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 
I now read that Ms. Martinez didn’t talk to the professor before running to the internet to assemble the mob. This is a typical millennial. You feel put off or offended and run to the internet. I see this every day. Cut off in traffic?? Run to the internet and claim racism. Didn’t get the promotion?? Racism?? Cafeteria dropped some ethnic dish nobody but you bought?? Racism. There is nothing in nature that cant be explained by that one word. Is that fair that we don’t have the professors side of the story, only yours? How will you feel when a student of yours simply points a finger at you and condemns you without even first speaking to you (after they have had a chance to calm down). Ms. Martinez appears to be your typical millennial. They can dish it out but they cant take it. And yes to borrow a handle from someone who commented prior to me, this is whats wrong with academia.
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Querida Tiffany: tengo 81 años, un título español de PhD Arquitecto,10 años de experiencia en la Cátedra Gaudí de la Escuela T. Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona. Acabo de leer el Artículo de su Blog, y también la larga retahila de comentarios (algunos eméticamente racistas, otros simplemente estúpidos) y sólo quiero transmitirle algunas impresiones, sentimientos y deseos:
ENHORABUENA por ser quien es; por su integridad, su fortaleza y su inteligencia. Magnífica persona !
FELICIDADES por su curriculum, el actual y el que, sin duda, le seguirá en el futuro : Augurios de Brillante Carrera. Si la conoce, conserve la lengua española; y procure adquirir cuantas más le sean posibles.
NO SE CONFORME, NO ACEPTE, RECHACE en todo momento el racismo y la pretendida “superioridad moral” de tantos otros cuya única diferencia (que no superioridad) es actualmente su posición social.
HAGA FRENTE con fuerza, SUPERE cualquier momento de desánimo que pueda invadirla.
Quiero que sepa que, con mi apoyo, le llegan también mis deseos muy sinceros :
SIGA SIEMPRE ADELANTE,
HAGA HONOR A LA EXCELENTE PERSONA QUE ES,
NO TEMA A NINGUNA BARRERA : NI RACIAL, NI SOCIAL, NI ECONÓMICA,
USTED NO ES MENOS QUE NADIE : visto su Blog puedo decirle que USTED ES MUCHO MÁS QUE LA MAYORÍA DE PERSONAS QUE ENCONTRARÁ A LO LARGO DE SU VIDA.
Si de algo tienen que servirme mis 80 años, es para hacer un buen uso de mi experiencia personal conociendo a la gente. Y conocerla a Usted sería un orgullo y legítima satisfacción para mí.
Le deseo todo lo mejor de la vida, mucha felicidad y grandes éxitos personales alcanzando todos los objetivos que se proponga. Cordialmente,
Eduardo
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Eduardo Muntada , why don’t you post in English !
You’re an inconsiderate bastard (#2). Now call me a racist !
bas·tard
ˈbastərd/
noun
noun: bastard; plural noun: bastards
1.
archaicderogatory
a person born of parents not married to each other.
synonyms: illegitimate child, child born out of wedlock; More
datedlove child, by-blow;
natural child/son/daughter
“he had fathered a bastard”
2.
informal
an unpleasant or despicable person.
“he was inconsiderate to me, the bastard!”
synonyms: scoundrel, villain, rogue, rascal, weasel, snake, snake in the grass, miscreant, good-for-nothing, reprobate
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Shirley, Eduardo was writing to Tiffany, not to you. The fact that he did not publicly is bold, and intentionally exclusionary to those who don’t read Spanish, and so yes – this was inconsiderate. But then again, so was your reply, so I guess you’re even.
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Eduardo,
Bellas y Maravillosa palabras!!!
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Professors who fail to coddle these self-entitled, emotion driven millennials do so at their own personal and professional peril. How dare anyone impugn them! Oh, they will suffer untold wrath!
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First of all, you are writing at a 12th grade level, when your audience (academics) only read at an 8th grade level. You need to make your sentences shorter, with simpler and more direct wording. Second, yeah, you’re wrong to accuse the teacher of racism, when a far more likely cause is stupidity. Don’t grasp for complicated reasons when simpler ones are closer at hand. Third, lose the victim language. You aren’t a victim, so don’t talk like one. You don’t need “safety”. You don’t need “belonging”, because you will always stand out from a crowd. “Belonging” is a failure word, not a success word. “Oppression” is something everyone experiences. Sorry, but we do. Rise above it. You have to.
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Very real !!
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Where is the subject paper? I just finished a MBA and only used “hence” a few times in my undergraduate work, because, well, I needed it. I also used “therefore”, and “henceforth”.
I too was embarassed in front of a college professor who thought he was Dr. Hotshit Detective, when he accused me of copying a paper in technical writing from a very incapable female student who wanted to look at my paper for reference only. (Naively, I let her look at it and she ended up copying the entire thing!)
So I was stood in front of the class to appear as a fool. I ended up scoring a 100% on my final paper and made an “A” in the class. I knew that he must have been aware that I did not cheat. He never appologized. I absolutely would not piss on him to put out a fire. He was a department head in English at Nichols State University way back in the 1970’s.
Don’t be too sensitive though. You will do fine if you just suck it up and correct everything that is wrong. (I really would like to read your paper though).
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Dear Ms. Martinez,
I am an immigrant who came to this country 13 year ago. I did have some Professors who were PHDs( Pretty huge Dicks), one went to the extent of telling me I plagiarized, when I ran the paper through Turn It In( Plagiarism check) She shut her mouth.
The key is what you take from this experience… you either sit there and whine or move on with self improvement. If I were you I would not waste my time on blogs and getting sympathy form the rest of world. Your online habits and reputation are tied to your future. Send a thank you note for the professor for his comments, run your paper through plagiarism check and move on.
To be honest with a degree in sociology it will be hard to find a job and having some online history may make it even harder to find a job. This country has history of demeaning immigrants… it happened to Germans, Irish, Jews, Muslims, Mexican, Indians and everyone else. I think its just part of becoming American ( baptism by fire)
Hope you have a bright future.
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Tiffany, I think your feelings are totally valid– and they would be even if you did not have all the credentials that you do. I’m white, and a college professor, and if a white student wrote “Hence” on an essay, I might diplomatically point out that it certainly is not “wrong,” but that it might be a bit formal and that the student writer could simply say it more directly. It’s wrong for a professor to assume what “your” language is. To even imply plagiarism is a big deal–most professors tread very gently on that because it’s a serious charge. I once knew a marvelous fiction writer named Helen Elaine Lee. She’s African-American, a graduate of Harvard Law School, and she had a story rejected by a literary journal because “black people don’t talk like that.” She was really stunned to get such a response– as she should have been. I think it’s important to keep speaking up.
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Please read, Latinization of U.S. Schools by Jason Irizarry. Mr. Irizarry properly uses the word “hence” a few times in the book. Could it be that you might have forgotten to cite a particular statement? I noticed a few syntax issues from her post.
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What credentials? She got into a low-tier college with writing that would get a white student a C in ninth grade because she is supposedly ‘marginalized’. The McNair Fellow thing sounds impressive, but it is, surprise surprise, actually just another thing given to mediocre students who are minorities. i’m sure the speeches she sites were about what a victim she is. And at most schools nowadays most students make the Dean’s List, so that isn’t much of an accomplishment, either. She is clearly destined to be an academic star – a minority whose go-to is to claim everything that happens is due to racism.
