Columbia University Professor Gets Smacked With a Title IX Complaint for Quoting a Movie – Opinion

Columbia University teacher has managed to talk his way into boiling water.

Jonathan Rieder allegedly made racial slurs during a lecture.

Hence, he’s been hit with a Title IX complaint.

To be clear, it wasn’t just any offensive foul-up — he reportedly articulated the current queen mother of dirty words.

Culture’s moved a ways past 1983’s cinematic supremacy,The Christmas Story

It’s the N-word at issue at Columbia, and Jonathan may have fudged his career.

Speaking of culture, the instructor’s course is called “Culture in America.”

When he spoke of cinema, he was paraphrasing from a film.

Columbia Spectator agrees.

It was not printed, but the outlet refused.

Although it only offers a codified version of the two-syllable lightningsnagger, this article starts as follows:

Note: The story discusses racism and contains racial slurs.

Jonathan evidently left some students unmotivated.

This happened during a Zoom meeting on October 28th.

The movie referenced: 2002’s 8 Mile.

Jonathan claims he was illustrating intersectionality and identity, but it’s uncertain whether that’ll let him off the hook.

The Spectator reports that the man is already well-known as a pot-stirrer.

A student named Anabelle explains:

“This is my first class with him, but when I had mentioned that I was taking this class, a bunch of people were like, ‘Oh, watch out,’ because it’s kind of well-known that he does things like this and intentionally tries to make students uncomfortable.”

A small group of people had to register the complaint before they could address their grievances directly.

Students who voiced concerns about Rieder’s use of the slur were invited to stay after class for continued discussion. During this discussion, Rieder also allegedly used “bitch” and a homophobic slur as “examples of marginalized people possibly reclaiming words,” according to Anabelle.

The professor asserted he had an alibi: the letter “A.”

His student Sarah recalls:

Rieder allegedly also argued that ending the N-word with an “A” was more appropriate than ending with a hard “R,” and that he “hasn’t said the N-word with a hard ‘R’ in nearly two years.”

Maybe he should’ve left out that last part.

The defense was reaffirmed a day later.

In an apology email sent to students on Oct. 29, Rieder wrote that he found the distinction between the two endings of the word to “sociolinguistically…function as a different word.”

Via the mea culpa, he took responsibility for that all-too-common scourge: “harm.”

“It’s fair to say that I didn’t need to quote the word. I apologize for any harm or injury caused by my quotations, regardless of whether one student or the entire class was hurt or offended. You should know that in the remaining weeks of the course, no material will call for saying the word.”

But Julia — a member of the disgruntled group — is unimpressed:

“His apology definitely had a tone of ‘I’m sorry that you guys reacted in this way,’ without him actually taking accountability and feeling genuinely sorry about what he did.”

To make matters worse, Jonathan’s skin’s of the sallow sort.

These days some teenagers find that an imbalance in power is unacceptable.

Some students also expressed frustration with Rieder’s casual use of the slur given his identity as a white man, as well as the power imbalance that exists between students and instructors in the classroom.

Sarah showed him some of the things he was looking for.

“That word will never be used against you in a dangerous and negative way, and you don’t have authority to be able to choose whether or not you can say it.”

Her teacher tried to deny people’s lived experience:

“[He]He also mentioned the fact that this school is in a liberal bubble. And this is what he’s concerned about at liberal arts colleges, how we’re becoming too sensitive, and we’re sanitizing too much of our learning.”

Apparently, Jonathan has a decidedly different idea — one involving open discourse.

In a statement made to The Spectator, he spoke about this:

“I believe that [Columbia and sister school Barnard College]It is important to communicate the principles of freedom and creativity, as well as the importance of the liberal arts. Making students feel comfortable should not be the priority of our teaching.”

Learn more about the moratorium.

“I have never used or employed racial slurs as my own. As to dealing with course material that may contain slurs, two years ago I made a practical decision to temporarily embargo quoting the N-word in any form, while figuring out how to balance the objections of some students and my own pedagogical and sociological beliefs.”

We’re living in strange times.

Should any and every word be allowed to emanate from a professor’s punim?

Personally, I don’t believe so. There are surely words no teacher needs to say; it’s easy to consider the N-word among them.

The concept of the King is still to be found, even with our culture-based crazes against context.

University Orders Adherence to Preferred Pronouns and Made-Up Monikers, Threatens ‘Action’ Regardless of ‘Intent’ https://t.co/OEQ5DWGoWq

— RedState (@RedState) September 22, 2021

So far as I know, no one’s upset about the word being used in 8 Mile —A complete fiction work.

In referencing it, Jonathan crossed the reality line: He spoke of something actual, that being the movie’s dialogue.

It was therefore acceptable for actors and screenwriters to use this term to refer only nothingness. However, when the man realized that this was true, it got him in serious trouble.

He recognized what is already there, and not created it by imaginative means.

But, only references to reality created controversy.

Regardless, these days, college students don’t appear built for hearing words.

They’re more so made for recovering from them.

‘Harmful Content’: National Archives Slaps Warning on Constitution, Other Founding Documents https://t.co/Fzn6kuIcyf

— RedState (@RedState) September 9, 2021

Jonathan will be fired

Perhaps not:

[The]A small number of students have filed a Title IX complaint against Rieder, but they fear his tenured status may make it difficult to file recourse.

They may be right.

But they’re compelled to try — so go the modern dictates of social justice.

-ALEX

You can find more of my content here:

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All my RedState works Click here.

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