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 hope that you take heart from all of the encouraging comments here. You are obviously a young woman with great promise and if there is one thing this world needs, it is more thoughtful, articulate people like yourself. I am an education professor. I would encourage you, as others have here, to take this to the dean. If this professor could publicly doubt and humiliate you because of your ethnicity and perhaps your gender, they have probably done it to other students as well. This needs to stop now. It makes me heartsick to see teachers at any level chip away at young people’s self esteem. Keep writing and keep standing up for yourself. We need you in academia!
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You’re not the only one that has felt like that in a PWI. I graduated from an HBCU and I didn’t feel as reluctant to participate in class discussions, but when I went to a PWI for my masters the vernacular was different and wasn’t what I was accustomed to, but I made the best of it. Professors can be very opinionated in word choice and another myriad of language preferences, but don’t allow this one incident to discourage you. Keep going. Keep pushing. Pursue your masters and your PhD. Hope this poem helps.
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Someone earlier suggested you frame this. I agree–put it up on your wall and let it remind you of all the obstacles that people threw in your way, that you overcame to be the successful person you are and are becoming. Don’t let weak people deter you from your goals.
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Sorry doesn’t even come close to how I feel after reading this story. I sincerely hope you and/or your classmates take a stand against this individual for expressing this type of neo-biased discrimination. The teacher made an erroneous claim with no evidence other than a single word. I understand you wish to do no harm and cause someone to lose their job, but quite frankly, “it” does not deserve this position if behavior like this goes unchecked. You will be 10000x the educator this POS could ever be, which is something this “teacher” obviously already knows for acting like a petulant bigot.
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Shouldn’t it have been “…cut and paste[d]”? (Past tense?)
If so, I find it ironic that a professor without a solid grasp of language should criticize someone else on their completely valid use of language… *Sigh* What has academia come to?
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We need an update. Stat! Your professor needs to be professional reprimanded by thenuniversity. I am livid!
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I don’t understand what you mean by “in a society where people like me are not set up to succeed”.
You are a:
– You are a “McNair Fellow and student scholar”
– You’ve “presented at national conferences in San Francisco, San Diego, and Miami.”
– You’ve “published in a peer-reviewed journal managed by the Pell Institute for the Study of Higher Education and Council for Opportunity in Education”.
– All this while you “consistently juggled at least two jobs and maintained the status of a full-time student”
– You are on the “Dean’s list recipient since my first year at Suffolk University”.
– You 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”.
– You are a “first generation college student, first generation U.S. citizen”
While I sure agree things can, and should, always be made better, I just don’t know what the f*ck you are talking about when you say that “the system is set up for people like you not to succeed”. Here you are whining about a poor idiot and crying victim when in fact the system has actually worked pretty well for you.
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THIS. You obviously don’t know how hard she worked to get to where she is despite the system. All throughout her way she’s probably dealt with this. In study groups where nobody will listen because she’s not white or judge her capabilities before actually seeing them. It’s having the same answers as your classmate but yours are still wrong. The academic system doesn’t help if you’re brown; letting someone be there(how I feel sometimes) is not the same as helping.
“There are students who will be assumed capable without the need to list their credentials in the beginning of a reflective piece”.
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THAT. Rosario, you are missing the facts here in favor of an emotional response to her story:
She has applied for a prestigious fellowship and SHE GOT IT. She submitted a paper to a journal and SHE GOT IT. She worked to do well in school and SHE GOT ON THE DEAN’S LIST. She submitted talks for conferences and HE WAS INVITED. She applied governmental funding for something and SHE SUCCEEDED.
I find this quite impressive.
So, where exactly did the McNair not listen “because she’s not white”?
Where did the journal not listen “because she’s not white”?
Where did her own institution not listen to her “because she’s not white”?
Where did the conferences not listen to her “because she’s not white”?
Where did the government not listen to her “because she’s not white”?
So once again, my point is that the system has worked very very well for her. she worked hard and she did very well.
Of course, are there stupid people in the world? Yes. Many are white, many are *other colors*, many are professors, many are *other occupations*. But for someone who started where she started, first college/US generation” do not f*cking tell me the system didn’t work for her. It did, and quite frankly I am very proud (among the many thing I’m unfortunately ashamed of..) of a country where someone like her CAN do what she did.
I would ask, Rosario, that you would also spare me the “but you don’t know how hard it must have been to her”, because you have no freaking clue how f*cking hard life might be on other people, not to mention the irony of you being all preoccupied by the prejudices of others (namely, me, in your post) while you clearly have prejudices against me.
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You probably got to the position you are in today through doing the bare minimum, this girl goes above and beyond to reach success because this racist country forces her to. Stop being ignorant and denying these problems exist she’s been successful cause she’s worked harder than most born in the country so yea the system is set up for people like her to not succeed, it’s also set up for racism, sexism, irrationalism and downright ignorance as not just a way of life. If your okay with that then join the rest of your white privileged coworkers.
