated with me so much because I had a few similar experiences in my undergrad, the most prominent being when I was a sophomore and took a world literature class and the professor accused me of plagiarism with zero evidence to back up his claim. He had given us a take-home exam and said that we could use our class notes without having to cite them as a source, but when I phrased the definition of a term in a slightly different way than what he had said in class he said I was plagiarizing and as his “proof” gave me the hyperlink to an online encyclopedia that had a definition of the term in question. In my revised definition, I had used the word “nonsense” and this online encyclopedia also had that word in its definition, but other than that, the similarities ended there. In fact, the encyclopedia was closer in wording to the definition he had given us in class rather than the one I provided in my exam. And while mine was most definitely not rooted in racism (I’m white and so was my prof) it was like he was doubting my intelligence in a way. Of course I challenged it, and he relented and changed my grade on that exam to an A, but I can really empathize with the author of this post. Keep fighting for your dreams, Tiff! Don’t give up!
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White people, and their need to point out non existent oppression… This one instance you’ve described here could never compare to the life time of micro aggressions, hyper whiteness abd institutional racism that this author and every other minority is bound to experience. All that to say, you could have just kept your fake oppression story to yourself.
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THANK YOU! As if me entering in my PhD program as the only WOC in my doctoral cohort, without any WOC or POC faculty in sight is the same as that. Even in applying to programs during my masters, one professor said he was very surprised how organized I was in providing deadlines and programs information. Being white means you are granted a sort of intellectual checkmark. It’s insulting that they think its their turn to share in response to an incident inseparable from race AND gender.
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I think her /his point was more on the plagarism aspect of it than anything else …
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Yeah, how dare she try and connect to what the author is trying to say! Shame on her!
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Take heart, Tiffany. When I was in high school, I also had a teacher who scrawled across a line on a page of my work, “Yours? If not, stop stealing.” Like you, I found this deeply offensive and hurtful, and it bred in me a caution to always ensure that my work can hopefully withstand scrutiny.
Be proud of your accomplishments by the measure that you set for them. I wrote a book that’s now used as a textbook in a university on the West Coast — and yet I have no degree. I have a humble community college diploma, so I’ll never be able to teach in a formal university setting as I have no doubt you’ll soon be able to. I wish I could because I rather enjoy teaching, but I’m not clever enough for advanced education. I have had the good fortune to write another book, one of history for which the great historian of Ethiopia, Richard Pankhurst, wrote the Foreword. And when I went to him cap in hand, needing his help, he told me frankly that he got his degree in Economics and that many experts in Ethiopian history were amateurs.
Fifteen books later, and I’m still struggling, and I still often feel as you do. What does it take? When will they take me seriously? When will they knock off this tiresome BS?
But you show great stamina and strength of will, and that’s true character. It’s not the number of degrees that will make an academic — this whole question is one that’s now academic. You ARE a scholar, and you’ve proven that already. So You claim your ground by making such good work again and again that they simply CANNOT afford to ignore you or dismiss you any longer.
I wish you best of luck.
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Tell your “professor” that even people like me, born in a different country use the word hence more often than he could possibly imagine. Hence, he is an illiterate moron and should give his post to someone more worthy.
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As a person who possesses nearly all of the privileges possible in North America – straight, white, male, middle-aged, North-American-born – I really can only make two comments here that will be of any true value to you: 1) I viscerally felt your pain as I read this piece, and I am awed by your strength to rail against this sort of disgusting injustice; and 2) I absolutely adored your use of “I am tired and I am exhausted.” That struck me as surpassingly clever.
Good luck and hang in there.
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Go to the dean! Don’t let this bigoted jerk get away with this!!! If they did it to you they will do it to others.
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Tiffany,
I am very sorry to hear of your experience. It takes a lot of strength and courage to come forward with stories like this, especially given the responses of people like @sepandsiassi who would like us to believe that the discrimination that we face because of our backgrounds is a normal or acceptable part of life. I am the first person in my immediate family and this current generation of grandkids to get a degree, and being that I am Black and from a poor neighborhood, I sympathize with your experience completely. All through middle and high school I was told what I couldn’t and wouldn’t be able to do.
People like you, and especially women like you, are monumentally important to people like me. You are doing what so many of aspire to do, and you are doing it with incredible grace and tenacity. I am very proud of you for standing up for yourself, even with how strenuous and draining it can be with how frequently we are called to defend ourselves and the way we express ourselves. I hope that you find some peace, and maybe pride, in knowing that your story is undoubtedly affecting and reassuring others like me that there is space for us if we’re willing to do the work necessary to fill it.