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It is nice to read about your ONLINE support addressing Discrimination (Racis, Sexist etc. etc.) I already wrote to several people at Suffolk University expressing outrage at the behaviour of The Professor, and have recommended that Disciplinary Actiion be taken on the Professor, and I recommend that you do try and contact the Board of Regents to condemn the actions of the Professor, instead of just Mulling around and Brainstorming and acgtually doing someting about harassment and NOT just validate this king of BEHAVIOUR by REMAINING SILENT about HARASSMENT, DISCRIMINATION, and HATE. Please do something and not just sympathize and empathize and Blog about it and advertise it!
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Why do you assume racism is at work. Could it be you are the racist one assuming every single negative directed at you by someone of a different skin color must be racist?? Do you use the word “hence” in every day life?? This same exact thing happened to me in college. My very first paper. The professor handed it back to me with a “C” and the words “this doesn’t sound like you”. It was not an accusation of cheating but that the paper sounded like someone I was not. The professor told me to write the next paper just like I talked in class. I got an A. I think you had better stay in academia because you are far too delicate and sensitized to operate in the real outside dog eat dog world where there are things like competition. I imagine you as a child constantly whining and crying that life isn’t fair and you should just get your way all the time. Good luck being a sociology professor. Don’t burst into tears when some student accuses you of being a racist.
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1. It does not matter whether or not she uses the word “hence” in everyday life. She was writing a literature review, and a lit review will require that a student put forth arguments. In my day to day conversations I do not use the words “Further, Furthermore, Therefore, Thereafter, Hereafter, Aforementioned, etc’ but I certainly use those words in my academic papers, in debates, legal documents, and in classroom discussions. As an honors student, and clearly, someone who excelled in her academic career, Tiffany is simply using her academic training when writing papers.
2. Your situation and her situation are not analogous, and for you to compare them as such is disingenuous . You said “it happened to me in my first paper”. THIS IS NOT HER FIRST PAPER. You were freshmen when you wrote your paper. If you had actually read her blog post thoroughly, you would have known that she is an upperclassman and that she had already been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
3. Your use of ad hominem attacks is rather tasteless. She articulated her points in a well thought out blog post. You can disagree with her without calling her “delicate and sensitized (I think you meant sensitive)”.
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Thats your opinion. And no two professors ever disagree?? Why doesn’t she post her entire paper to be reviewed here?? Is she afraid to?? She is sensitized to life. Everything that is perceived as not a compliment is a racist accusation. Every little set back a major life altering event. In my own career I had a millennial girl burst into tears because I gave her a list of items she needed to correct in a client file. When I asked why she was crying she said “You are telling me I am not good enough. Nobody ever did that to me before.” I explained that everyone got these review notes and they were a teaching tool and not a negative mark. . This girl isn’t much different. According to you she is an upperclassman. She has been published. How dare this worm of a professor even suggest anything is wrong. Get a life and get a thicker skin than the tissue paper you have on now. How delicate can someone be?? I foresee many hours of psychoanalysis to deal with feelings of not being good enough, depression and anxiety as she already admits to.
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Your subject- verb agreement in your response is way off. Maybe he was right and your writing does need work. I picked up on it right away and it was so hard to look past and it’s not even my job. You cannot use he and then say they or them. He is one person, singular. They and them are plural. If you messed up on something as simple as that and then posted it for the world to see maybe you really do need help. Let the man do his job.
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Also, why didn’t you just schedule office hours and talk to him? If you never noticed these behaviors from him before then why suddenly would he turn racist overnight. School has been in for a few months now, is this your first paper? If so, lucky you. If not, maybe you just dropped the ball on this one or he noticed your writing pattern was off based on previous papers. And… before anyone cries racism to me, I’m black. I know what racism looks and feels like and in my opinion, this isn’t it.
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WOW…. how sad your life must be “Candy”. Racism doesn’t have color, it’s the way idiots like you think and operate.
According to Oxford dictionary “racism” means: “The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.” so according to your dictionary, I strongly believe the so called “professor” made a racial call to her paper.
Also, there was no point for her to talk to that so called “professor”. The “professor” already made it’s mind about her. Exactly what I’m doing to you right now. 😉
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Candy, you don’t get it. She was protecting the gender of the professor- out of sensitivity to the professor’s identity. It was absolutely intentional.
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And don’t begin a sentence with “”Hence.”
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I see what you did there.
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Tiffany, please stop whining and keep up the good work. You should be smarter and stronger than this. Is for sure more people in the future will show up and maybe unintentionally will harm your feelings, just move on and stop from doing a blog just like this.
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Francisco, stop invalidating her experience. I’m as white as they come but I find it important that experiences like this are brought to light and shared. Racism is still very much alive and well in our country, and as long as we keep silent about it, it will continue to persist.
Wright on about your experiences, Tiffany. This is important.
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It is nice to read about your ONLINE support addressing Discrimination (Racis, Sexist etc. etc.) I already wrote to several people at Suffolk University expressing outrage at the behaviour of The Professor, and have recommended that Disciplinary Actiion be taken on the Professor, and I recommend that you do try and contact the Board of Regents to condemn the actions of the Professor, instead of just Mulling around and Brainstorming and acgtually doing someting about harassment and NOT just validate this king of BEHAVIOUR by REMAINING SILENT about HARASSMENT, DISCRIMINATION, and HATE. Please do something and not just sympathize and empathize and Blog about it and advertise it!
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Don’t make this about race, about the professor questioning your intelligence because of your race. Please do not insult our intelligence. This is about who the hell uses the word “hence?”
Let me assure you, as an extremely Caucasian man with extremely Caucasian friends, I can at no time recall any of us using the word “hence.” “Hence” is a word either from Elizabethan poetry or a word someone uses because they think it’s how intellectuals talk. It ain’t. It is an insincere, clumsy word and your professor was right to call you out on it.
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It’s an extremely common linkup word in English university-level academia.
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Hence you are a fool.
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Who is Hence?
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this conversation has digressed to sophomoric “Hense”….mic drop…I’m out
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A scholar uses the term hence everyday!!!
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You are entirely missing the point. The professor used that word as an indicator that she was plagiarizing her work. If she wants to use any legitimate word in the language, why shouldn’t she. She was right to call him on it. This is lazy AND racist. It also isn’t about what word you would use in your conversation with your friends. This is in academia where the use of hence as a logical indicator is certainly justified.
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It isn’t just the one word. She’s not sharing the whole thing. Her blog makes her sound like a typical millenial, but before I’d pass judgment I want to hear from both. I don’t know why she didn’t talk to the professor. It’s the first thing I’d have done.
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You’re right. I did miss something. I didn’t realize the professor underlined “hence” twice.
Twice, John. You know who else underlined things twice? Hitler. This professor is literally Hitler.
I have seen grads and undergrads- grown adults -respond like children because (frowny face, arms crossed, stamp feet) “professor critiqued me, and I don’t like it!” These special snowflakes come in all colors. For whatever reason this blog and the woman who wrote it earned more attention than most. She is not the only bitter, sensitive student to blame racism (or sexism, misogyny, homophobia, et. al.) on a critique of shoddy work. The excuses are endless.
What we are all missing is the rest of the paper, and the rest of the professor’s comments.