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As I said, things can and should be made better. But maybe you didn’t read the post above…
Also, do I have to point out the irony of you being all upset because the world has prejudices and then YOURSELF manifesting blatant prejudices about me..?
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Dear so and so, Your input offers no relevance or support towards the current problems with the system, we don’t expect you to understand because this article isn’t for you. Thank you for playing, goodbye.
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..Whereas your solution to end exclusion is to exclude me? Very elegant!
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You clearly have never experienced life as a member of an underprivileged group. She’s achieved all those things DESPITE the fact that the system is not set up for her succeed. You fail to grasp the fact that while the American Dream is there for all to attain, your sex, wealth, race, sexuality, religion, and a myriad of other things work for or/against you in achieving said Dream.
Had you bothered to continue reading, you’d see the prime example of how the system is set up for people like her to not succeed. She’s just as qualified, if not more than her peers, but her professor assumes that because she does not fit the mold of what a “smart” student looks like (I wonder why that is), she couldn’t possibly have used vocabulary as advanced as the word “hence.”
It is people like you with your head in the sand, that doesn’t see the implicit and sometimes explicit biases in our system and society that allows the worst of the bigots, racists, and sexists to thrive and invigorate Trump-ism.
Step out of your shoes for a second, try some empathy, and attempt to see the world through the eyes of someone who did not have all the privileges you fail to recognize in your own life.
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It’s really interesting how quickly people who complain about others making assumptions about them jump to make assumptions about the others.
Ariel, in other words, you ARE that professor that judged the OP by the sound of her last name, since you judged ME by what YOU THINK I am (without knowing who I am).
So, again, am I the problem or are YOU the problem? Oh the irony..
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You’re making a common error which is, ultimately, cherry picking (a term referring specifically to a type of logical fallacy), although you also use some ad hominem as well–something which rarely befits a sound argument. You assume that the list you compiled above of the young woman’s many accomplishments means she cannot possibly exist in a world which disavows her or makes success in academia difficult. The list you compiled above does not prove that assumption. None of those accomplishments were handed to her, she worked for them and has done so within a larger structure (at both the university and broader society level) which actively pushes back. As evidenced in her discussion of having a professor, on the basis of a word many students pick up quite quickly in academia seeing as those of us w/in higher ed favor terms like “thus” and “hence,” claiming that she must not be capable intellectually of producing the level of work she did produce. The claim by the professor is proof of an implicit bias, and given years of sociological, social psych, and historical research/writing/discussions, one can fairly easily connect between the young woman being a Latina and the bias shown via her professor refusing to believe her work.
Let’s review some things you clearly do not know, instead incorrectly and illogically comprising what ultimately is a xenophobic, racist, classist and sexist response, if even implicitly. The McNair program is open to first generation, low income students and/or students who come from a group who are historically underrepresented in academia. Given that everyone not white and wealthy have been historically underrepresented, this program helps to support a large cross-section of incoming students to many, many universities nationwide. Further, women were barred from academia, then upper levels of academia, and are still often met with both implicit and explicit sexism. Being a McNair scholar also means that this woman had to have already been a high achieving student, and given the fluidity and thoroughness of her writing I think that it’s fairly evident that she is an intelligent, well-read, and hardworking student.
But you don’t seem to care that the list you compiled of the accomplishments she wrote about proves that she clearly has worked and accomplished despite a structure (academia) which neither historically nor currently views her as being a rightful participant within it. [For those reading this who scoff or continue to whine “but hoooowww”: go fucking google it. I’m not doing your work for you, but there are reams of articles outlining and discussing the historical scaffolding that current social institutions such as universities are built onto which result in a restriction of who is allowed in, who is given space to succeed, and who is seen as correct, intelligent, and capable within academia. These articles and considerations are available not only in academic journals, but in journalistic sources such as newspapers, and also via personal accounts including blogs such as this one. It is a varied and thorough body of evidence.]
You believe your compilation proves ease and ready access, based on nothing more than an inability to reason logically that an outcome does not always prove evidence of something. Which is the root problem of your illogical bullshit above (I’d be nicer but you weren’t even polite to the writer, so let’s call it fair). The above list does not prove that the student had ease of access and that she was not met with undue and unjust restrictions and bias. Rather, when one takes into account the history of social structures and support, including education (and healthcare, fair and safe working conditions, stable and safe housing, basic human rights), the list proves two things: that she is so committed to her desire to learn and be taken seriously as an academic that she has overcome boundaries ranging from lack of economic access (including not just the economic but the inherent social capital as well), to implicit and explicit racism and sexism inherent in academia codified into everything from admission rules to what a professor feels comfortable claiming about her; and that her own lived experience describes the continued disavowal of her right to access, and her as a person within, academia. Rhetorically speaking, lived experience can, and should in this instance, suffice as enough evidence upon which to assume/place ethos, and thus for us to believe her.