Congratulations on your upcoming graduation, and may the rest of your academic career be as fruitful as it has shown to be thus far.
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Academia is such a shitshow. After working as non-teaching staff and witnessing how little respect supposed professionals have for their craft, students, and colleagues, I don’t know why anyone would want the gig. Best of luck navigating the waters. As a first gen student from a rural white trash background I know how bad it can be. I sure didn’t survive the filtration process.
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It’s so easy to be discouraged by thoughtless words. You are brave to look at it critically and speak out for yourself. “Not your words.” How rude.
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Suffolk?
You need to get the hell out and away from those racist ignorant douchebags !
This would not have occurred at CAL BERKELEY, UCLA, OR STANFORD.
In fact I doubt it would have happeded at any university on the west coast.
I am so sorry you had to endure this kind of harassment, from these losers.
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It does happen on the west coast. I went to a very prestigious liberal arts college on the West Coast, and I experienced similar events in my time there.
Having the whole “this wouldn’t happen where I am” etc only assists us in keeping ourselves blind to the exclusive nature of academia in the United States.
My experience as a person of color was a daily battle of having to prove that I belonged far more than my white counterparts did.
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It is hard being singled out. I too have received this, although I am white- it’s mostly against my faith. When I was asked to write a paper about who the most influential person is in my life, I wrote the truth, I wrote about Christ. My professor approached me and told me that she wanted me to write about a real person, someone who I actually know.
We are faced with bias no matter who we are, in every walks of life. I accepted the C she gave me, even though the paper in my opinion deserved a higher grade. I didn’t fight it. I accepted the grade given to me, not because I believed she was right, but because I don’t need a teacher to tell me who I am and what I am worth. I know my worth.
I receive disdain and I am openly mocked. I am told that I am unintelligent because I believe in Jesus. I am dismissed by others, but I am not defeated. I won’t stand on a pedestal and ask for respect, I won’t demand they treat me better. I don’t ask for what I know cannot be given to me by men and woman on earth. I can only continue to live with the joy I have, and hope and pray for others to find it in Him one day as well.
Keep up the good work, and don’t let yourself feel defeated by what others say or think of you.
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My dissertation, commonly acknowledged as an example of academic writing, contained 3 German words – Bildungsroman, Weltliteratur, and Zwischenmench. I was “called out” on all three of them (because my subject was French literature, peut-être?) during my defense. I explained that the first is a fairly common term and used appropriately in context. The second was from a quote by Milan Kundera, whose own writing is a perfect example of the term, not to mention the word having been closely associated with Goethe (yeah, THAT Goethe). The third word was also a quote from a world-renowned writer and scholar, Chaim Potok. His quote went so far as to define the term and I included an endnote – containing another quote from Potok – justifying my use of the term related to my topic. Yes, professor, I know something. Yes, professor, I give credit to others when due. Now, professor, get off my back!
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I have not defended a PhD thesis, but I did successfully defend my Master’s thesis. It seems to me that the context of a thesis defense is an appropriate — and, perhaps, THE appropriate — time to challenge such words and hear the rationale behind them from the source. And it sounds as if your rationale was exemplary in response.
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Thank you so much for your comments – I agree with you for the most part. The point that I failed to make here is that the professor who grilled me on these three words failed to ask any questions whatsoever about any of the major arguments of my thesis, but chose to pedantically challenge me on foreign words, two of which were from direct citations. I was hurt, I felt like a small child, I felt like a know-nothing. But I have my degree so I should not look back. It just pains me to see others who continue to be treated so badly by their colleagues and/or soon-to-be colleagues in academia.
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Tiffany, finish your training in the US, then come to Canada to develop your career. It won’t be automatic, but more likely that you will be more respected here. I was born in Mexico, and was eventually able to build an academic career here in Canada. But whenever I go to the US I feel immediately looked down, disrespected by a good chunk of the academic community there. It is just so damn ingrained in their minds that we Mexicans are inferior, it just can’t be helped. I hope these comments help you believe there is hope at the end of the tunnel.
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All I can say is ‘solidarity’. This is beyond the pale and I’m glad you’re writing about it where you can. This must improve!
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you ll get there, whether they like it or not. Keep it up, u have all it takes
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The use of the word ‘language’ in writing extends beyond the typical usage we often come across in day to day conversation. Your writing style or written language can very well be a totally different aspect of you, not representative of your ethnicity, gender, or geographical location.