So forgive me if I don’t march on Selma because a professor underlined a word twice.
Twice.
Oh the humanity.
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Actually it’s a common link up word in higher academia. It is also still found in modern research papers.
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Just change CAUCASIAN
by Stupid. OK????
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If you’ve never used the word “hence” in a academic paper than your intelligence definitely needs to be insulted. You also are confusing the difference between an academic paper and your extremely Caucasian “bro talk”. Or maybe it’s because your white privilege that allows you to get away with using the word “ain’t’ in papers. And don’t say “don’t make this about race,” when you have to use race to try to support your opinion. It’s hypocritical and asinine.
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Really? I’d say if you can’t write an academic paper without avoiding words like ‘hence’, then you need to up your English skills.
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Yeah, yeah. Every white boy is a-bro talkin’ bout his white privilege, laughing it up at our lessors, throwing hences to and fro. I hate to break it to you academic lames but most of the time it isn’t about race; some people are simply lazy and intellectually tepid.
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I definitely used “hence” when writing papers in college. No, I don’t use it in speech or casual wriring, nor does anyone I know. (I would never use “nor” in speech or in casual writing either, just making a point).
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I too have browner skin and I was reading before kindergarten so I developed a very advanced command of the English language. This professors’ note brings me back to a very similar instance that happened to me back in the 1960’s. We’ve come a long way since the 60’s but in many ways, NOT. Imagine a world where no one judged anyone else.
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Tiffany, as a fellow first generation immigrant to the United States and college graduate, I applaud your courage for standing up to blatant racism on the part of your professor. Keep forging on in your studies and the path to your dreams. There will always be those who try to bring you down, and unfortunately, many entitled whites fall in this camp. However, do not ever let them bring you down. Nobody, not even the self entitled whites that do not consider people of color their equals, can deny you of the achievements that you have registered in your heart.
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Now that you’ve gotten an education, probably mostly at the expense of “self-entitled whites” who pay a disproportionate amount of the taxes and who built this great country, why don’t you go back to the country that you or you parents apparently left in a fit of idiocy? There is no ‘blatant racism’ on display in this case. Only race-hustlers and the victim-industrial complex think ‘This happened, the person it happened to is a minority, therefore it happened because the person was a minority’.
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Guy who tells someone to “go back to their country” says there’s no racism here. Seems legit…
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You tone actually provides legitimacy to her argument. She is a scholar and a dean’s list students. Is she also not empowered to giver her perspective on why a faculty member would publically shame her for using the term “Hence”?
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Yeah, it’s interesting how all these self-entitled whites that built their riches and this country on the backs of the Native Americans from whom they stole the American continent, the African slaves who worked their plantations,and the countless other ethnic groups that they have exploited throughout history, always take all the credit for building up the United States. Maybe it’s about time these self-entitled whites pay back all that they have stolen from just about every other ethnic group in the world.
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@Y – you’re quite the genius. First, where did I say there is no racism here? Second, it is quite possible to not be racist but rational in responding to someone who thinks America is ‘blatantly racist’ and looks down on the ‘self-entitled whites’ who paid for her education and the country she despises by asking why she doesn’t go back to her dark-skinned country that is apparently heaven on Earth. If America is so bad, and she so clearly despises white people (unless, of course, they are white people who parrot the victim-industrial complex’s orthodoxy), why not go back to the brown-peopled Nirvana from whence her parents came?
@SMT – She’s not much of a scholar. Her writing is atrocious. It would get a white person a C in 9th grade. But this very pretty woman who imagines herself ‘marginalized’ got into college with that writing because of the color of her skin. In case you aren’t aware, the vast majority of students now make the Dean’s List. It’s another symptom of our ‘hurt no one’s feelings’ culture.
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@ El Jaurista – You clearly know nothing about actual history. Virtually all African slaves were captured by their “fellow” Africans. Most of them ended up in Muslim or Asian countries. Of 25 million slaves taken from sub-Saharan Africa, only 388,000 went to North America. Slavery was only practiced for a limited time in a limited area. Furthermore, the value of slavery isn’t the value of the goods it produced. It’s the value of the paid labor it replaced. There was a plentiful supply of poor people to work at barely enough to pay for food and housing. Slaves had to be fed and housed. There wasn’t a big cost saving between slave labor and paid labor, as evidenced by the fact that after the civil war the south produced ever larger quantities of labor-intensive cotton. American southern slavery was a cultural thing, similar to the way European knights continued to fight and die as knights long after it was clear that pikemen, etc were cheaper, safer, and more effective.
Virtually all cultures and races have invaded and conquered and strived for empire. Indeed, Europe was for thousands of years subject to invasions from Asia and Africa: the Persians multiple times, Africans (Hannibal’s army), Huns, Mongols, Arabs, and Turks. The Muslim Arabs and Turks were the most relentless, constantly invading and trying to invade Europe from 700 to 1700. It took epic defenses of Europe at places like Tours and Malta and Lepanto and Vienna to save Europe from conquest. And these Muslim invaders took millions of white Europeans as slaves. When Europeans took their brutally gained skills in warfare and tremendous technology across the Atlantic, what did they encounter? Empires – Aztecs, Mayans, Incas. And these empires were brutal. You can’t keep smearing white people for things done by all races.
In North America, European Basques and others had been fishing the waters off North America for hundreds of years before Columbus. This was dangerous work that often resulted in shipwrecks. The Native Americans would murder the survivors of these shipwrecks. They also murdered fishermen seeking to use a small strip of rocky land to salt their cod before sailing back to Europe. So much for saintly innocents. Later, the Pilgrims arrived – 100 hungry people, half of them women and children. The Native Americans argued about whether to kill them all before deciding to help them. Only racist liberals could beatify Native Americans who had to debate whether or not to commit mass murder. And when the Native Americans decided not to commit this mass murder, it wasn’t because they thought it morally wrong. It was because they wanted the Pilgrims as allies in their wars with neighboring tribes. Far from peace-loving innocents, most tribes were at war with other tribes. Rape was routinely used as a weapon of war by Native Americans. Prisoners were often either horrifically tortured or used as slaves. Europeans/”white people” did nothing to Native Americans that Native Americans hadn’t done to other Native Americans and that Native Americans wouldn’t have done to Europeans/”white people” if they could have. Further, we can look to the isolated tribes of Papau New Guinea discovered in the 1940s to conclude that aboriginal culture was a dead end – in the 1940s these tribes, like the Native Americans prior to the arrival of white people, still didn’t have basics like a written language or the wheel or metalworking. And they still engaged in constant warfare and subjugation of women. For example, when a male relative was killed in battle, the female relatives had a finger chopped off. Many of the females had just 1 or 2 fingers. White people came here and built a great country. If they hadn’t, the Americas would still be warring tribes trying to wipe each other out, using rape as a weapon of war and enslaving members of other tribes that they didn’t kill.
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Obvious you don’t know what you are talking about. If the people already living in this continent, one hundred years before the pilgrims, would have not helped out in the American revolution, the colonist would have been defeated by the British. Mexicans, Spanish, Native, and people of black skin that were free, helped the colonist defeat the British. Don’t forget the French also helped out. But of course, all of you “Americans” want to believe you did this all by yourselves. WRONG, the colonist needed help they got their help and yet the historians are arrogant not to acknowledge the contributions made by other citizens that are not “Americans” that had an establish life here for more than ten generations before the pilgrims. The next holiday is about the massacre of the native people that helped the pilgrims survived.
happy thanksgiving.