You pulled certain aspects out, applied an illogical bootstrap mentality which assumes if someone achieves then it must be because the system is set up to allow anyone to achieve, and then continue to assume that because the young woman is a high functioning, junior academic that she must be lying or mistaken about the difficulties she faced and the reality that the structure of society in the US is unfavorable and unjust to a huge percentage of the population based on cruelties like racism, sexism, ableism, classism, et al. None of which makes any sense *unless* you are making your argument from the ridiculous place of refusing to believe that racism, xenophobia, sexism, and classism are not codified, foundational parts of US society. They are. That you mistakenly take evidence of people achieving *despite* that and try to turn it into evidence that people have nothing to work against is naive, poorly reasoned, and worthy of a failing grade.
That you are incapable of understanding her point is on you, not her. That you are unaware or unschooled in how society is not fair, open, and just for all is on you, not her. That you thought it was appropriate to come to a blog that is clearly personal, is about a student who was just treated like crap by a professor (which is not just an issue of education being shitty, but actually a sign that her professor lacks professionalism or good training in healthy pedagogy and how to address things like issues of assumed plagiarism), and respond without compassion, reason, or a valid point is on you. Because your post doesn’t actually ask a question, it makes an illogical assertion proving only that you have your head shoved so far up your own ass that I can only pray you are not allowed to work with or teach youth or young adults as you clearly have nothing to offer beyond poor timing, lack of social graces, and no clear intelligence.
Understand better now? The student-author of this post deserves better than your crappy response meant to make yourself feel big and smart at the expense of someone else. You, however, by virtue of being enough of an ass to post such a comment, are not deserving of such consideration.
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Dear K,
I’m starting to see a pattern here. Everyone is all up in arms, as they should be, that people make inferences without knowing someone, and then they all rush to make inferences — very offensive in the case of your post may I say — about people they do not know.
Now, I love the academic tone of this incoherent response. But before you go all ‘ad hominem’, ‘bootstap’ and ‘fallacy’ on me you might want to read this paper:
Oppenheimer D (2005) Consequences of erudite vernacular utilized irrespective of necessity: problems with using long words needlessly. Applied Cog Psych
[the short story is that people that use big words uselessly, are rated as less intelligent — I’ll let you complete the inference here since you’re the logical one..]
Google it, it’s very interesting and informative.
I must say I particularly LOVED the “illogical bootstrap mentality”.
“Bootstrap” is neither logical nor illogical, and it is most certainly not a mentality. It’s ok not to know what it is, but perhaps Google it if you want to use it in a sentence! Oh, the irony..
Now, re the rest of the contents, I don’t even know where to start. Perhaps by mentioning that many years ago I have been involved in the McNair program (on the awarding side)? But you’re welcome to explain the program to me a little more since I clearly “do not know it”; that was very cute.. (again, ironic, right?)
Regarding the rest, I have little to say to your incoherent ramble since, I’ll just quote myself a little from above to make one example (there are another million in your post..) of the fact that you have been responding to a dialogue in your own head rather than my post..
As I said above:
– “she worked hard and she did very well.”
– “I am very proud (among the many thing I’m unfortunately ashamed of..) of a country where someone like her CAN do what she did.”
– “I am quite impressed”
[Notice the “SHE worked hard”, “SHE did very well”, “someone like HER” and “what SHE did” bits — emphasis added]
So:
Did I say that “those accomplishments were handed to her” as YOU said? Nope.
Did I say that “she [hasn’t] worked for them” as YOU said? Nope.
Did I say she is not a “high achieving student [and] intelligent, well-read, and hardworking student” as YOU did? Nope.
As I said above:
– “[…] I sure agree things can, and should, always be made better,”
– “Of course, are there stupid people in the world? Yes. Many are white, many are *other colors*, many are professors, many are *other occupations*.”
Again, I don’t even know what post you read, but that’s ok, it’s the internet, the place where people have opinions about things they don’t read…
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Thanks K and Poor Kid.
I am struck by the emotion in all these exchanges. More on this later.
I don’t agree with PK that your (K) post was incoherent. On the ‘bootstrap mentality’ i presumed this was alluding to the dictum ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’. I think this does accurately describe your (PK) argument that essentially the education system works, albeit not perfectly, and that where someone applies themselves i.e, pulls up their bootstraps, they will succeed.
I agree with K that evidence of success neither proves the system to be fair or provides evidence that the student in question hasn’t experienced discrimination of the type described. Its a bit like arguing that the US couldn’t be racist since it has a black President. I think you (PK) are of the view that ‘shit happens (to all of us), get over it’ and i wouldn’t disagree with that but sometimes shit happens for a reason. And this is the basis of the original posting; that some shit is systematically delivered at certain people to keep them in their place. I accept that K sees this and PK doesn’t.