I find it odd that such a successful student this late in their career is experiencing an issue such as this. I hope that you have not jumped to conclusions and discussed such matters with your professor ahead of time for clarification.
I suspect you have not, and given the amount of social justice buzz words used have taken advantage of the situation for your own self interest. If this if the case, you are only committing a crime against the great movement to promote diversity. Thus, you have marginalized the individuals who have worked so hard to improve equality day in and day out.
Having just returned from Japan and China, the issues you speak of are apparent there is well. It is not inherent to while officials, but human nature. It often occurs in any similar group when someone different is introduced. A lot of work across the world must be done to overcome this, not just in the white communities.
I think you’ve approached the situation with a narrow eye, and ran quickly to exclaiming a racial issue. This only divides all of our efforts, and you have no right to do so.
Academia needs work, and you have much to learn.
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Time and place, dudebro, and your comment fulfilled neither of those requirements. Check yourself. And try again.
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What you just discribed is racial bias while tryouts by to deny that racial bias is at least lay here. Look in thy mirror.
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American culture is supposed to be diverse, or like a melting pot as people say, and most universities here claim that they embrace diversity. Meanwhile, the examples you had, Japan and China, are not the same as the US as they tend to have more homogeneous cultures. So these are not appropriate examples to say that the author “approached the situation with a narrow eye”.
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Hmm… based on this response I suspect that you are an entitled white man who is willing to make assumptions that support your world view. YOU think that the writer is “jumping” to racially motivated conclusions, which you say that they “have no right to do”. The defensive response and patronizing language leads Me to believe that you are unwilling to accept the reality of inequality. Ever heard of “white fragility”? You have much to learn.
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Jay –
1) The presence of “the problem” in Japan and China does not negate the problem itself. It doesn’t matter if the problem is “there is well” – the author never stated this was an exclusively American problem.
2) You accuse the author of jumping to conclusions, and then IMMEDIATELY jump to the conclusion that she is taking advantage of the situation, simply because you “suspect” it without evidence. That is a manifestation of your bias. Do you see how subtle it can be?
3) You say that she has approached the situation with a narrow eye, yet before describing the incident, the author goes into depth in describing just how common bias manifests itself in her life. It is a narrow view only if you discount her entire life experience, which you are doing.
Therefore, fuck you.
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Bull shit,and I know what I am speaking about this kind of people have to be punched every time possible with our extra knowledge to make them understand they don’t alone hold the universal truth, I
remember one time writing the word ‘idem ‘ to not repeat the same datum indefinitely.My professor called me and laughed at me stating this is not an English word, The day after i was with a copy of the Oxford dictionary containing the word idem and in front of all the class I put it under his nose and said to him now go learn your English.And he understood.
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Ooooh, and you lived to tell about it! Congratulations.
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idk why this, in your opinion, is bullshit
you pretty much seem to think she needs to hurl the book at her professor, which, according to news outlets, she has – there’s an ongoing investigation.
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Your piece was poignant and much needed. I am a first generation U.S. citizen, English is my second language, I’ve endured a lot of the issues you’ve described in your article, both in academia and in my professional life. But honestly, I kept reading hoping I’d get to the part where you confronted the professor, or did something to actively challenge her comments/grade. Your story is incredibly familiar to me, as myself and a lot of my friends have lived it. But, what did you actually do about it? Other than write this article? Which by the way, needed to be written, and the issue needs to (has to!) be exposed. But, again, what have you done to directly address/correct/challenge this very particular instance of judgement, racism and blatant discrimination? Just awfully curious.
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As I read through the comments, I can’t help but be struck by the irony of several people citing instances of self-plagiarism as justification for outrage at previous accusations of plagiarism. To paraphrase a few, “When I changed the date and submitted the exact same paper (in another class)/(a few years later, I got an A.”
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Thank you for sharing your story Miss Martinez. It takes a lot of courage to open up about these situations. As a graduate student I can tell you things won’t get any easier but I can asure you that your goals are totally achievable. Keep on pushing forward that’s what we do because that’s what we have seen our parents do our entire lifes.
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Oh my god, the melodrama! Such is life. The prof doesn’t deserve to be teaching to someone as hard working and as intelligent as you, but for the love of god, what’s happening to us? Everyone’s so sensitive these days. Reply to the prof, keep working hard, and brush it off your shoulders. Life will go on. The issue is not the prof or the system; the issue is you. Be strong and don’t allow such trivial events to consume you so much.
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Thank goodness she had you to mansplain how she should feel in this situation!
Sit down.