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@ j. garcia – Oh please, shut up, YOU don’t know what you are talking about. Most Native American tribes aligned themselves with the British. In the southern colonies they committed several horrific massacres. There was no help from Mexicans – Christ, if Mexicans could get all the way from Texas to the east coast they would have long before the revolution and staked a claim themselves. And virtually all history books do point out the import of French (who are white Europeans, anyway, so even your garbled point is pointless) assistance in providing the fleet to help bottle up the British at Yorktown.
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El Jaurista, I won’t really defend his comments, but the idea that whites didn’t build this country is ludicrous. Blacks and minorities were a very small percentage of the population in our country’s infancy. It was whites that did most everything. We didn’t do it on the backs of the indians, we did it on their blood. No getting around that we took the land from them.
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@ j. garcia – I see your reply was 2 minutes after my post. You didn’t read it at all. You just regurgitated grade-school liberal propaganda. Loser.
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annoying, selfish and immature!
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Yes, how does a person like that get a PhD so that they’re teaching a class of Tiffanies, likely all of whom are more intelligent?
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Well, you can either do this, or you can’t. If you can’t hack the naysayers you will never succeed. I am sorry that two words from some “know it all” professor is all it takes to dismantle what you have worked so hard for. That says far more about your fortitude and perseverance than it does about a racist society. The above commentary is well written. I have no doubt that those are your words….SO…. Go back and rewrite your paper….fix what’s wrong, add what’s missing, and “hence” the professor to death….prove that they ARE your words….if you can’t, then she is proven right, and you are just another in a long line of weak self doubters who achieve mediocrity instead of greatness. The world is full of bastards that will push you down no matter your color, sex, religion, schooling level, economic status….if you let them YOU are the loser in the long run….Don’t let the bastards get you down….Go Do what has to be done…if you can’t because two words destroyed you…then maybe you weren’t meant to.
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Your blog and concerns are well written. I can see that you have a passion, and wish you well. My wife struggles with her English, and her grammar is actually better than mine. I wonder if your professor understands how hard you must work. I use a dictionary, and a thesaurus, as well as other writing resources. I have known and understood since I finished high school how difficult it is to communicate with individuals who suspect that they are academically superior to others. I struggle, and receive guidance from writing centers, some are weak at best. I wish you well in your endeavors, but just take a breath, and forgive people who appear to lack compassion. Remember they also need guidance as we all do. Blessings,. Lawrence H. Daniels
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What would it be like for you if hundreds of people commented on the paragraph you just wrote, and made derogatory statements about you, your writing skills, and your personal character on the basis of the above paragraph?
Ms. Martinez doesn’t have to meet your standard for greatness. She has already surpassed it. If nothing else, the comments on this blog have made her case for her more powerfully than her initial blog.
She is taking action. She is doing what need to be done. She is beginning the process of documenting systemic bias on the part of at least one professor at her university.
I suspect the level of anger of the backlash here is because she has a legitimate legal case.
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Huh? The only reason hundreds of people are commenting is that SHE posted it online. And I don’t see any evidence that A. this is a case of bias. or that B. she has begun ‘the process of documenting bias’. She’s just whined that something that hurt her feelings happened, and without any evidence declared that it happened for no other reason than because she is ‘marginalized’.
Also, how has she ‘surpassed standards for greatness’? Talk about lowering the bar! She writes (and emotes) like a ninth-grader. She got into a lower-tier college with this crappy writing because this oh-so-pretty woman is supposedly ‘marginalized’. The Mc-whatever Fellowship is just another scholarship given to minorities because they are minorities.
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@Nora, yes and no. Yes, there’s no point in wallowing in self-doubt and it’s just a matter of going beyond the “bastards.” No that it’s as easy as you’re trying to make it seem. Believing in yourself is a victory no “bastard” can take away, that’s for sure. But people have to eat. People have to compete. And all of that competition happens in a system that is rife with injustices that are not evenly distributed across demographics. Your tough love advice only makes so much sense in the face of reality.
This woman is putting herself out there in a moment of vulnerability. She’s young and clearly hurt. You don’t have to agree with her or believe that you’d feel the same if you were in her shoes, but you do not get to invalidate her feelings and imply she may not have what it takes to be great. The mere fact that she has shared this pain PUBLICLY for everyone in our society to comment shows that she has emotional courage. There is already something NOT mediocre about her and it shows in this.
Exercise your own social intelligence and think beyond the black-and-white every now and then. It’s good for you.
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Reblogged this on Black History 360*.
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Rather than reply to one person, I’d like to reply to every person who has commented, accusing her of plagiarizing her paper and playing the “race card.”
This article is the most basic proof that she has the ability to express herself using university-level words and proper syntax, and any of her written works will more than likely show the same speech patterns. There is no reason to assume that the prof is basing his suspicion on past writing patterns. Do you think she plagiarized this article, too? Seriously? WTF!
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she did not seek an explanation she just jumped on the race card. hence a racist
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Let me see if I understand you correctly. If you go to a “black” college (where most students are African-American) and your prof treats you differently than all the other students, for seemingly no other reason than you being white, and you perceive the injustice and raise your voice in objection to it, does that make you the racist?
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“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”
WTF is the point of a professor trying to humiliate a student in front of the whole class like that? Why not just write a comment saying “Please see me discuss”. It wasn’t necessary for her professor to say those things in front of the entire class.
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You clearly either do not have a grasp of the English language or haven’t read her writing. Her writing is full of grammatical errors, syntax problems, and pronoun confusion. She’d get a C in 9th grade English if she were white.
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Her writing is on par with or better than most of what is published online these days. You seem to have standards higher than most universities, and that’s fine for you – just don’t try to impose your abnormally high standards on everyone else, or you’re setting yourself up for constant disappointment and frustration.
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What’s wrong this Ben guy Rich? It’s like people nowadays have virtually no commonsense. Hopefully he’s not another “Professor” that would teach my kid!
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CJ, what’s “wrong” with me is that I don’t agree with you, apparently. Do you perceive everyone who disagrees with you are having something wrong with them?
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Also, ‘I’m a minority; this happened; therefore it happened because I’m a minority’ is not intelligent or rational. It is, however, a hallmark of modern American academia. So congratulations to Tiffany Martinez, she is the academic she dreams of being…
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she is way too emotionally unstable
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Amen!!!!
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Look, “hence” is a final conjunction. It has no business at the beginning of a sentence (just like “thus” or “therefore”) in an academic paper (just like an exclamation has no business either). Maybe the professor was saying that’s the not your word to use right there- because it’s no one’s word to use at the beginning of a sentence in an academic paper. It crazy to me that this story goes viral, so i can find out about it in my living room, meanwhile the news report I read on it said that the professor has yet to be contacted by this student. Like, the world would be such a better place if she just asked the professor, “why would you say that?” I guarentee the response is not “because I am racist” lol.
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Times change. “Hence” is often used at the beginning of a sentence in literature and especially in journalism, and the same can be said for “thus” and “therefore.” It’s a question of writing style, and if the prof had a problem with that, there are much better ways of addressing the issue than saying “this is not your word’ and publicly accusing her of plagiarism.
