UOttawa Prof used N-word in class. Hell broke loose.

 It was revealed today that some time this semester, a prof at UOttawa used the N-word in class.  A firestorm ensued in social media, and it was reported in the student newspaper, picked up by TV news, and got into mass media.  It prompted the president of the university to come out and make a statement.  Three hundred professors at the university signed a petition in support of the prof.  This then created even more uproar.  And the prof in question has been suspended, pending further investigation.

Is your blood boiling over the prof's use of the n-word?  She claimed (I think it's a she) that she didn't think the word in question would be offensive.  My immediate reaction was, WTF, she is living in the 21st century?

But as you know, it is a good idea to fact-check before getting too worked up, right?

Apparently it was some humanities class, in which she was talking about how words can become resignified, as in its usage and meaning takes on new nuances as society changes.  Something like that.  The lecture was on "the major theories in feminist, gender and sexuality studies, what queer theory is" etc etc.  She was giving the example of how word "queer" has been resignified, from what used to be a derogatory term to become appropriated by the affected community and used in a resignified context, as a marker of identity.  Then she gave other examples, such as cripple, which has given rise to Crips theory.  And she asked the class if they thought the n-word might follow this path.  Now, she didn't say n-word, but she said the n-word itself.  But really, context is everything, no?

I think if she had used the term to refer to someone, and not to talk about it in terms of language and identity development, that would be offensive.  But from what I can gather, this is really a shit storm because of what?  Get a grip, people.

You can't just take things out of context and blow it all out of proportions.  But hey, I've been married 36 years.  I know exactly how that is.

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And so, in a related context,  this whole mess has prompted my Greek Mythology prof to issue a statement, saying that the next class will touch of homosexuality in Greek myths.  And that people who might be offended should just not attend the session between 8-9.  WTF.  You want to learn about Greek Myths but only the parts that you want to hear?

Similarly, my Constitutional Law prof did a preemptive apology when he was about to discuss the Indian Act, saying that sorry, he knew the term offends, but that's the official name of the Act and so on and so on.  Fuck, are we dealing with 5 year olds?  As they say, if you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen.

All I can say is, I'm glad I no longer teach.  This world has become too fucking ridiculous.