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In a way it’s … I can’t say “good” … to be reminded of why such appalling behavior comes to be tolerated. Turns out, many people are fine with “not rocking the boat”.
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Well, actually…
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Shut up, you insensitive pleb.
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Please don’t minimize someone else’s pain. Telling someone to “just get over it” stops the healing process. This is this person’s way of getting over it.
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What egotistic ignorance! Do you have any idea how many times a day people of marginalized groups are given less opportunity and the cold-shoulder by clerks, passersby, classmates, co-workers, etc. Can you possibly understand the strength of character and self-confidence it takes to not internalize these constant judgements of one´s character and potential? Imagine a minute how many of these interactions accumulate in an entire lifetime. You can´t because you´re too wrapped up in your own experience of reality. Try a little empathy sometime, it´ll make the whole world a better place.
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Being accused of plagiarism is not trivial. It could cause her to fail the class, face academic probation, lose scholarships, and even face expulsion. Plus she’s now put in the position where she has to somehow prove to this professor that she didn’t plagiarize.
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Oh my god, the ignorance. It still amazes me in this day and age people still try to tell others how they should feel. Your lack of experience, historical knowledge and common sense should not dictate this young lady’s reactions. Her feelings are her own and yours are just as irrelevant as you are insisting hers are. Make sure and remember how ignorant and elitist you sound giving advice to someone you should be seeking advice from. The teacher and the system are the problem and so are you.
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“God, how dare you feel emotions more complicated than just a little bit of sadness. Jesus, the triviality of your professor DRAMATICALLY CALLING YOU OUT IN CLASS ABOUT PLAGARISM, distinctly VIOLATING FEDERAL LAW ON THE MATTER… it’s not a problem with your prof or the system, just your BLEEDING HEART.”
fun fact: don’t blame people for feeling bad, dickwad. nobody cares how you think they should feel. nobody. not a single person. literally even articulating words close to the idea of “you’re too sensitive” or “just don’t care” or “do(n’t) feel x” is literally a sign for most intelligent people’s brains to turn off.
literally not a single fully sane person cares about how you think they should feel, and if they for some reason do, they are EMOTIONALLY DAMAGED. like literally, nonfiguratively, deeply emotionally damaged, to allow you to TELL THEM how they feel.
do you know that old kid rhyme? close your mouth, lock it, throw away the key?
do that. literally do that. and lose the key somewhere you’ll never find it again. it’s necessary.
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The fact that you are blaming this young, intelligent, courageous woman about her reaction to this situation reflects how society puts band aids on serious issues that need to be addressed. Just because this is not your reality, it does not mean you should lessen other people’s burdens.
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Your name is valiant Latina woman, with courage and purpose. You are all of use who have been there and all of us who may be there. You are at the vanguard of dealing with the ignorance of those who refuse to acknowledge us. You are proof that we are noble in passion and precise in our analysis. You are the dream of our parents and grandparents and the parent of many dreams you have and will realize against the tide of those resistant to change. You are the change agent of a new reality and a new culture. Where others would have you lose heart, we say to you carry on. You too will climb that mountain and not forgot to those of us who would follow you. Any tears you may shed are tears of courage and conquest; you represent all of us – sometimes a heavy and lonely burden – but you are now and will continue to shape a new day, that we may bask in your commitment, your achievements, and your dreams.
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Well said.
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How insulting!! I am so sorry this was an experience you were forced to be a part of. What an ignorant man.
I am currently working towards my Bachelor in English (to teach writing) while I work as a para at my daughter’s school. I work with freshman and sophomore in Speech and English, as well as one other special ed educator. A few weeks ago we were helping a young man who has some learning disabilities that slow his thought process (he is however, very bright). We were helping him choose a transition sentence in a journal entry. I can’t recall the word I used at this moment, but it was a “higher” end word, such as “hence”. He smiled and said I like the sound of that, and started to write the sentence. The other educator told him to stop. She further told him he could not use that word because it wasn’t a word he would normally use. His smile turned to defeat and he erased his paper, writing the simpler sentence she instructed him to write. I was so angry! Here was an opportunity to help build his vocabulary (I explained the meaning to him) and she shot him down… not allowing him to grow, to succeed beyond the bubble she has most obviously placed him in. He no longer asks her for help and refuses her assistance when she tries to direct him. He comes and finds me outside of class to ask me questions. I encourage him to think outside the box and to reach for bigger things! Don’t give up and when you do achieve your goals, look back at this situation as how you will NOT act or be. Best of luck and God’s blessings!!
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