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Ben you really are pretty dense, THEREFORE, go back to the first grade and learn how to communicate….
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CJ, there are better ways of communicating than insulting those you disagree with, and exaggerating to the point of being ridiculous. Unless you’re trolling, which seems quite likely here.
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“LOL” is now used in literature and the fake journalism of today. Doesn’t mean it belongs in an academic paper. Same with the exclamation point. I’d even go so far as to challenge you to look at any major newspaper and find a single exclamation point in a report, or hence at the beginning of the sentence.
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Eddie, I took you up on your challenge, and it was quite easy to find several exclamation points and uses of the word “hence.” I went to the “Op-Ed” section of NY Times website, and easily found over a dozen exclamation points, and three uses of “hence”, including at the beginning of a sentence. So do I get a point now, or what?
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There are in house, academic remedies that one can take if they do not agree with a professor. If you did not take those remedies before your ‘mic drop’, you are setting yourself up for future failure. How you treat your professors will be how your students, eventually, will treat you. As an academic myself who has taught at the college level, let me also say this. The University sets policy. If you want to teach there, you have to follow the University policy…which means that IF a student is suspect of falsifying or not producing their own work, it MUST be challenged. Read your rule book BEFORE you set your blog on ‘blast’. Playing the race card has burned up a LOT of your goodwill at that college. The teacher will ALWAYS have the last word…that is why YOU are going to college. Not the other way around. Now that you have put this up for the world to see, don’t be shocked when some of your ‘academic stuff’ is taken away from you AND there will be ‘nasties’ in your permanent file…as in someone who is a ‘snowflake’, or ‘hard to work with’.
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Conformists are never the ones to celebrate a free spirit!
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Mike, there are in house, academic remedies that one can take if they think a student has plagiarized something. Publicly accusing them IS NOT ONE OF THEM. Sheesh.
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My understanding is that she is already taking those actions. And she is meeting the kind of resistance one would expect when people stand up to systemic racism.
I’ve been a professor. My opinion and that of others who have looked at her university policy is that her professor behaved unprofessionally, if not illegally.
Professors and universities are subject to the same anti-discrimination policies as other employees and institutions.
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“Marginalized”, “don’t feel safe”, just whiny words by a whiny Latina who cannot succeed in life without playing the race card.
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I’m aghast that you’re not aghast at the real issue here. Yes, Tiff is using modern language to express her aghastity at being publicly accused of plagiarism. PUBLICLY, and then being asked to prove that she had plagiarized?? That’s insane. The teacher is insane. The school for backing up the teacher is insane. You are insane for failing to overlook the mote in Tiffany’s eye.
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So she not just a whiney student, but a whiney Latina… I see…….. When a faculty member publically shames someone who is a scholar and dean’s list student for using the term “Hence”, that is normal and appropriate? That term is used by children in our family in elementary school….. Come on!
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Can you post the entire paper, please?
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Racist? Give me a break. You used words that were probably inconsistent with past papers. After being called out on it you play the race card? Academia doesn’t need work. Your attitude and entitlement issues need work.
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Wow, I can’t believe how many hateful comments there are. It’s amazing how many people out there are so closed minded, judgmental, and just plain mean.
Tiffany, one thought that I had while reading your blog post is this, I relate to you because I’ve had similar experiences simply because I am a woman who looks a certain way. Men on the job, both white collar and blue collar have made assumptions about my role on the job, status, and ability, simply because of the way I look. As a Sociologist, you have a lot to learn about all the different biases that people employ to judge others. Sometimes race is not a factor at all. I think a lot of women have had experiences like mine, simply because they are women. In my experience, I found that most people find it easier to make assumptions about you, rather than inquiring about the truth. Maybe, you too, are making an assumption that his bias was based on what he thinks of Hispanic women.
PS. I think what your professor did is horrible. It is wrong even in the case of plagiarism. Bringing this to the attention of the Dean, is the right thing to do, especially if you are innocent. A lot of people out there, especially men, abuse their power to intimidate others, especially women.
PPS. I am an Immigrant from former USSR. Hispanics are not the only Immigrants who face discrimination, and experience a lack of understanding, acceptance, and belonging.
PPPS. Next time you are accused of something, use a line from the movie Legally Blonde (a perfect example of Academia discriminating against someone they perceived as Dumb and easy, simply because of the way she looks). The professor in that movie asks a student a question, and when he replies, she asks him, “Are you sure? Would you be willing to stake your life on it? What about her life?”
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“Wow, I can’t believe how many hateful comments there are. It’s amazing how many people out there are so closed minded, judgmental, and just plain mean.”
Yet hateful closed minded, judgemental and just plain mean for Tiffany to accuse her professor of racism based on the ridiculous scanty evidence of the professor’s few handwritten comments on Tiffany’s paper?
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“Wow, I can’t believe how many hateful comments there are. It’s amazing how many people out there are so closed minded, judgmental, and just plain mean.”
Yet somehow its not hateful closed minded, judgemental and just plain mean for Tiffany to accuse her professor of racism based on the ridiculous scanty evidence of the professor’s few handwritten comments on Tiffany’s paper?
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Stupid just stupid. think before you write Please!
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It’s pretty apparent that the professor felt that she plagiarized part of her paper based due to the writing style being drastically different from the rest of the paper, or her previous papers. Playing the Race Card here is really irresponsible and she should be ashamed of herself.
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“Pretty obvious”? It’s September. Likely a first paper. It’s “pretty obvious” from the post that this woman can write, and that she knows how to use the word “hence”. The more likely explanation is hers. How far will you go to deny the painful truth, that as a white male (which is “pretty obvious” from your comment), part of the reason you’ve gotten to wherever you are is due to privilege? That you’re not “all that”? You make assumptions and judgements, imagining the facts you need to support your defensive position, and have the balls to tell her she should be ashamed. Why do you feel such a need and right to put her in her place, Mike? Look inward, dude.
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“You make assumptions and judgements, imagining the facts you need to support your defensive position…”
Isn’t that exactly what Tiffany is doing when she assumes her professor’s comments are racist?
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Genius, it’s NOVEMBER. The professor has had two months of this person’s writing to draw inferences from. And if you think she can write you have NOT read either the portion of the paper she has posted or her other posts. A white person would get a C in ninth grade writing like that. Apparently ‘marginalized people’ like this really pretty young woman get into college writing like that.
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Really? Apparent from what? Certainly not from the content of this blog post. What’s apparent is your presumption that she is wrong. A presumption based on what, is my question to you. Could it be you have a bias that leads to conclusions that aren’t supported by the presented facts? Regardless, it’s clear you don’t let a little thing like facts get in the way of jumping to a conclusion. You agree with the professor, that’s clear. Why you agree with the professor is not clear. Asserting as facts information not provided or otherwise substantiated is pretty much the definition of bias/prejudice.
BTW, what, exactly, is a “Race Card” (sic), and why does “playing it” upset you? If, to you, it means not pretending that people (like yourself?) have prejudicial views about people they view as different, people they “know” only through mass media and other anecdotal references, then say holding people accountable for their uninformed biases and unsubstantiated assertions makes you uncomfortable – that is what you mean, right?
