A professor was reportedly fired after quoting author Mark Twain’s use of the N-word in an anti-slavery novel that was being read aloud during class.
“Mark Twain was one of the first American writers to use actual dialect,” the St. John’s University professor, Hannah Berliner Fischthal, explained to the class before the use of the slur. “His use of the ‘N-word’ is used only in dialogues as it could have actually been spoken in the South before the Civil War when the story takes place.”
But Fischthal’s explanation wasn’t enough for one student, who emailed the professor the next day to inform her that she had to “abruptly” leave the online class because of Fischthal’s “inappropriate slur.”
“It was unnecessary and very painful to hear,” the student wrote to the professor.
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Fischthal said she replied to the student’s email and apologized, then set up a private online discussion with the class titled “Insensitive Language.”
“I apologize if I made anyone uncomfortable in the class by using a slur when quoting from and discussing the text,” Fischthal wrote to students. “Please do share your thoughts.”
Six students, including the original complainant, joined the discussion. While two defended Fischthal’s use of the word, the other four argued the slur should not have been used. The professor then set up a similar discussion for her next class, noting that the N-word was never used during the discussions.
At issue was Twain’s Pudd’nhead Wilson novel, an anti-slavery book that features a light-skinned slave named Roxy who switches her newborn baby boy with her master’s baby shortly after birth in an attempt to give her son the best chance at a good life.
But Roxy’s biological son turns out to be a monster, later being accused of murder. Meanwhile, the master’s son turns into an upstanding citizen.
“It satirizes the entire evil institution of slavery,” Fischthal said of the novel. “The point of this novel was that there is no inherent difference between blacks and whites. Clothes and education are what distinguishes people. Both the boys in the story look exactly the same, even though one is by law a slave, and the other one is a privileged white boy.”
The professor was eventually called into a meeting with the school’s human resources department to discuss the use of the slur, where she was also confronted about a previous incident in which she was accused of making an inappropriate comment about a black student’s hair. Fischthal insists her comment was about the student’s head being wrapped up during the class, not specifically about the student’s hair. The professor said students had also complained about the professor referencing her family’s experience during the Holocaust during class.
Two days later, Fischthal was suspended while the school investigated whether or not she violated its policy against bias, with the decision to fire her coming on April 29.
Fischthal’s case was picked up by attorneys for FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education), who sent Rev. Brian J. Shanley, SJU president, a letter demanding he reinstate the professor.
“Quoting (Mark Twain’s) work in a class on satire falls squarely within the protection afforded by academic freedom, which gives faculty members the breathing room to determine whether — and how — to discuss material students might find offensive,” the letter read.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the school said, “If your assertion is that she was fired for reading aloud from a Mark Twain novel, that is incorrect,” though the statement did not elaborate on any other reasons the professor was fired, citing a university policy against commenting on personnel matters.
But Fischthal insists she had always received good performance reviews from both bosses and students and didn’t think the trend of professors getting fired for offending students would ever come for her.
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“I never thought that would happen to me,” Fischthal said. “I’m one of the last people who should be accused of racism. I know where it leads, and I know where it ends. In every class, I teach the evils of stereotyping.”
“I just know I’ll miss my students and classes,” she added. “I love teaching.”
