Very pool and highly insensitive joke. Firing the person, in my opinion, wasn’t the best course of action. He should have been given the opportunity to self-recognize the insensitive nature of the joke, apologize to the class and to the university as the first course of remedial action.
@Zinhead I think in this particular case there was a history of remarks and of the instructor not taking on board the need to be respectful.
For the record, I do not approve of instructors being derogatory about conservatives or Christians as well. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think this is an issue that you care deeply about. Advocating for these asian and Muslim students should be as much a priority for you, as a culture of respect in the classroom can only benefit all students who feel unheard.
I do not view the goal of being respectful of all as students being hypersensitive. I view that as people having the courage to insist on not being belittled or marginalized.
Surely it is not too much to ask our instructors to model a thoughtful exchange of ideas.
edit to fix a spelling and to add - There are literally hundreds of adjuncts ready to take this instructors place. If for nothing other than self interest, the instructor should have stopped with the bigoted statements in class but perhaps it was too deeply ingrained in his conversational style.
I had an eye opening conversation with the most unabashed racist this weekend. Loud about it and proud about it. Clearly didn’t care that my husband, a minority, was sitting right next to him. As a society, there are pockets of racism that need to go.
@Snowball City - I wholeheartedly agree that professors should not belittle or marginalize any student. If you remember, several months ago a professor who called the last presidential election election “an act of terrorism” in class tried to get the student who video recorded her rants expelled and arrested.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-college-student-suspended-video-professor-anti-trump-rant/
Orange Coast College supported her demeaning rant by giving Olga Perez Stable Cox the Faculty of the Year award.
http://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-me-0325-occ-award-20170324-story.html
Don’t you agree that if Professor Bertrand should be fired for making an insensitive joke, Olga Perez Stable Cox should have been fired as well for doing much worse?
I’m shocked, shocked I say that a partisan website didn’t tell the whole story.
Seems like the university was well within its rights and good riddance.
Bottom line is this guy is an adjunct. Adjuncts aren’t “fired.” They’re just not hired back. That being the case, any one of them who has so little sense as this guy has demonstrated to be that offensive, knowing how contingent his position is, probably doesn’t have the sense to teach in a college in the first place.
@Zinhead I do agree that the faculty member in California crossed a line and was very unprofessional. I don’t see information as to whether or not it was her first time being so inflammatory and if there was any apology issued. Definitely should have been sanctioned in some way. The student should not have been punished based on the information provided but I have not looked into whether or not there are provisions against recording a class and posting it. I also have not looked into what the student wrote about and whether or not he crossed any ethical lines.
I would hope that you can see that the student could run the risk of being called “hypersensitive” because he was offended by an instructor. Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander.
I suppose each university has its own ins and outs. In the case of the adjunct it was easier to get rid of him. Tenured faculty is more difficult, but a faculty member with a history of belittling people should be let go- just like we wouldn’t tolerate racist and sexist commentary, no matter how good an instructor is or how popular. It is possible to instruct and not demean.
When I rule the world, I hope you will join me on a committee that promotes equality and respect. We are probably on opposite sides of the aisle but working towards a common goal.
Ugh. I sorta get the guy. His problem is that this is a class room situation which puts him in an authoritarian position which makes it near to impossible to debate with him from a student’s standpoint. He wants “defend your views” debate but will never get it–because he is the teacher.
If he were a comedian on stage bringing racist viewpoints to the forefront, he’d probably be lauded by half and condemned by the other half of the audience.
You can say “well, it wasn’t funny” or “that was just horrible and demeaning”…just like a lot of “comics” I turn off because their views don’t match mine. (but comics are a good “temperature reading” on society at times). Honestly–“they all look alike” is so old it isn’t a joke–it’s a societal fact shown in many studies.
The difference is that I can turn them off which a student can’t do to a teacher (this applies to all political views that a teacher insists on espousing). He had a trapped audience.
He was teaching international economics–maybe some racial biases needed exploring.
Recently a Cal State instructor actually pushed a student and was reinstated. He apparently ‘confronted’ a group of Trump supporters. Now why he wasn’t just letting them go about their protest in peace and letting them be?
Universities must handle instructors even-handedly. If a joke about one group is a firing offense, then a joke about any group should also be a firing offense.
There is some debate over what happened in that case TatinG
adding: I don’t really see them as similar cases, myself. I guess if you are looking at free speech on campus?
I, for one, am sad that people, who are desperately trying lift up those who are oppressed by pointing out derogatory comments that breed continued misunderstandings, are deemed “hypersensitive.” People need to stop and listen. If we just let such comments slide by, we will never get passed out prejudices as a whole.
Yes it is offensive and the prof has no place teaching this passive aggressive hate.
I also don’t think any hate should be allowed, and this includes liberal profs hating on conservatives, or vice versa.
Had this professor made a Donald Trump joke, he would have received tenure.
I think it was quite a good joke, and I wish professors felt free to joke around in all sorts of different ways. We should not need to pretend that the propensity to drive suicide-homicide trucks, in the world as it is today, is randomly distributed in all populations.
“I also don’t think any hate should be allowed, and this includes liberal profs hating on conservatives, or vice versa.”
(Okay, I’m with you… sounds good.)
and then…“Had this professor made a Donald Trump joke, he would have received tenure.”
Kidding me right? Huh? REALLY? You just killed your first premise.
Doesn’t matter what either of us thinks if we don’t have a platform to air our opinions openly and safely.
And debate topics to not only put views forward but revise our own view.
I don’t hear “hate”. He is not saying anything about ‘all Pakistanis’ or ‘all Muslims’. It is sort of wry, and black, humor about things that people may fear. Jokes aimed at homicidal American police would be fair too, even though not all police are homicidal.
The point is unlike paying to go see a controversial comedian, these students are paying for a education not paying for this guy’s assinine attempts at comedy. I’m sure there’s a local club with open mic night if he really wants to channel his inner idiot.
And what does his “joke” have to do with his subject matter? Nothing…
Seems a pathetic guy who has a captive audience who thinks just because he is their professor he can waste their time with his garbage. I’d assume there is more relevant work to be done such as teaching the course he was paid to teach…
The students will remember better what offshoring means.
Adjuncts get their contracts renewed, or not. For any reason.
Would you renew if you were JHU?
Mater, adjuncts don’t get tenure regardless of whether they make jokes about Trump or anyone else. They are the academic version of an hourly employee. If YOU had an hourly employee who had a track record of telling your Asian clients or customers “you all look the same to me” when they told you that they were NOT Chinese… would you make this hourly/part time employee who does not get benefits permanent, give them a raise and a promotion, and tell him or her “nice job”?
I doubt it. Most employers are not in the habit of promoting their hourly employees to a full time, better paid, more prestigious job when they have a history of insulting the businesses customers.
@gouf78 maybe only half kidding. Trump jokes are popular. “DId you hear the one about Trump, Putin, and the Pope walking into a bar…”
@gouf78 and yes, I absolutely agree with your statement about having a platform to air our differences openly and safely. And yes, the only way to learn and grow is to debate. That seems largely lost today on college campuses.
I don’t like sounding all old and reminiscing about college in the 80’s, but, “back in my day” colleges encouraged speakers offering diverse and uncommon opinions. I remember my poli sci professors highly encouraging us to attend. “Open your mind, you might learn something!” I remember my fav professor Dr P saying.
But to be clear, I don’t want to hijack this thread, and I would never think a college should endorse or support a speaker who spews hate. There’s a difference between hate and opposing ideas.