Don’t hide behind specious arguments intended to deflect from the truth of your opinion. The truth is you think she must be lying (like the professor you assume you are similar to) because she said she’s experiencing bias. Now, as someone who, presumably, doesn’t believe such bias exists, you feel you have a relevant opinion about her experience. While you are certainly entitled to your opinion, you have no more credibility than any other uninformed person who presumes to know all the facts about this situation. In fact, your use of the term “race card” indicates you are not comfortable with acknowledging racial bias exists – because you haven’t personally experienced it, is my guess.
My experience with people who use the term “race card” in contexts similar to yours has taught me they can typically be broken into two categories: Self aware racists that think they can hide their racism (something I’ve never understood, by the way. If you feel so strongly, why pretend you don’t? Why hide behind hoods, masks and badges? Just say you’re a racist. Unless you’re just ashamed? Sorry, I digress) by denying it; and, people who think they aren’t racist, but believe things racists espouse and don’t have a problem with overtly racist people or racist acts. They also do things racists do, “without realizing” it of course, like giving the professor (they assume is just like them) the benefit of the doubt because they assume the girl with the hispanic name (who’s not like them) couldn’t possibly understand her own reality accurately, let alone articulate it.
They also typically perceive defiance or other protestant behavior against racists and racism as “reverse racism,” a nonsense term. The word their feeble vocabularies lack is “resentment.” Minorities can’t be racist – they lack both the power to oppress, and a history of oppressing based on racism.
If you think the girl is lying, say so (and attribute it to your biases when you recognize that baseless assertions look weak without substantiation). But you only look stupid (and, yes, racist) when you attribute it to “facts” that aren’t there.
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I *love* your response and may have to save it somewhere off this site for fast reference. Thank you so much for taking the time to write it.
(Yes, I am going through every comment weeks later… It’s largely out of masochism.)
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Racist students like you are getting so boring.
Obviously the teacher seen you plagiarized and if not it was your job to clarify, being asked about plagiarism is common but not every student cries about it, only the racist ones do, the others prove their paper. Guess you have become accustom to getting your way and felt the need to call someone racist because they called you on it, it’s funny how you climbed so high and succeeded so far in this racist world. You would think with all the racism against you, you would be struggling to make a grade, or maybe it’s you whom is the racist.
The word “Hence” could mean they know you don’t write like that or it is not the proper word to be used in that statement. You said you didn’t ask the teacher anything afterwards so you have no idea proving the nasty little cry baby racist you are.
The problem is you are filled with so much racism, that’s all you see. Get over it and do some work on yourself your racism is boring.
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Your comment has so many grammatical errors in it, it is clear you have never been to college and have no idea of what is normal behavior on the part of students or professors. Stand down, “Gary Browne”.
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So let me try to understand your point, this young lady says she felt her work was marginalized, ridiculed and questioned as being her own and you say she feels that way because she is racist?
Other than describing her academic environment, I did not see her accusing her professor of being racist. She did describe how the doubting of her abilities being played out (in her mind). I read that the professor assumed that she must have plagiarized someone else’s work without having any proof other than using a word that is quite common in the English language. The fact that she is Latina may have contributed to the professor’s doubts, but Miss Martinez does not directly accuse anyone of that.
She does describe an environment that many of us that are of a minority background have experienced. Even the word used (minority) is designed to make us feel inferior.
Of course you being an inbred, trailer in the backwoods living, sister-cousin loving, knuckle dragging, mouth breather like you would never understand that.
How do you like my generalization of your existence shmuck?
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And you wonder why people are so tired of others playing the race card just to get in the news. Name calling? Are you an adult. Adults should never name call if they are having a discussion about racism. smh
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you got caught plagiarizing so you use the race card???? wow, youre a shitty human being. youre ignorant if you dont understand how an “ENGLISH” teacher cant recognize your writing style.
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You are a piece of shit. You are not human.
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“You’re ignorant” – Please, start using punctuation. I can’t help but laugh at your english grammar.
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Hi Ms. Martinez,
Please keep on doing what you love, and try to do your best to not let anyone or anything stop you, distract you, steal your dreams, or take your joy.
Racism and prejudice, particularly in places traditionally considered to be “white” spaces, can be tricky at times for those who are deemed to be “outsiders.” The old guard of these tired old traditions will try to humiliate or harass you, as those things are a major part of the racist “modus operandi” and the systems they try to perpetuate.
But don’t worry, you have allies all around. Some may be scared or not know how to stand up to racism. But your example can inspire and help them to find ways to do it. Continue to spread your wings and soar. You will win in the end. And when you do, so will the rest of us.
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So when minorities usurp white spaces they are heroic fighters against ‘tired old traditions’ (traditions which built the great nation and university-system), but when white people do the same with minority traditions they are cultural appropriators and imperialists…
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“usurp white spaces?”
oh gross. that made my blood run cold.
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The tired old tradition of university-system is latin and drew on islamic madrasahs. You might want to read “The origins of higher learning: time for a new historiography?” in the History of Universities: Volume XXVII/1 published 2013. Arguably Tiffany is reclaiming her space from a white usurper?
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lol your an idiot
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That would be “LOL. You’re an idiot.” Genius.
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I cannot believe some of the comments that I see posted! This is egregious and some people are being conscientiously ignorant! Keep your head up young lady! You are doing the right thing. I am so tired of people demonizing, demoralizing and marginalizing our actions! But unfortunately until entitlement and supremacy are taken down this is what we are subjected to at all levels.
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” I am so tired of people demonizing, demoralizing and marginalizing our actions! ”
That is exactly what Tiffany is doing to her professor. Write a comment on a student’s paper indicating that you believe plagiarism occurred and immediately be demonized as racist.
“But unfortunately until entitlement and supremacy are taken down..”
Yes of course, I’m sure this professor has never, ever accused a white student of plagiarism. The entitlement is that if a minority is accused of plagiarism they can scream racism, and people like Glenda will automatically believe it without question.
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Not written accusation, but public humiliation. No, that ought not happen to any student
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As a minority student, adult, parent, teacher, etc., I cannot fully agree with your approach to the problem you see. As a student, I was set up TO SUCCEED by my elementary and high school teachers. My college and university faculty were no different. They always provided any and all help I needed. In the military, I experienced the same type of positive environment. I just read a statement that we are not to blame ‘all Muslims’ for a few radicals. We are not to blame all gun owners for a few radicals. Why blame all “academia” for a few that might be off center in their attitudes? In business, military, athletics, education, on and on – we are taught to always attempt to solve a situation at the closest, lowest level as possible. For everyone, there is a deluge of interaction with which they are dealing. If no solution is possible, then move up to the next level of authority. I speak (as you did) from my vantage point, that of an educator who has been in the “classroom” (not theory) for 41 years. I have learned that the “most correct” answer may be the one you don’t like.
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She did go up to the next level of authority. And she got criticized for going above the professor. There are a series of remarks that criticize her for taking her concerns to the Dean of the department. And now, you just criticized her for not talking to the next level of authority. Which would be the correct answer in her case?
There are many great professors, and many great teaching institutions, and quite a few academics have commented here to offer their support. But there are professors who truly do behave unprofessionally, and academia has a long way to go.
I have graded many papers and confronted quite a few students about plagarism. As an advisor, I have also talked to students about ways to deal with bad professors. I often do suggest they try to talk to a professor individually and get feedback. In this case, I think that her concerns are appropriate, and necessary as a way of documenting a pattern of behaviors by a flawed professor.