That this issue prompts such impassioned responses does not surprise me as it seems to me to touch on an open wound in the US body politic. The US is struggling, as do all societies, with that tension between fairness and equality. The so called American Dream is rooted in fairness that is a presumed given based on a mythological understanding of the Union’s foundation. This is despite the legislative, institutional and moral oppression of the indigenous, women, blacks, homosexuals etc that featured in the union’s first 3 centuries. it is difficult to acknowledge and address the legacy of this if the mere fact of it runs counter to the prevailing narrative.
Equality of outcome has never featured much as far as i can see in the American lexicon except as a foreign, alien and even ungodly notion. It is ironic then that the US has embraced ‘affirmative action’ policies in ways that no where else in the world has. Arguably AA policies act like a valve on a pressure cooker, they stop everything from blowing up while keeping the equipment cooking away as ever. Most countries that have the collective resources to do so provide for the basic healthcare needs of it all its citizens. That so many Americans see healthcare like any other commodity, such as a car, so that if you can afford it you buy one and if you cant you don’t, perplexes many in the rest of the world. This is perhaps a legacy of the country’s protestant christian ethic, trust in god and you will get what you deserve.
But i wonder if we are witnessing a sea change in US ideology. I wonder if we have reached a point in US history where there is a critical number of white men who consider their relative wealth unacceptably low. it is this ‘pain’ that has informed the US presidential season. On one side you have Bernie arguing that the pain is shared by so many others in society and it is the broken system to blame. On the other side you have Trump arguing that the pain is caused by others inside and outside of society and it is broken people to blame. Whatever the case a rubicon may have been crossed and it is no longer a given that the US delivers to everyone and anyone that works hard. It will come as a shock to many patriotic and privileged Americans that they live in an imperfect even broken society, and definitely not the best in the history of the world. Will this be an epiphany, or will it see a drive to return to the rose tinted spectacle of a once great America? And for those who want the US to go back to a golden time i think one of your own said it best with “Let America Be America Again” http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/let-america-be-america-again/
It is probably true that each reader will have come to this article predisposed to believing she was a either the victim of self serving institutions or yet another chip on shoulder minority determined to claim victim hood in every unwanted life experience. And all the subsequent exchanges, including mine, will have simply served to entrench those positions. That being so it is good to have the dialogue if only to let off a little steam.
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Thank you for sharing this….although it is hard, you do know that you belong! You need to share your professor’s behavior through the proper channels at your school. How dare he question you in front of the entire class! Beyond the fact that he was insulting your character and intelligence, there are appropriate ways faculty are supposed to handle situations when they think there may be plagiarism…and this was NOT one of them. And the worse part of it all, he’s questioning your use of “hence,” meanwhile there were probably white students in your class who did plagiarize and the thought never entered his mind.
Clearly, you write “well,” as indicated by the thoughtfulness of this piece. I hope you are able to share it with him one day, when it is safe. (And by safe I mean, when it would have no effect on your grade because if he is the kind of faculty to humiliate you in front of peers, his bias may come through in other ways .)
Keep your head up! Keep pressing on! As you see, the Academy certainly NEEDS you, so don’t let this horrible episode deter you too much.
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This was my experience in undergrad @ an R1 institution. Now that I’m pursuing my doc @ a small jesuit liberal arts institution, I’m having a bit of a different experience. I too, as a Queer Black Womyn, would say, be loud. Share with folks who matter at your institution.
I also know that being loud means that you take on this issue fully and are subject to a slew of backlash. I would argue that we’ve been resilient for hundreds of years and this is a worthy hill to rest upon.
Whitneé
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Hi Tiffany-
I agree with Evan above. This professor’s comments on your work are completely inappropriate and need to be brought to the attention of the school. Glad you were able to share and articulate your feelings. Hang in there. You will shine and your day in the sun is coming.
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I’m sorry this happened to you, but do have a question. Are you sure about his motivations? I’m a white, college-educated male who has worked in communications for many years. I write a lot. I can probably count on one hand the times I’ve written the word “hence” in my entire life. I have nothing against it. It doesn’t jump out at me when I read it, it’s just not me. If I were to use it, people who know me and my writing style would see is as out of character. I think it’s clear that your professor was unprofessional and jumped to conclusions. If was public with his accusation before he had facts, there is strong evidence he’s also a jerk. It is clear he was racist and or/misogynistic? That might very well be the case! However, those are big accusations and they are tossed out quite casually these days. Did he assume that someone like you would not use that word or that you would not use that word? It’s not that I’m doubting or invalidating any of your experiences, this is just food for thought. I wish you all the best!
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SDO, here is some reading for you: http://everydayfeminism.com/2013/07/intentions-dont-really-matter/
White people need to stop questioning people of color as to whether they are sure they’re experiencing racism, and start believing their lived experiences and the impact they have. This is not “food for thought”, it is the same old song of “but are you sure you’re being oppressed?” that asks people to defend themselves further. The reason you seem to think asking this question is an academic mental exercise is that your lived experience doesn’t consist of filtering your every experience through “did that person mean to be racist/sexist/etc?”, whereas for a lot of us, that is a constant mental process.
