没有种族歧视的国家 美国大学教授被误会种族歧视遭停课

美国大学教授被误会种族歧视遭停课  

A US university investigation into one of its professors has ignited a debate over the use of a seemingly innocuous Chinese word.
Professor Greg Patton at the University of Southern California (USC) was telling students in a munications lecture last month about filler
or pause words
such as 'err'
'umm' or 'you know' in English.
Footage of his lecture
which has now gone viral
shows Prof Patton saying: "In China
the mon pause word is 'that
that
that'. So in China
it might be na-ge
na-ge
na-ge."
他的上课视频在网上疯传，视频中巴顿教授说：“在中国，常见的填充词是that，that，that，也就是‘那个，那个，那个’。”
Enunciated
na-ge sounds like the N-word
which led several of the professor's students to plain to the university. Responding to the plaint
the dean of the university
Geoffrey Garrett
told students that Prof Patton would no longer be teaching the course.
The university says that Prof Patton "volunteered to step away" from his role amid the investigation into plaints made against him.
In a statement
the school said Patton "agreed to take a short-term pause" from teaching the course
and another instructor took over. Patton continues to teach his other courses.
News of the spat reached China
where many posted on social media saying they thought his punishment discriminated against speakers of the Chinese language.
In Chinese the word "na-ge" (那个) is a mon filler phrase that people use when they're hesitating or trying to find the right word. It literally translates to the word "that".
In July 2016
a fight broke out on the subway in the city of Guangzhou
after a black man heard a Chinese man saying na-ge and mistook it for the N-word.
Footage went viral online showing the black man slapping the Chinese muter and shouting "you dare try that again" and "never say that again"
Even Chinese basketball star Yao Ming has spoken of how the word brought him "some trouble" while playing in the US for the National Basketball Association (NBA).
CC Chen
a student at the USC
defended Prof Patton
arguing that it was "clearly an academic lecture on munication" and the professor was "describing a universal mistake monly made in munication".
"For him to be censored simply because a Chinese word sounds like an English pejorative term is a mistake and is not appropriate
especially given the educational setting
" she said. "It also dismisses the fact that Chinese is a real language and has its own pronunciations that have no relation to English."
More than 11
000 people have now signed a petition calling for Prof Patton to be re-instated. And in China there are discussions taking place over whether the university acted too abruptly.
On the popular Sina Weibo microblog
more than 1
000 posts have used the hashtag #USProfessorSuspendedForUsingNaGe
with many viewing the move as a suppression of Chinese speech.
"Is it now forbidden to speak Chinese in the United States?" asked one Sina Weibo user.
Some Chinese posters on Sina Weibo argued that USC
in suspending Prof Patton
had chosen "political correctness" over genuine change.
"There should be respect for differences
" wrote one Weibo user.
Back in the US
USC staff and students reacted to the decision to suspend Prof Patton.
"There's no language superior to the other
" Chengyan Wu
Co-President of USC Chinese Student and Scholar Association
told the university's student news anisation.
"Restating the rights of one minority group should not be at the expense of violating the other
" he said. "We have the right to use our own language."