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I’m with Bridgit here. This “student” is a terrible writer, and her piece contains numerous errors in both grammar and syntax. I’m assuming that she is an affirmative action admit, so, Tiffany, please post your high school grades and SAT scores so we can all judge just how brilliant you are. Also, please post here all the papers and “accomplishments” that you claimed in your piece so we can read your entire body of work. You can’t simply claim all these credentials without proving that you actually have done what you claim. Many other posters here are spot on, your class participation has probably been nondescript and filled with the token “Latina” perspective, which no one cares about, then you come up with some big words that don’t fit your profile and you wonder why the Prof. called bullshit? Please submit all of your papers in that class to plagiarism websites for review and then re-post. Also, you lack a basic understanding of singular and plural, you used her when it should be she, you suck as a writer, and I can only hope and pray that my alma mater has the balls to stand by the Professor and to refer all your papers to a third party for verification. As for “marginalized” students, that’s just a buzzword for those who are too stupid and unprepared to do well in college. A “marginalized” student is simply taking the seat of a more prepared student, who must look elsewhere for admission. If you’re “marginalized”, you don’t belong in college, take a year off and study full-time on your own. learn how to write at least a high school level, and then apply, because professors don’t have time to babysit fools like Tiffany, the aspirant professor.
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Try to focus. The primary issue is the professor’s assumption that “hence” isn’t part of Martinez’ vocabulary. Why do you think he made that assumption? Before you answer, note that he wasn’t claiming that an entire passage didn’t sound like her past writings. No, he claimed that a single WORD is not in her vocabulary.
So come up with a plausible reason why he would think that a single WORD, and not a particularly esoteric word, doesn’t belong to her. Can you do that?
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Andrew, I’m going to respond in a completely different way than anyone has approached this. I could make a fair – as well as extremely easy – argument that he is using the context of her previous papers as the basis of his critique. During my education I remember my professor emphasizing that my work sound like MY voice. What I mean by “my” has no connection to any affiliated group or ethnicity, but as an individual. I was normally called out for this when words or phrases didn’t connect with my normal literary style from previous papers. I’m sure all of us could identify our favorite authors by their writing style if we were given a single sentence or paragraph without any further knowledge.
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I agree. If her blog post is anything like her paper she deserved a “needs work”
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I am able to review one piece of your extensive resume already. Apparently, you are a graduate of Suffolk University. I hope your alma mater is proud of you. And I’m sure they appreciate your comments as they deal with public backlash and the impression that they condone systemic racism.
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Hello Professor
I would like to get your opinion on this comment that I got from a Professor. Here is my story.
I also encountered very nasty and racist comments from a Professor. I go to Regent University in Virginia Beach V.A., and I have seen firsthand that racism is a very upfront attitude. My GPA has suffered because of harsh hatred attitudes and humiliating comments of others in power. The comments are not about my paper but more about who I am and what I look like.
I am an African-American disable veteran and this is the comments on my paper:
Is this how your name is actually spelled: “SmithJacobs” with no hyphen or space? It is unusual. I checked via Google and your LinkedIn page shows a hyphen.
COMMENT: This essay begins with what appears to be a typo in the name of its author as well as in the header of the pagination (e.g. “page1”). This immediately sends a signal to the reader that this essay really was not taken seriously by its author and that was is likely to follow is sloppy work
Also, I note that the pagination is unlike any I have seen: “page1” and “page3” with no space. Is this the default setting on your computer? If so, I urge you to change it – I have never seen something like it.
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Thank you for sharing your story. I hope you take the criticism with a grain of salt. The strength to share your story, which mirrors that of Latinos across the country is empowering and uniting. ❤ Si se puede!
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Not All Latinos – feel this way – Many of us (at least out West) have been supported and encouraged by “the establishment” – I know this because of all the positive guidance and rewards I and many of my associations have had access to, all through my years.
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She’s had plenty of support, too. Just look up the scholarship she so proudly touts. It’s not an academic scholarship, it’s a minority-helping scholarship. Plus she is in college even though she writes like a tenth-grader (and emotes like one).
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jerkface
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Based on your reply, Martinez wins the argument. Try again, though. See if you can even MAKE an argument.
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Instead of being the problem in Academia – where the new generation of entitle children get upset when someone disagrees with them – be the solution. Take ownership of your error – instead of using the inherited cop-out of racism. Makes you look extremely weak.
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What “error”? Using the word “hence”? Can you come up with a plausible reason why the professor would assume absolutely that Martinez’ vocabulary doesn’t include the word “hence”?
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Oh, you are already an academic. You employ the classic modern American academic logic that ‘This happened to me, I am a minority, therefore this happened because I am a minority’.
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And you are, what?, given your unfamiliarity with critical thinking skills? Martinez made a compelling argument that the professor’s belief that she, for whatever reason, does not have “hence” in her vocabulary. Can you make a compelling rebuttal? Tell us, on what plausible grounds might the professor have thought that Martinez is not familiar with the word “hence”?
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LOL. Seriously, is English your third language? You are unqualified to comment on anything since you can’t even express a coherent thought.
It is two months into the term. The professor has seen plenty of examples of her writing. And it is clearly not very good writing. So if someone who writes like a tenth-grader and has never used the word ‘hence’ or any other relatively obscure words suddenly uses the word hence it is reasonable to suspect plagiarism.
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How could America ‘not be a society set up for you to succeed’ when you are a first generation citizen who has been given scholarships based on your ethnicity and apparently allowed into college in spite of writing at a junior-high level? It seems like society is going to extraordinary lengths to help you. Perhaps you would feel more welcome back in Central or south America. This isn’t a prison-state. You are more than welcome to leave.
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I’m sorry, but you need to make that entire paragraph visible. The fact you used an exclamation point directly before the word “hence” make me question your writing skills. Nothing is proven by the professor’s commentary without showing the work that was being critiqued. Maybe he was raciallybiased. Or, maybe, your paper was lacking. We will never know.
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Her “writing skills” aren’t the issue. No doubt the product isn’t perfect, and deserves constructive criticism where it falls short.
The issue IS the professor’s claim that the word “Hence” does not belong to this woman, is not part of this woman’s vernacular. On what grounds could he POSSIBLY know this or think this? Can YOU come up with an alternate plausible reason why the professor would’ve essentially shouted that the word is NOT part of Martinez’ vocabulary?
Note that he didn’t take exception to an entire passage that might not have sounded like Martinez’ past writings. No, he said a single WORD is not part of her vocabulary. Give us a plausible reason other than Martinez’ heritage why he’d think that.
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Hi Kathy, I agree with your commentary on the exclamation mark.I also note the sentence where she writes that “for a brief moment I believed them”. However, she is still just a student and should be encouraged to pursue her dreams. The lecturer’s response could (and should) have been more responsible with personal engagement rather than a drubbing in front of classmates.
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You are a sad sad person. Grow up!
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Of the 6 years in my academic career and countless papers written, no professor has ever accused me of plagiarism. I’m a first generation immigrant from a Latin American country and Spanish is my first language. But outside of academia I have felt and seen overt and covert racism in the professional and non professional world. . You’re right, we have to work harder, overcome these obstacles to achieve our goals. Struggle is part of our lives but we will overcome.