As a side note, I’ve taught a lot of classes, and it is VERY easy to check whether an essay has been plagiarized– the professor in this case doesn’t indicate that they have anything to back up their questioning this student’s language, other than their own personal biases of course.
Tiffany, I’m really sorry this happened to you, and I agree with your criticisms of the system. The best solace I can offer is that there is a growing community of people working to build a better path forward.
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I’m pretty certain you forgot the part where the professor clearly said to indicate what she cut and pasted. I get that your well intentioned, but I’m going to be really blunt here and say that you should reflect on your mistake here because it was a big one that many white people commit. When a person of color describes a negative or racist interaction, people who have rarely or never experienced racism always jump in and say look i mean well, but are you suree about that? And guess what — its part of the problem. We’ve experienced animosity enough to know when its happening, we dont need a privileged person to tell us to double check and be certain. It happened.
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“It’s not that I’m doubting or invalidating any of your experiences……” – REALLY??!! You have a STRANGE way of showing it!!
As a “white, college-educated male who had worked in communications for many years”, you represent the VERY reason why this problem exists!! That you can sit there and ACT as though you’re “unaware” of the implicit bias she accurately described, is disingenuous AT BEST.
Those “accusations” that you claim are “tossed out quite casually” are usually spot on! By just making THAT statement, you’re showing just how much in denial YOU are of that fact.
If you truly want “the best” for her……..SPEAK UP WHEN, NOT IF, ONE OF YOUR PEERS MAKES THE ASSUMPTION THAT SOMEONE OF COLOR IS INCAPABLE OF WRITING AS GOOD OR BETTER THAN THEY CAN.
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Nah, bro.
Whatever motivation (see also; excuse) this professor might have, the assumption of guilt without evidence makes the intent clear. This professor does not believe she is capable of writing a paper and using “High Dollar Words” correctly without cheating.
There are plenty of plagiarism detection programs that are *insanely* sophisticated, and if the professor had any leg to stand on beyond their own bias they would be able to prove it and not attempt to force her to “show where she cut and paste.”
As a White Male, with college education myself, I use the word Hence in nearly every essay I wrote. It’s a handy word to use that lets you get to he next point without a digression.
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I get that you are attempting to be well intentioned, but the professor clearly stated for the student to indicate what she cut and pasted. I’m going to personally ask you to reflect on how your behavior is problematic here. People of color have been the target of prejudice and racism and I think we know by now when its happening. For you to come in, as someone who has barely or never faced it, and tell her that just maybeee she was mistaken and hey maybe the prof was well intentioned! That is called privilege. Its very clear that this was a racist incident, yet you (white male, not to mention) are here telling her should definitely consider the notion that she could be wrong.
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I am only a person reading this article, so by no means do I mean to answer for the author, however there is one thing that I would like to add as a person who enjoys writing and has had my fair share of editing jobs, especially editing papers for students whose first language isn’t English. The wonderful thing of editing people’s work is that you can watch a writer grow and it’s always impressive. However, as a teacher, I understand for the sake of expediency and efficiency you don’t have the time to really sit down and grade a paper taking into account that your students grow and that their writing style varies, however slight, with every draft. I’ve been on both ends, both being the flippant expedient editor as well as the person whose been doubted in my skill. So while the precise accusation of the author does seem to be grandiose, I do not think it was unfounded. We have preconceived notions, no matter if we believe we do or not. That is how we come up with our methods of expediency, this does not exclude the work of editing. You make an assumption of the writer, make an assumption of their skill and then whip out your red ink. However with teachers specifically, some see students of different races, different class or of different status of immigration and their first instinct is to peg their expectation of that student with the conditioned level of intelligence for that particular demographic (with a preferred group being that of a white middle class student of US or European nationality). Understandably if you haven’t experienced it, it is difficult to read into the nuances and come to the same conclusion as the author has. But as someone who has lived it time and again, I can see how the leap was made. However regardless if race was the driving force, the teacher failed to fulfill the very definition of their title, and that in itself is disheartening.
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His motivations don’t matter. His actions are inappropriate and should be reported.
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Girl, you neeeeeeeeed to talk to a dean, somebody, get this man fired. This is not right. At all. Good for you for speaking out. I really and sincerely hope you pursue further action on this. Wishing you love and strength. ❤
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First and foremost, languages are not owned but shared. I hear you. We have all had an idiot or a professor, we just keep the good.
I commend you.
You are a brave warrior, someone to look up to.
Keep it up. Peace.
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Wow, all those highly suspected and proven plagiarisms I found when I was a high school teacher in Africa and Asia were actually because I am a racist. Now I know.
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If you only went after Black & Brown students for using common academic language? You might be. You should work on that.
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That is a very ignorant response.
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And did you confront those students privately? Did you find where their work had been lifted from? Did you know the students well enough to recognize their abilities and vocabulary?
