The New Heresy and the Modern Inquisition

Main Article Content

Amardo Rodriguez

Abstract

In this paper, I look critically at a new trend on college campuses regarding the banning of certain words, especially the biggest racial taboo word in the USA.  I contend that these new bans impede the rise of a dialogic, democratic, and pluralistic temperament, ultimately promoting and legitimizing violence as good and necessary.

Article Details

How to Cite
Rodriguez, A. (2021). The New Heresy and the Modern Inquisition. Dialogic Pedagogy: A Journal for Studies of Dialogic Education, 9, A74-A96. https://doi.org/10.5195/dpj.2021.422
Section
Articles
Author Biography

Amardo Rodriguez, Syracuse University

Amardo Rodriguez (Ph.D., Howard University) is a Professor in the Communication and Rhetorical Studies Department at Syracuse University.  His research interest is in postcolonial theory.  His most recent book-length monographs, Communication: Colonization and the Making of Discipline and Notes From The Margins: Reflections on Regimes of Knowledge and Power, were published by Public Square Press.  He has also published papers in such journals as, Journal of Race & Policy, Journal of Latino/Latin American Studies, Cultural Studies/Critical Methodologies, and International Journal of Discrimination and the Law.  Prof. Rodriguez teaches in areas related to communication theory and inquiry.  He is also the Book Review editor for the Journal of Race and Policy.

References

Allen, K. (2020, September 11). Investigation into US professor sparks debate over Chinese word. BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-54107329

Anton, C. (2007). On the nonlinearity of human communication: Insatiability, context, form. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 15, 79-102.

Bateson, G. (2000). Steps of an ecology of mind. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Bernstein, W. J. (2021). The delusion of crowds: Why do people go mad in groups. Atlantic Monthly Press. New York.

Bradley, D. (2014, July 15). Eulogy for nigger. The Quarterly. Retrieved from https://www.triquarterly.org/issues/issue-146/eulogy-nigger

Capra, F., & Luisi, P. L. (2014). The systems view of life: A unifying vision. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Derrida, J. (1977). Signature, event, context. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.

Dyson, F. (2000, May 16). Acceptance address by Prof. Freeman Dyson. Templeton Prize. https://www.templetonprize.org/laureate-sub/dyson-acceptance-address/

Flaherty, C. (2019, February 1). Too taboo for class? Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/02/01/professor-suspended-using-n-word-class-discussion-language-james-baldwin-essay

Flaherty, C. (2020, September 8). Failure to communicate: Professor suspended for saying a Chinese word that sounds like a racial slur in English. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/09/08/professor-suspended-saying-chinese-word-sounds-english-slur

Flaherty, C. (2021, August 31). Tracking attacks on scholars’ speech. Inside Higher Ed., Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/08/31/fire-launches-new-database-tracking-attacks-speech?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=3dddd8cd8c-DNU_2021_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-3dddd8cd8c-236842618&mc_cid=3dddd8cd8c&mc_eid=fee7c9872b

FIRE (2021, August 31). Scholars under fire. FIRE. Retrieved from https://www.thefire.org/research/publications/miscellaneous-publications/scholars-under-fire/scholars-under-fire-full-text/

Ford, H., & Haney, A. (2018, July 27). Activists look to keep history alive through reenactment of Moore’s Ford lynching. 11 Alive. Retrieved from https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/activists-look-to-keep-history-alive-through-reenactment-of-moores-ford-lynching/85-578116714

Gates, Jr., H.L. (1993, September 20). Let them talk: Why civil liberties pose no threat to civil rights. The New Republic. Retrieved from https://newrepublic.com/article/149558/let-talk

Glowacki, L. (2020, October 20). Students decry letter defending n-word at the University of Ottawa. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/university-of-ottawa-professor-racism-1.5768730

Hanh, T. N. (1991). Old path white clouds: Walking in the footsteps of the Buddha. Parallax Press. Berkeley, CA.

Kakutani, M. (2011, January 6). Light out, Huck, they still want to sivilize you. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/books/07huck.html?_r=2&emc=eta1

Kennedy, R. L. (2003). Nigger: The strange career of a troublesome word. New York: Vintage Books.

Kennedy, R. L. (2019, February 8). How a dispute over the N-Word became a dispiriting farce: Since when is reading James Baldwin out loud in class an academic crime? The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-a-dispute-over-the-n-word-became-a-dispiriting-farce/?cid2=gen_login_refresh&cid=gen_sign_in

Kennedy, R. L., & Volokh, E. (2020, December 11). Quoting epithets in the classroom and beyond. Harvard Public Law Working Paper No. 20-38. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3683139

Kononenko, I., & Kononenko, I. R. (2010). Teachers of wisdom. Pittsburgh, PA: Rose Dog Books.

Koppelman, A. (2021, January 19). Is this law professor really a homicidal threat?, The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/is-this-law-professor-really-a-homicidal-threat?bc_nonce=zj72yw8z7j11ykp9xp3vbm&cid=reg_wall_signup&cid2=gen_login_refresh

La Grassa, J., & Aziz, T. (2020, November 1). Some students and faculty outraged after U Windsor prof uses N-word during class. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/university-windsor-professor-anti-black-racism-1.5782461

Lorde, A. (1984). Sister outsider: Essays and speeches. Trumansburg, NY: Crossing Press.

