Sarah Schaerr

A contract professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill resigned on February 7 after being labeled racist for a comment she made to a class of sixteen graduate students.

Martha Lamb, a white Carolina graduate, described historical racial tension in North Carolina to her “Social Work and Practice with Couples” class on January 13, the first day of class. She told her students that while an undergraduate student at UNC in the 1960s, she had heard supervisors remark that couples therapy was ineffective for black couples and that the acronym NAACP stood for “Niggers Ain’t Acting Like Colored People.” Lamb was attempting to describe how much the cultural climate has changed, because one rarely hears similar comments today.

Upon hearing the “N-word,” some students felt so uneasy that they failed to hear Lamb put the remark into context. As a result of their discomfort, ten of her sixteen students dropped her class immediately after the first day and complained to administrators. Much discussion followed among Lamb, other faculty members, and students. UNC’s Center for Teaching and Learning held a 90-minute mediation session between Lamb and some of her students. Jack Richman, Interim Dean of the School of Social Work, declared the meeting a failure. Students and faculty were apparently unable to forgive Lamb’s one-time use of a very controversial word.

Richman held a town meeting on February 3 to address the issue. More than 250 people attended. Many of those present expressed a belief that the incident was the result of an underlying problem at UNC. Some even welcomed what they saw as an overt case of racism as an opportunity to address this problem.

“As much as it would be nice to say, ‘She said the N-word - fire her,’ I can’t do that,” declared Richman. He promised to address the situation in accordance with UNC’s Racial Harassment Policy. Richman said the policy dictates that professors must provide their students with a “comfortable” learning environment. The policy never mentions students’ comfort, but it does state “It is the responsibility of every employee and student in the University community to strive to create an environment free from racial harassment.” Additionally, it establishes that “In determining whether alleged conduct constitutes racial harassment, the record as a whole will be considered, as well as the totality of the circumstances.”

The policy also affirms, “Not every act that might be offensive to an individual or a group necessarily will be considered a violation of this policy. Whether a specific act violates the policy will be determined on a case-by-case basis with proper regard for all of the circumstances. Due consideration must be given to the protection of individual rights, freedom of speech, academic freedom and advocacy.”

Professor Lamb apologized publicly through ABC News February 4, the day following the town hall meeting.

Dean Richman intends to use the incident as a basis for holding a “diversity audit” throughout the School of Social Work. He plans the creation of a committee to “get a good picture of what it’s like to be to a female, black, white, gay or lesbian student at the school and provide the best education possible.” This committee will include about fifteen students, alumni, faculty, staff and administrators.

An article in the Northwest Arkansas Times expressed the position of the many concerned citizens who have come to Lamb’s defense: “There’s no defense for real discrimination or racism or behavior that creates a truly hostile environment such as sexual harassment. Lamb, however, did none of those things. She used her experiences during a period when her students weren’t alive to explain how things used to be.” The article concluded, “For pointing out that UNC reflected the same racism in the 1960s as elsewhere throughout the country and saying attitudes had changed on campus, Lamb herself ran into charges of racism. There’s no doubt she used jarring language, but she was describing jarring attitudes of a jarring time. Perhaps she could have said it better, but the fact that students can’t recognize true offense is absurd.”

Despite her support off-campus, the pressure from within Chapel Hill proved too much for Lamb to cope with. She resigned nearly a month after she made the comments in question.

University officials created a new section of Lamb’s course following complaints at the town meeting that it was unfair for students to have to change their schedules because they felt uncomfortable with their teacher. Since the add/drop deadline had already passed before Lamb’s resignation, the school will reopen the registration period for the students who were in Lamb’s class. The new section will be held at the same time as Lamb’s, but will be taught by a different instructor, possibly Richman himself.

Before resigning, Lamb’s final act as a teacher was to e-mail this message to her former students: “I have respect for each of you and the work you have done to address sensitive issues. I realize a quotation was used the first day of my class that contained offensive words, and I certainly apologize for its use. I expect we shall all be devoting additional energy to ‘getting it right’ in addressing cultural issues openly and celebrating our rich diversity in the future.”