Or did you arrive and on the second day of class assume that they would not have a certain vocabulary and accuse them of plagiarism when you knew nothing about them. If it’s this one, then yes, you are racist
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You sir, are an idiot.
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How are you going to compare a McNair scholar’s work to your high school students? Your “I’m not racist” defensive response speaks volumes.
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Mr. Irving, high school students do not have the accomplishments nor references that this young lady has. However, your callous remark does confirm either your lack of compassion and understanding or your inherent racism.
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This post is clearly about her experience with a professor. She wrote the paper and DIDNT plagiarize and was called out for it in front of her class. No where did she say that if you suspect plagiarism then you’re a racist… So you came to that conclusion all by yourself.
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Since you’re okay with leaving such a ridiculously knee-jerk reaction, you also probably missed plagiarisms and “highly suspected” plagiarisms based on socialized and institutionalized bias that, because of your nearsightedness, you won’t ever be capable of correcting. Reread the piece and tell me exactly how using “hence” could be “proven plagiarism.”
Reminder: this isn’t about you. It isn’t always about you.
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How in the world are you making this young woman’s experience about you? Sensitive much…did she touch a nerve? shine a mirror in your face? It’s a weak analogy comparing high schoolers in “AFRICA” and “ASIA” to college students in NORTH AMERICA. However, your statement very clearly illustrates the type of biased thinking this young woman probably encounters daily.
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Seriously? This was not a ‘proven’ case of plagiarism so your point is invalid, irrelevant, and, defensive. You did do a great job of dismissing her experience though, so you should be proud.
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I am very sorry this happened to you, and I join the chorus of other commenters who encourage you to go to the dean and beyond in exposing this professor. I’m a caucasian male who couldn’t be angrier on your behalf. I hear you, I see you and I support you. Make this guy answer for his biases and carry on with your own work. I wish you every success.
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I am absolutely appalled by how unprofessional and insensitive your professor was to treat you like this in front of your peers. Especially when it’s clear that their only justification was that “there’s no way a woman of color could write something this good”. I haven’t read your original essay, but this post is very well-written and it’s clear that you’re an intelligent woman and talented writer. I can’t imagine how hard it must be, but try not to let the bastards get you down- you’re going to do (and have already done!) great things. YOU are great.
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We definitely need people like you writing and out there providing the education that children in your position need along with the supports to achieve greatness. My heart hurts for you and what you’ve gone through with this idiot of a professor. Fight the good fight, hun. His voice isn’t as loud as yours and the people supporting you. 🙂
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Please photocopy your essay with grading comments and this blog post. Send them to 1) the department chair, 2) The Dean of the Faculty (NOT the Dean of Students) 3) The President of the Institution.and 4) the Chair of the Board of Trustees.
You will explore the degree to which the guiding administrators are allowing this sort of thing to be associated with your institution. Chances are, you may find that you are not the only one offended. You may uncover more support than you imagined. If not, transfer. After 40 years in academics, I am never surprised by the crap that some careless faculty let out. I am also buoyed by what many faculty are willing to do to advance their students. If the response is not to your liking, transfer. And do so vocally.
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GIRL GIRL GIRL {Hits follow}… this is so sad! I too know the feeling (btw I am a McNair Scholar as well 🙂 This has happened to me 1 too many times, in different ways…. SMH. Thank you for posting this, you explained it so well!
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Reblogged this on The Writing Mom and commented:
Absolutely abhorrent that a professor would such a thing. I’m disgusted by this man and fully support this woman because damn, girl can write. #mywords #academianeedswork
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Thank you for sharing your experience with us, you go girl!
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Awareness of this issue is great, and you should keep fighting for this issue; who knows how many people have been victims of this degenerate of a professor you have.
Stay strong.
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wonder if you should out this guy.
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Continue to allow time for introspection and challenging your own thoughts because that is where we allow the harmful actions of others to permeate us. When we doubt ourselves, when we believe even for a millisecond what they project, we hurt. It is an ongoing challenge because the culture is so distorted and dysfunctional that it fails to provide an accurate mirror for us talented, driven, passionate, intelligent women of color. Carry on with self-compassion.
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Amiga, tu eres una chingona! Levante su cara en alto. When they would tell me to be quiet I would scream and they would tell me to let it go I would fight. As one teacher told me, where you buy the ticket is where you see the show. When I was in school I always wanted to be an attorney so I could help my people then I came across film making and realized I could make a difference by changing how we are portrayed on a daily basis through my work in media. We all have our paths and trust me, what you suffer in the world of academia is all too familiar in every profession. For example after 5 years of white film school, I only came to find out color TV was invented by a MexiCAN because of a Facebook meme what a shame isn’t it. Keep up the hard work so you can one day be the shining example for little brown boys and little brown girls, deja que en ti vean las posibilidades de un futuro!
