Georgetown Professor to student: "Mr. Chinaman? Sorry to not catch your -- . remind me of your name"

[Demovictory9]

Link to tweet

A Georgetown University Law Center professor apologized after a video surfaced last week on Twitter showing him using a racial slur when calling on a student in class.

Franz Werro was asking for comments from students during his lecture on Feb. 10 when he said, “OK, so any other surprise, or, what about you, Mr. Chinaman? Sorry to not catch your — maybe you can remind me of your name.”

Warning: The tweet below contains video and audio of the racial slur.

The slur has roots in the 19th century and was largely used to dehumanize Chinese immigrant laborers and merchants.

A law school spokesperson shared with NBC News Werro’s direct apology that he sent to his class the day after the incident: “I apologize that I used an offensive term in class yesterday. The statement I made was just after the break in the class, during which I had enthusiastically noted the great diversity of languages spoken by members of the class. As a non-native English speaker myself, I did not appreciate that it was a derogatory term, as I now understand it is. I am very sorry I used it. I am committed to educating myself because I want all students to feel welcome in my classroom.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/georgetown-law-professor-apologizes-after-criticism-for-calling-a-student-a-racial-slur/ar-AATXt6i

[DFW]

1. I wish "Mr. Chinaman" had answered thusly:

"Jawohl, Herr Obersturmbahnführer, my name is....."

Maybe he would have gotten the hint a little sooner.

[CentralMass]

2. Now there is an asshole who should be given the boot..

[padah513]

3. Yep

Literally

[hlthe2b]

4. These instinctively racist people... Ever heard of describing the color clothing they are wearing?

As in the young lady/man in the back of the class wearing a red jacket, etc. I don't get people like this that just instinctively revert to speaking in such a demeaning way in a professional setting (or any setting). How does one grow up thinking that is ok? I guess that will be the future if all R's take over the school curricula and school boards.

[Takket]

5. What year Is it? 2022 or 1922?

[AngryOldDem]

8. Try 1822.

[LiberatedUSA]

6. This was resolved in The Big Lebowski.

The Dude:

Walter, the chinaman who peed on my rug, I can't go give him a bill, so what the fuck are you talking about?

Walter Sobchak:

What the fuck are you talking about? The chinaman is not the issue here, dude. I'm talking about drawing a line in the sand, dude. Across this line, you DO NOT... Also, dude, chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please.

[Whiskeytide]

7. His explanation actually holds water in my view. " Chinaman"...

… is kind of a uniquely American slur historically. He may well have not been aware of it. His apology seemed sincere.

[CentralMass]

9. Like saying hi Polack to a Polish man. How can a college professor be that cultural insensitive

and frankly stupid

[Demsrule86]

13. Not mine. Bullshit excuse.

[Whiskeytide]

14. Maybe. I wasn't there for the entire ...

… context of the discussion. They had discussed the diversity of the class. This student was either from China or had Chinese heritage, and that had been noted. So I can see how the professor might turn that into “Chinaman” as he seemed to be struggling a little in putting the words together to refer to the man from China. I could see myself making a similar mistake trying to speak a second language, and not being aware that a certain combination of words (which are independently innocent enough) might be a slur in a culture I didn’t grow up in.

I also would find it a little unusual for a professor to be that openly bigoted on a recorded call - to call a person a slur to his face like that, intentionally meaning it as such. It might be different if he had done this later, in a more private setting, where a genuine bigot might feel safe revealing his true character.

I know examples of asshole behavior like this have become more commonplace in recent years. But given the totality of these circumstances, I’m more inclined to see this as an unfortunate mistake.

[scrabblequeen40]

10. Bio says he was @ Berkeley

There is no way he didn't know "Chinaman" as an offensive term. Surely he's seen western movies? We need to stop making excuses for racist and demeaning behavior. Glad he apologized.

[marybourg]

11. I was in a law scholl class ( in nyc) where

the prof called on "the jewess", a convert who proudly wore a Star of David on a chain. The black woman behind her said " I'm just waiting for him to call me "the negress".

[TheFarseer]

12. Here's how you handle not knowing a student's name:

Hey Mr. {insert color of shirt he is wearing} shirt guy? Sorry not to catch your - remind me of your name.

[dalton99a]

15. "Ok. How about Mr. Negro over there?"

Bullshit apology. The guy is permanent faculty at Georgetown and is familiar with American culture

[48656c6c6f20]

16. Hasn't he been burnt on a pyre yet?

What's taking so long? I swear we're getting slower in our righteous crucifixions.