BTW, I live in California where most of the student body is of made up of Latinos, Asian and African Americans. The professors mirror this ratio.
Please stay focused on your goals.
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I guess since I disagree wholeheartedly with your illogical argument and your last name is Martinez that makes me a racist too. Damn. Never thought I was a racist.
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If you disagree wholeheartedly and find her argument illogical, how about you back that up with an argument of your own? Making a statement is easy; making an argument isn’t. So make an argument, not just a statement.
If you can.
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The illogical argument is obvious to all but liberal race-hustlers and the victim-industrial complex. It is ‘This happened to me, I am a minority, therefore this happened because I am a minority’.
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Thank you Rich, I guess I thought it was obvious too but I can spoon feed it since I have a minute or two of my life to waste. My argument is that my last name is Greek and is maybe a percentage of the U.S. population compared to the name Martinez. In fact, I have never even heard of anyone outside my own family with my last name. There are plenty of big words I never use and if I was called out on even a word that I DID occasionally use I would absolutely not call a person racist for it (pretty damning claim to just throw around with no real evidence.. did the professor allow someone without a Latino last name to get away with “Hence”???). If it was a word I hardly ever use but used honestly, then I would have a discussion with the professor and not post a pissy article on a blog questioning the character of a person that no one reading the article really knows or has the opportunity to hear from. Also, “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” to me translates roughly to “only because I will be in college forever and am a sociology mastermind do I understand that none of my insecurities are my own paranoia and inability to simply talk to people in person when they say/do something that bothers/hurts me for whatever reason.”
Maybe I don’t get it since I am not a sociology wizard though. I would just think that someone like this who has received such a full understanding of how society works and been in school as long as she has would know, as people of all ethnicities do, that you are supposed to try and trick your professor into thinking you didn’t plagiarize.
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U are a racist if u bypassed the whole point and simply focus on what makes you comfortable addressing. Pathetic. Re-ead the article again as its obvious you are not capable of understanding the true point on the first read. Go back to college!
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Pathetic. Cant you take criticism without calling it racist?? Did you ask the professor what he meant? Sad world we live in. Live off your accomplishments.. Get used to people always trying to correct you Its part of life – you will NEVER make everyone happy. This racist card needs to go away. As far as I can tell you are a racist because a white professor tried to help.
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As a matter of course, many of us conclude that anyone in American who uses the term “racist card” is a racist. I’ll wager my meager fortune that you are white.
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And then liberals SAY they want to have a dialogue about race. Like most things liberals SAY, that is a lie. How can there be a dialogue when any argument that doesn’t parrot liberal orthodoxy is dismissed as being racist or invalidated as a product of white privilege?
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Well then allow me to ask you this this questions. Since when is the word “hence” not in someone’s vocabulary? That is grade school grammar. Let me make is more clear for you, it is a word that is learned and taught grammatically by the time your in middle school! Her professor did not question if it was her word, they bluntly accused. The professors response and reaction towards her SIMPLE choice of words is sadly a reflection of a narrow, stereotyped mindset. Moral of her argument is not to flash this “racist card” but to imply that the deed of going to school and, more over, being a professor is not to subject a person to what they believe their grammatical capabilities are but to be an influence to that individual, who is trying to be great.
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And the professor’s criticism was public as well. In front of the whole class. Her blog post takes a pulse on racism in academia (and the whole public sphere once posted on the internet). These awful responses prove her point. I would *never* have thought the comments would reflect as darkly as they do
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Pathetic! You missed the whole point of the article. The professor is either racist or an idiot, there is no other way to put it. Assuming a person is not capable of using the word “hence” is not normal unless you feel the person is not capable of using it on their own accord. The fact that the professor ASSumed this says it all.
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Why not put the whole paper, or at least the part in question online. All I see is a photo of the corner which doesn’t let me see the whole phrase. Why would you do that? I mean then we could check that phrase for plagiarism online and….. Ohhh, that’s why.
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Pathetic. Stop your whining and shut up about your perceived biases. people like you are EXACTLY the reason we have trump….good job.
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Check yourself: “Perceived biases?” Your obvious biases are not just perceived by me, but by whoever reads your comment.
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Frederick Douglass said “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” Keep your head up and keep doing what your doing!
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The mere fact that you did not understand what the professor inferred, tells me you did not write the paper. When you consistently write a certain way professors notice it and that becomes a modus operandi. When your papers make a sudden, massive directional change the professor will take notice. When I am asked to write papers, for others, I decline, because the change in writing styles will be so great that the professor/s will see it immediately. Something else I do is to write as I speak. I do not go around using slang all day long, then write a proper paper.
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Hun Zi: first, the Professor did not “infer;” the reader infers from what is read. The Professor might have implied. In the second place, your theory is silly. People change their writing style intentionally and regularly, particularly in academic situations. If ;you cannot do this, you need to learn.
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Um, as a person who proofreads for a living, you can TRY to change your style, but I will recognize you every single time.
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Oh, so the professor did not read it? And no know people who are in an academic environ do not suddenly change their writing style. It signals cheat.
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“The mere fact that you did not understand what the professor inferred….” You mean what the professor “implied.” It’s ok, a lot of people make the same mistake you did. My guess is the author here would not make that mistake however – she clearly has a strong grasp of the English language.
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LOL. Her English is full of errors far more grievous than using infer instead of imply.
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Sorry to disappoint but he had to both infer and imply. Infer when he read it, but he did not imply anything. He stated it in front of the class.
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Oops, I changed though paths but did not correct. English is such a pain in the butt language!
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Laughing. You absolutely should change the style of your writing when writing academically. As a former grad student who worked as a grader for an Film/Lit professor, I was regularly disgusted with the piles of analytical essays written in conversational English. It might pass at the undergrad level, but never ever at the graduate level that she’s working toward.
By the way, you can speak in slang or bro out with friends and then turn on academic language when it’s time to work. You wouldn’t write a letter to your five year old niece using the same language and formality as you would when writing to your grandmother. In good writing, style changes with the audience.
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White girl accused of plagiarism throws tantrum on personal blog, world watches in wonder….
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Did either your professor or yourself make use of SafeAssign or another plagiarism checker? It would have helped to either verify or dispute the claim. Not having access to the paper, I can’t speak to its quality, but the comment might have been intended to point out an inconsistency in your writing style rather than plagiarism. If this is an issue for you, I would suggest trying to resolve it with your professor one-on-one, or with the department chair present. Again, if you wish to refute the charge, run your work through a plagiarism checker.
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Safe Assign only works if she plagiarized it from an academic paper. It does not work if someone she knows wrote it, and then she copied it, or worse yet someone wrote it for her in totality. Case in point, the blog above uses a lot of catch phrases and keywords. I would say about 2/3rds of the blog is the work of someone else, more than likely several others, because it has a “cut and paste” feel to it. That feeling that creeps up when you read something, but it sounds way too familiar because it consists of slogans and phrases linked together with words to create a narrative.
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Safe Assign includes the internet and other published materials, in addition to student-submitted papers. It caught one of my students cribbing lines from an online source. While it doesn’t prevent someone from writing a paper for you, eliminate a large body of work that might have been copied. I don’t see any direct evidence that the above blog was cut and pasted from outside sources. That “feeling” you describe may simply be the tendency to repeat sentence structure and length, which is a common style issue in student papers.
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