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In high school my history teacher told me I didn’t write my paper on the civil war. It was sentimental and flowery – I was 16 and full of grit and flavor. She underlined all the flowery phrases and said, “This isn’t your voice.” I’m half Mexican, half Pakistani, and at the time full punk rock with purple hair and big. boots beneath my catholic school skirt. To make sure she understood that I know my voice, I wrote a long passionate letter to the headmaster which I read out loud to her in her office, crumbling to tears explaining how betrayed I felt by this person who was supposed to be drawing out my talents. The teacher did not return the next year.
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Reblogged this on ourglitterati.
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This is shocking indeed…
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Idiot professor. Send him/her a link to this, and ask him/her to identify just where you supposedly cut and pasted. Ask him/her to mark which words are “not yours”, and then provide examples of what words you should have used instead. This is your professor, after all; they should be prepared to teach you by providing models of the language they expect you to use.
In the end, the eloquence and power of your writing will speak for itself.
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First generation college student now a professor – I bristle when I hear about these kinds of “know-your-place” aggressions by people who should be enlightened enough to know better. I’m so sorry. I have also been on the outside of privilege and was lucky enough to make my way in. Sadly, it never stops – your work is never good enough. Men in my school no more accomplished make much more than I do and have to do much less. I see women of color here pushed by the wayside. And no one takes you seriously. But, the work you do is worth it. You will help so many young people who will be where you are now. And the work you publish will be a beacon to others. Bon courage, Tiffany! You have a thousand allies.
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This kind of stuff enrages me. I often wonder what I would have had to put up with if I had my Hispanic mother’s name rather than my white father’s name. The bias and institutional racism starts when they see your name. The audacity that would lead someone to believe that you could not have the word “hence” in your vocabulary is just simply ludicrous. Stand up and tell them, “HENCEFORTH, I will not take this any longer.” (Sadly, this is not new. It’s on the same street — different block — as those who think Shakespeare couldn’t be Shakespeare because he was educated in a small town grammar school and, as we all know, he couldn’t learn or have an imagination.) Your voice is your power. Use it, mi hermana.
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I’m sorry that you have had to deal with bias in your work. I am white and English Canadian, and have never felt the bias that you speak of in your writing here. I have felt discriminated against sometimes because for many years I worked for and with professionals with university degrees, while I have only a high school education myself.
I can’t give you advice with respect to this specific problem, although some of the comments I read here offer what seems to me good advice. The only advice I can offer you is general: don’t give up. I’m now fighting illness and physical disability, mostly arthritis in joints broken in a car accident, but I do not give in, I do not give up. I keep going, sometimes through pain and discouragement, and often the simple keeping going does me good.
Never give up, dear. Never! May your work be blessed.
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Frame it. Professionally. Have it matted. Hang it on your wall amongst your words and degrees. Then look at the list of people who were told they would amount to nothing: Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, JK Rowling, Thomas Edison, etc. Mentally place yourself in this list of individuals who have overcome and conqueref despite other peoples’ biases. what every student or scholar who comes after you read it on your wall. You will be a teminder and a shining light for all of us to grow by.
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Frame it. Professionally. Have it matted. Hang it on your wall amongst your awards and degrees. Then look at the list of people who were told they would amount to nothing: Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, JK Rowling, Thomas Edison, etc. Mentally place yourself in this list of individuals who have overcome and conquered despite other peoples’ biases. Let every student or scholar who comes after you read it on your wall. You will be a reminder and a shining light for all of us to grow by.
(Edited)
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I appreciate your professor’s attentive concentration to have made any assertion at all. I wish I’d any lecturer think he knows me well enough to make any assertion no matter how wrong.
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#truth
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This has been going on in one form or another way too long. In college in the early 70s (I’m a lot older than you are!) I had an economics professor bring me into his office to ask, “Who is helping you?” because, of course, a young woman couldn’t possibly be getting the best grade in the class in economics. One of my best friends was the first woman physics major the history of the college. Keep on keeping on…that professor didn’t get tenure and I’ve had a nice career in accounting.
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I am like you, just a Hispanic girl in academia. I cannot imagine what I would have done had I seen this on my papers. I think I use “Hence” a few times in my dissertation. I do not know where you are in your educational journey but I hope as you go on, it will get better, but unfortunately, I cannot promise that. I know as a Professor, now, I do not ever assume anything. I connect with my fellow Latinos and tell them “I am one of you!” I remind them they can do this. I am so sorry that the halls of learning have let in the rot of prejudice and bigotry. Still, we persevere and get the degrees and change it from within.
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Succeed in spite of this professor. I had two male professors tell me that I would not finish my PhD. I used my anger and channeled it into finishing and moving past them. Best of luck!
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“This is NOT your word” sounds like a perfect title for a new piece of work…
Keep going, keep writing, keep teaching, keep fighting the good fight. You are not alone! And we see you. Do not stop.
