The N-word: understanding the injury

On September 23, Professor Verushka Lieutenant-Duval was temporarily relieved of her duties after her students reported her on social media for using the N-word in her course on gender in art, taught in English.

The case sparked a debate on the use of the N-word for educational purposes and on academic freedom, with many members of the Quebec university community defending its use. La Converse met with students and professors who talked about the injuries that the word causes.

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Injured students

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Hannan Mohamud is a law student and the Vice President of Advocacy for the Black Law Students Association at the University of Ottawa. Ms. Mohamud said she had already confronted a professor at her university who had repeated this word in class. She believes that the events that fed the Black Lives Matter movement have exacerbated the microaggressions that Black people can experience.

“The most violent of these microaggressions is the word that starts with N,” she says. In the United States, which we like to point fingers at, you can get expelled from a prestigious university for saying that word. I think people don't understand that this also exists in Canada. There are those for whom the N-word cannot be said, and others who have heard and said it forever and who wonder what the problem is.”

The student adds that she has been receiving hateful messages that start with the N word since the beginning of this case. She says that she would not feel safe if she had to be physically on campus. According to her, the events of the last few days have caused a resurgence of crimes against black students there.

For example, last week, a hateful graffiti containing the N-word appeared on campus. The matter is currently under investigation by the Ottawa police. Ms. Mohamud points out that these events could jeopardize the professional future of her classmates. “It actively contributes to creating a violent place, and we students pay for it.”

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Anti-racism: the University of Ottawa lags behind

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Hannan Mohamud regrets that her university is not putting into practice the policies it advocates to resolve the conflict. In particular, she regrets that the institution did not have a discussion with the people concerned. “For example, if an inappropriate action is taken, the bar recommends correcting the error and ensuring that it does not happen again. Punishment comes next, she illustrates. This type of logic never applies to black people! ”

Ms. Mohamud also denounces the fact that the Human Rights Office, a confidential service offered at the university, did not intervene in this case. “Why are there such services — for which we pay — if they cannot even protect students? ” Nadia Abu-Zahra, who holds the Joint Chair in Women's Studies at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, says that the functioning of the Human Rights Office at the University of Ottawa is completely inadequate. “People have tried many times to deal with this office, without success,” says the professor. Ms. Abu-Zahra believed that the Office should combat rights violations and provide mediation and conflict resolution services.

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“He must receive complaints, especially when incidents occur.” Then she adds that 8 stakeholders work there, while the university has more than 40,000 students. “A real human rights office would be proactive, for example by training professors so that they do not traumatize their students,” she says. Karine Coen-Sanchez is a doctoral student in sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Ottawa and is involved in numerous anti-racist initiatives on campus. One of them aims to establish an action plan to combat systemic racism within the university.

“Students are asking for an action plan that takes into account the culture of the institution. A systemic action plan is needed to tackle it, she said. It's hard to explain racism to a white person who doesn't experience it. This is something we need to recognize first, before creating an action plan that allows us to bridge the gap between students, faculty, and administrators.”

In particular, she wants an inclusion statement to be added to the curriculum. “In the same way that people talk about mental health issues, there should be a discussion about inclusion in the classroom,” believes Ms. Coen-Sanchez.

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Being heard on social media: a solution to media exclusion

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Rébecca Joachim is at the helm of the popular Woke or Whateva podcast, which deals with racial issues. She believes that this case shows that nothing has changed despite the events that gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement. “Not too long ago, we said that we were all united around the Black Lives Matter movement. But I think that we have found the same Quebec habits, that is to say that, when a subject is linked to racism, it is the white people who control the story,” regrets the presenter.

“We were talking about good intentions, but where did these good intentions and the desire to understand that we saw last June go? ” she says. Ms. Joachim highlights the lack of representation of Black people in the media dealing with the case. “Racism is being targeted at us, and no one is talking about it with us. People are talking about us, but we are not in the discussion,” she remarks. She adds that, while many cite Dany Laferrière and Dominique Anglade, there were very few interviews on the subject with black people and students at the University of Ottawa.

“We hide ourselves by making all of this an intellectual discussion, when they are real experiences lived by people. People know the weight of this word, and that's why it's so annoying.” The presenter doesn't think the word has a place in academia.

“Using it doesn't add anything to learning, it doesn't allow students to understand better,” she believes. According to Ms. Joachim, networks are one of the only ways for the injured population to speak out and be heard. “We have more tools to express our disagreement,” she notes.

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Creating safe spaces

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The University of Ottawa's Black, Indigenous, and Racialized Faculty and Librarians Caucus has launched a petition to condemn “unequivocally the use of the N-word and the conversation around academic freedom that is being used to justify this racist insult.” Nawel Hamidi, a professor at Saint Paul University who specializes in colonialism, racism, cultures, and representations, says that you have to understand that words evoke trauma. “I think it's a pedagogical problem before it's a freedom of expression problem,” she says of the controversy.

“The N-word is traumatic, dehumanizing, and demeaning. Faced with humiliation, the first impression is that your human dignity is being taken away. No professor can pretend to talk about human rights if they continue to use language that is humiliating, traumatizing, and dehumanizing. That is the base”, illustrates Ms. Hamidi.