Loury, G. (2021, June 27). The bias narrative versus the development narrative: Thinking about persistent racial inequality in the United States. Quillette. Retrieved from https://quillette.com/2021/06/27/the-bias-narrative-versus-the-development-narrative-thinking-about-persistent-racial-inequality-in-the-united-states/

Lukianoff, G., & Haidt, J. (2018). The coddling of the American mind: How good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure. New York: Penguin Press.

Manyguns, L. (2021, August 30). Lower case as Indigenous evening support resistance. Mount Royal University. Retrieved from https://www.mtroyal.ca/AboutMountRoyal/MediaRoom/Perspectives/2021/08/lower-case-as-indigenous-eventing-support-resistance.htm

Marshall, G. (2014). Don’t even think about it. Bloomsbury. New York.

McWhorter, J. (2019, August 27). The idea that Whites can’t refer to the N-word. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/08/whites-refer-to-the-n-word/596872/

McWhorter, J. (2021, August 24). The performative antiracism of Black students at the U. of Wisconsin. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/24/opinion/antiracism-university-wisconsin-rock.html?campaign_id=39&emc=edit_ty_20210825&instance_id=38747&nl=opinion-today&regi_id=37512778&segment_id=67151&te=1&user_id=7b45b1f4fe67de31de6e83fc6304ee84

Morin, A. (2017). 13 Things Mentally Strong Parents Do Not Do: Raising Self-Assured Children. New York: William Morrow.

New, J. (2015, April 9). Film and free speech. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/04/09/screening-american-sniper-u-michigan-canceled-restored-after-student-complaints

News Desk (2015, February 14). Copenhagen, speech, and violence. The New Yorker.

Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/copenhagen-speech-violence

News Staff (2020, September 11). Duquesne University Professor on paid leave after using racial slur during online class. KDKA-TV. Retrieved from https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/09/11/duquesne-university-professor-uses-racial-slur/

O’Connor, A. (2007, February 25). In bid to ban racial slur, Blacks on both sides. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/nyregion/25nword.html

Perry, A. (2018, August 21). Good teachers use the N-word. The Hechinger Report. Retrieved from https://hechingerreport.org/good-teachers-use-the-n-word/

Richmond, V. P., & McCroskey, J. C. (2009). Organizational communication for survival. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Roy, N. (2018, December 18). The rise of mental health on college campuses. Higher Education Today. Retrieved from https://www.higheredtoday.org/2018/12/17/rise-mental-health-college-campuses-protecting-emotional-health-nations-college-students/

Scales, A., Strossen, N., & Volokh, E. (2020, October 1). Letter regarding violation of Prof. Tim Boudreau’s academic freedom rights. Retrieved from https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/boudreau-letter.pdf

Schneider, C. (2021, June 24). Central Michigan professor driven from classroom after quoting racial slur in court decision. The College Fix. Retrieved from https://www.thecollegefix.com/central-michigan-professor-driven-from-classroom-after-quoting-racial-slur-in-court-decision/

Scranton, R. (2019, September 18). Narrative in the Anthropocene is the enemy, Stories won’t save you from ecological destruction. Literary Hub. Retrieved from https://lithub.com/roy-scranton-narrative-in-the-anthropocene-is-the-enemy/?fbclid=IwAR1nZz7QI160XzIDT-PPmhhY5cXtIYxf6iajdR4ADgB3cc0Y_zZrf48wDMI

Singal, J. (2017, July 18). Stop telling students free speech is traumatizing them. Intelligencer. Retrieved from https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/07/students-free-speech-trauma.html

Steinberg, S. (2006). Introduction to communication. Cape Town, South Africa: Juta.

Thayer, L. (2009). Communication! A radically new approach to life’s most perplexing problem. New York, NY: Xlibris.

Thayer, L. (2011). Explaining things: Inventing ourselves and our worlds. New York, NY: Xlibris.

The Echo (2018, November 30). Faculty respond to professor’s use of N-word by calling for institutional change around racial justice. The Echo. Retrieved from https://augsburgecho.com/2018/11/30/faculty-respond-to-professors-use-of-n-word-by-calling-for-institutional-change-around-racial-justice/

Tully, T. (2021, May 3). Debate erupts at N.J. law school after White student quotes racial slur. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/03/nyregion/Rutgers-law-school-n-word.html

Volosinov, V. N. (1994). Language and ideology. In Janet Maybin (Ed.), Language and literacy in social practice (pp. 44-57). Tonawanda, NY: Multilingual Press.

Wood, P. (2017). The article that made 16,000 ideologues go wild. Minding the Campus. Retrieved from https://www.mindingthecampus.org/2017/10/the-article-that-made-16000-profs-go-wild/

Young, V. A. (2020, October). Banning the N-word on campus ain’t the answer—It censors Black professors like me. Caut. Retrieved from https://www.caut.ca/bulletin/2020/10/commentary-banning-n-word-campus-aint-answer-it-censors-black-professors-me