DePaul Professor Causes Controversy After Using 'N-Word'

CHICAGO, IL — DePaul University is investigating a complaint against a professor who said the N-word in a first year law class. Professor Donald Hermann used the racial slur as part of a lesson on provocation and self defense, students said. Hermann apologized, however some students weren't happy with the manner of his apology, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Human rights advocates and students say that using the racial slur is teaching students to dismiss and deeply hurt their fellow black students.

The professor used the racial epithet in a hypothetical scenario to describe how much provocation the courts need before they view a person as an aggressor, according to the Sun-Times.

Hermann said he used the example of a white supremacist at the funeral of a civil rights leader, asking the question: if the supremacist provoked attendees by using the racial slur, and they attacked the supremacist, would shooting attendees be justified? The professor said the supremacist's use of the word could make the supremacist an aggressor, and therefore guilty of murder.

Hermann told Crain's the provocation would not have been properly conveyed without using the actual slur.

"It's part of the contemporary situation . . . and the need to take into consideration these special sensitivities," Hermann told Crain's. "If this word interferes with their functioning, being a lawyer is probably not a thing they should be doing."

Nine students filed the complaint, arguing it wasn't necessary to use the slur. They said it was deeply hurtful and damaging. Hermann apologized and promised not to use "fighting words" in future lessons.

Terry Smith, an African-American lawyer at DePaul, defended Hermann.

“Increasingly, we are dumbing down legal education for students. And increasingly they are ill-prepared to go out and represent clients. They will encounter this terminology and worse in practice. What will they do then?” Smith told the Sun-Times.

Other professors across the United States have come under fire for using the N-word. A Princeton professor cancelled a class for the rest of the semester after receiving widespread criticism for using the slur. And several years ago, a professor in Kansas was placed on paid leave after using the racial epithet.

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