The professor indicates that those who teach at the university rarely take courses dealing with pedagogy, which would nevertheless allow them to better manage relationships, emotions and course content. Ms. Hamidi believes that professors should be aware of the traumas that students may experience. “Professors who have not suffered from racism, who are not in a minority situation, who have not experienced intergenerational traumas related to colonization or racial profiling are the ones who should be trained on these issues,” she adds. Privileged people need to understand that the use of certain words can bring up a whole story.”

To illustrate her remarks, among other things, the teacher suggests that professors agree at the beginning of the session with their students on the language used in class, for example by circulating an anonymous survey inviting them to indicate the terms with which they are not comfortable.

“When we analyze the situation, we see that, on the one hand, a person is trying to assert their power, and on the other hand, a person is questioning that power. We are not in the same reality; and there is no dialogue possible when we do not start from the same bases”, explains the professor, who also proposes to rethink university courses and the role of the professor, who would thus become someone who would thus become someone who can help students come to terms with their traumas. Pierrot Ross-Tremblay, professor at the Institute of Research and Indigenous Studies at the University of Ottawa, for his part, deplores the portrait that was drawn of the whistle-blower students, portrayed as a danger, and of the professor, presented as a victim.

“It is a colonial heritage of 400 years that is manifesting itself”, he underlines. According to him, the events of this fall were framed in such a way that it is no longer possible to listen to what the students are saying. Professor Innu believes that the desire to use this word reflects white privilege. “Claiming the right to dominate, to be superior, shows a racism that is deeply rooted in denial,” he says. He notes that universities are rarely safe institutions for Indigenous and racialized students.

According to him, teachers need to take the time to understand their position in a classroom. Instead of constantly debating in universities, Nadia Abu-Zahra suggests engaging in respectful dialogue based on indigenous pedagogy. “The university is not an institution based on care,” she said, adding that this type of educational institution makes little effort to help students and professors. Ms. Abu-Zahra is particularly critical of the culture of debate in universities. “Where does this culture come from? ” she asks. According to her, the debate is part of an imperialist approach to education.

“It's a culture among others. It doesn't always have to be that way. Instead of telling someone how you feel about what they're saying, why not take the time to introduce yourself, listen respectfully, and give everyone the right to speak? ”

But how can we change the culture of debate? The professor of international development offers a space for listening in a circle where the professor would facilitate more difficult conversations with respect, empathy and humility.

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Beyond excuses

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“We live in a society where people are afraid to make mistakes. You have to understand that a mistake is a learning opportunity. We need a culture that says, “You said a word that's hurtful; what matters is what you do next. We don't have that culture. Justice is not punishment; justice is dignity, rest and equality for everyone,” notes Nadia Abu-Zahra. Leila Benhadjoudja, an assistant professor at the School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies, believes that while admitting mistakes is a necessary first step, it is also necessary to recognize the need to teach the reality of anti-Black racism.

“Non-Black people, especially professors, have a responsibility to teach students about anti-Black racism. While we are currently witnessing a controversy around the use of the N-word, several other issues related to anti-Black racism are still polluting the academic space,” she notes. In fact, she denounces an attempt to erase these issues and the question of systemic racism in last week's controversy. “The whole debate revolves around academic freedom and tensions between Francophones and Anglophones, but we don't really talk about racism,” says the professor.

A lot of thought has been put into the last few days about how to make things that are usually inaudible heard. What if we put things differently, by approaching the question of care and anti-racism as a path to healing. A pedagogy that uses care recognizes the persistence of historical and systemic violence, and the positioning of each and every one.”

Finally, she adds a final clarification: “When you are interested in decolonial pedagogies, you must understand that you are an integral part of the knowledge you transmit. So, when I say or teach something, I am part of that discourse itself — that's why positionality is a component of power relationships. The discourse is not detached from our bodies, from our stories, from our legacies. And that doesn't seem to be understood at all.” For her part, Professor Verushka Lieutenant-Duval says she will take precautions to prevent such a situation from happening again.

“My apologies go out to anyone I may have offended this time and the previous times I've mentioned the word. That was not my intention. I care about my students. I don't want to hurt them again, believe me,” she tells us.

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To go further...

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• The N-word in class, Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor, TED Talks
• V-TRAC Lab : The Vulnerability, Trauma, Resilience and Culture research laboratory at the University of Ottawa, led by Jude Mary Cénat, analyzes vulnerability, trauma, resilience, and mental health disparities based on cultural factors.
• Black Student Wellness Month is a project on the mental health of young people from Black communities in Ottawa and Gatineau.
• Scholar Strike Canada offers a variety of resources on police brutality and violence in Indigenous and Black communities.
• I Am Not Your Negro, Raoul Peck's documentary about the unfinished work of James Baldwin, discusses the function of the N-word in American society.

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Trauma-informed teaching and perilous pedagogies : article in English on trauma-informed teaching The pedagogy of the oppressed : This book by Paulo Freire does not talk about the N-word, but reflects on the psychological dimension of oppression and the relationship with what oppresses.