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Tiffany,
Greetings from a fellow McNair scholar and now doctorate recipient. I’m so sorry that you were treated like this and that your professor does not see your incredible intelligence. I hope you take this to your dean and all the way to the top to the university president. Clearly, this professor either needs to learn from this experience and fix his/her inherent bias, or they need to be let go.
Please don’t let this deter you from continuing your studies and going into academia. This story is precisely the reason why we need POC teaching in our universities.
Take care, and best of luck!
Evan
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That was devastating to read.I can’t believe that such bias exists in people who’re supposed to be educated and aware.Worse,they’re actually educating others.It’s horrifying.
I hope you’re okay.You’re proving them all wrong as you keep going.Keep your faith.
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Wow. Thank you for this. Someone shared it on facebook, and I felt every word resonate inside of me.
It is hard to be female and hispanic in academia.
I was doing my master’s in political science back in 2013. For an exam, a professor gave us first 4 questions and said that 3 would appear in the exam, and we would have to fill out blue books for each question. I studied so much. A male classmate and I stayed past midnight in the office studying for the exam. I knew I did well because I memorized the outline of my arguments. Anyway, a few days later the professor asked to see me. He said I had gotten the highest grade in the class and that he just had to ask if I cheated. My heart broke.
He did not ask my male classmate if he had cheated. That professor was a man who I thought appreciated and knew the quality of my work since I had taken him even as an undergraduate. I really hope you take action and address it with the university. I froze and did not say anything to anyone when it happened to me, and I look back and regret that.
I also hope you find mentors who will give you faith in academia that not everyone is like that. I have been blessed with 2 wonderful mentors in graduate school who have supported and empowered me.
Te deseo lo mejor hoy y siempre.
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A colleague posted your remarks on Facebook this morning and urged fellow academics to check ourselves constantly and rigorously. I reposted myself, with the same message, and I also used your post as a lesson to the graduate students in my ‘pedagogy and professionalism’ class. My students were horrified on your behalf, and I think we have a very productive discussion about how our fear of plagiarism can both mask and reinforce our unconscious bias. The notion that language and words “belong” to some people and not to others really captured their and my attention; I will be a lot more careful about how I make and frame claims of plagiarism in the future. I am sorry that any professor treated you so shabbily — both the assumption and the public rebuke — and I am also grateful that you told your story.
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I am disgusted, and honestly tired of reading about people’s blatant disrespect for others. How is it, that in 2016 we still live in a day where color, creed, and station (read cast, class, income level etc) is used as a basis for judgement? It saddens me that people who think like this are still in a position of power and authority over others, especially in a place that is supposed to be judgement free, and a home of learning, not bigotry.
If I were you, I would not only contact the head of the English department, but I would get the dean involved too. It’s been a long time coming, but but people need to start standing up for the oppressed, judged, and persecuted for just being a different color, believing in a different god, or being rich or poor.
At the end of the day, who really cares? We’re all people trying to do what we can for ourselves without (for the most part) impacting the lives of others negatively. I yearn for a day when people can live and work as a community for the benefit of the whole (human) race, not just be in it for themselves, their culture, religion, or class.
One day… a boy can dream. Until then keep on kicking ass, start taking names!
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When I was your age, I had less self-awareness than you do and there was much less focus on systemic oppression, so I didn’t challenge things like this — I didn’t even recognize them for what they were. Now that I am in my 40s, I have zero tolerance for this type of behavior from anyone. I hope that your next stop is the dean’s office, with your paper in hand, and a statement as simple as, “This bias is unacceptable.”
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Thank you, Ms. Martínez. As a white, middle-class male, I live a privileged life. I am well-read (though not particularly well-educated) and do not get called out on my use of proper grammar, syntax, or word choice. I need to be educated by you and others like you so that we may recognize and work to overcome this systemic racism. Thank you for doing your part. (And may I suggest handing this essay to your instructor as a response to the blue pen?)
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As these many comments show, you are not alone. I’m sorry this happened to you. Not only academia, but our society as a whole still needs a lot of work! As a Latina professional in her 50s, I can tell you that I am sometimes discouraged by how slow the process is to weed out the deeply rooted racism in our country, but truly, things are improving little by little. I admire your courage and eloquence. Stay strong and know that even if you can’t see them, many people have your back.
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Hi Tiffany, I am a brown guy of Indian descent who has lived in UK. I know that feeling. I couldn’t do anything about it but you can because you are extremely talented.
PS: This work was amazing and it was YOURS!! nobody can take that away from you!
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As a professor for 37 years at a university near Suffolk, I wish Suffolk would do as well with its faculty recruitment as it’s clearly doing with its student admissions. It’s unconscionable for an instructor to do what yours did to you, and I hope you will pursue it with a Dean. The only bright spot in this is you, and your talent for clear, analytical, articulate and impassioned writing. Any professor worth his or her salt would be delighted to have a student like you. Do keep at it. All good wishes.
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Please do not give up. We need people like you here. Sorry about what happened. Keep fighting!
With love,
Academia
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