Professor Leaves Racist Note on Student's Paper

[brassmonkey]

Tiffany Martínez is a first-generation college student majoring in sociology at Suffolk University in Boston. She is a McNair Fellow, a Dean's List recipient, and has presented at national conferences all over the U.S.

On the morning of Oct. 27, her professor handed her back a paper she'd written wrote and announced, in front of the entire class, "This is not your language." At the top of the paper were the words, "Please go back and indicate where you cut and paste," presumably meaning the professor believed Martínez had plagiarized passages. On the second page, the word "hence" was circled, next to the note, "This is not your word." The word "not" was underlined twice.

Martinez responded by writing a blog post critiquing the racial biases apparent in such a judgment, and her disappointment at living 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...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?...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?

Martinez's paper did not have a grade, only the words, "needs work." Hence, Martínez ended her blog post with quite the literary mic drop: "Academia needs work."

BuzzFeed reports that Martínez "has not spoken with the professor since the incident, but has brought it to the attention of the chair of Suffolk University's sociology department, who has launched an investigation." In particular, the department's head read over her paper, Martínez added, and "had nothing but good things to say."

article...

[candyflip]

In just a few partial sentences shown in that image, I see multiple issues. It does need work.

I don't know how she managed to turn that into "stereotypes and generalizations forced on marginalized communities"...but yeah, kids today.

[LatinaCamChat]

Racebaiting nig.ger thread

<< thread closed >>

[Adnium_Ivana]

Wow, she reached so far she found the edge of the world and fell off it.

[nico-t]

Thanks for another shitty race thread about something that isn't based on race whatsoever.

The quote in this stupid race bait story to rile up ignorant sheep like you says it all... the article says "this is not your language" while the pic shows "this is not your word".

And even if he did say language, it's fucking obvious he meant the everyday language and words this student uses without words like 'Hence' and probably based on her other written works he had read of her as well.

Fuck, I hate articles like this - the teacher has caught this bitch copying, and the media makes it a fucking race thing again. Things like this happened every fucking week when i was in school, yet we, white, black, arab and asian students, wouldn't even try to call something like that racist. Because it's FUCKING STUPID

FUCK

I can really get angry about this stupid race bait shit the media is spreading.

[candyflip]

The comments, as always are great.

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.

[Sly]

Anyone else note that her first reaction was to go to higher administration level instead of addressing the issue straight on with the professor?

Also immediately jumping on social media.

Safe spaces are creating a generation of conflict avoidance. Who will the kids run to when the higher-ups run from conflict as well?

[candyflip]

Originally Posted by Sly

Anyone else note that her first reaction was to go to higher administration level instead of addressing the issue straight on with the professor?

Also immediately jumping on social media.

Safe spaces are creating a generation of conflict avoidance. Who will the kids run to when the higher-ups run from conflict as well?

There are very few people in the comments support her and those who are seem a bit off. This one basically lays it all out.

After reading several versions of the story, and viewing a couple different photos of the paper, I think that this student is a self-entitled little twit who cannot take some well-deserved criticism.

I am a former English teacher. I have taught at the middle school, high school, and even was a student assistant the English Department in college.

She is not writing at the level of a McNair Fellow or a Dean?s List student. Her transitions between sentences are awkward, and she makes several errors in her writing.

In the tiny snippet where the professor writes, ?this is not your word,? she is ending her sentence with an exclamation point. One does not do this in the dispassionate, distanced writing of the scholarly world.
?Hence? is a conjunctive adverb. In scholarly writing, one does not begin a sentence with a conjunction. Hence is also a rather archaic word. It, along with thence and whence, was on its way out decades ago. ?Hence? is not ANYBODY?S word and it hasn?t been for over thirty years.

She is using an abbreviation for ?United States.? One does not abbreviate in scholarly writing. In another, larger, snippet of the paper, I saw that her paper is peppered with personal pronouns. This is another error.
She needs to remember that she is paying tuition to learn. The professor gave her a wonderful break. Instead of grading the paper, she instructed the student to work on it some more. Instead of being grateful, this student turned on the professor and is casting her comments in the worst possible light.

Admonishing a student to indicate where she has copied and pasted is NOT an accusation that she plagiarized (in my day, we used the word ?quote? but today, due to print resources being replaced with digital content, the term copy and paste is used).

It is nothing more than a request that she format her quotes properly in accordance to whatever style the professor requires (MLA, APA, Chicago, or Turabian).

For example, in MLA, one should place quotations longer than four typed lines in a free-standing block of typewritten lines, and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented one inch from the left margin, and maintain double-spacing. Your parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark.

Given the poor writing in what little I have seen of her paper, I do not doubt that she quoted improperly.

An accusation of plagiarism would mean an appointment in the Dean?s office, with real-world consequences that might range from a notation on her academic record or even expulsion. not a chance for a do-over. You were never accused of plagiarism except within your own mind.

Move on people. There is nothing to this story but a butt-hurt drama queen who wants to believe that she is smarter than she actually is and who loves playing the victim card should anyone smudge her superior sense of self with a dose of reality

Young woman, get thee to a writing coach.

Oh, and I am of mixed heritage as well. My people are being beaten and arrested at Standing Rock right now. Go there, and learn what racism really looks like.

[just a punk]

Originally Posted by brassmonkey

Only in the #1 racial hating country a usual pointing of plagiarism can be considered as a racism. What a spoiled and perverted society of the racial intolerance the American people have to live in

[Bladewire]

No American college kid, or kid in general, uses the word "hence". The professor, who is black, is correct, hence is not her word. Americans would say therefore, accordingly, consequently or such as

[Jigster715]

Old news. The prof was pointing to the fact she probably did not write the paper. Probably the same douche who wrote her social justice princess comments. Puta cabron.

[Hannes]

racial issues exist because people keep clining onto the past.

[onwebcam]

Originally Posted by Bladewire

No American college kid, or kid in general, uses the word "hence". The professor, who is black, is correct, hence is not her word. Americans would say therefore, accordingly, consequently or such as

I use the word hence all the time. Hence, you are incorrect as usual. The professor is just as much of a ignorant liberal crybaby as she is.

[Bladewire]

Originally Posted by onwebcam

I use the word hence all the time. Hence, you are incorrect as usual. The professor is just as much of a ignorant liberal crybaby as she is.

What is it like to be bitter & wrong?

Can you can link me to a single post where you have used the word "hence", which still isn't "all the time" as you brag?

You've never used the word hence here in all your worthless spam posts on GFY, hence, you're a liar.

[poncabare]

riveting as always

[escorpio]

She looks like a girl that gave me crabs. Hence, looking at her picture makes my balls itch.