The University of Southern California Suspended a professor because of speaking "that" in Putonghua, discriminating against African-Americans
(North American News) A Communication Professor at the University of Southern California (USC) used a Chinese vocab "nèige" (meaning "that") with a Putonghua pronunciation, has led to a petition from a group of angry African-American. They said that it sounded like a word with discrimination or defamation to Africans, requesting an apology from the professor and the teaching suspension to have an investigation.
Professor Greg Patton has taught at USC Marshall School of Business for 20 years. During the online teaching of MBA related curriculum last month, Patton used Putonghua as an example, saying "nèige" replaces some meaningless words, like errs and umms, in China. He repeated "nèige" thrice.
Nevertheless, some students thought that the accent of the professor for "nèige" was similar to "nigga", a word that insults Africans. They pointed out that the professor had offended all African students in the class and had affected their mental health. The school said that another speaker will take over the curriculum at this moment, during the investigation period for Patton.
#US #USC #nèige #nigga #Chinese #Putonghua #Mandarin #African #AfricanAmerican #GregPatton
Source: Apple Daily #Sep05
https://hk.appledaily.com/international/20200905/2N2BECNXYJCNFNUOIFM3NQ5AXA/
(North American News) A Communication Professor at the University of Southern California (USC) used a Chinese vocab "nèige" (meaning "that") with a Putonghua pronunciation, has led to a petition from a group of angry African-American. They said that it sounded like a word with discrimination or defamation to Africans, requesting an apology from the professor and the teaching suspension to have an investigation.
Professor Greg Patton has taught at USC Marshall School of Business for 20 years. During the online teaching of MBA related curriculum last month, Patton used Putonghua as an example, saying "nèige" replaces some meaningless words, like errs and umms, in China. He repeated "nèige" thrice.
Nevertheless, some students thought that the accent of the professor for "nèige" was similar to "nigga", a word that insults Africans. They pointed out that the professor had offended all African students in the class and had affected their mental health. The school said that another speaker will take over the curriculum at this moment, during the investigation period for Patton.
#US #USC #nèige #nigga #Chinese #Putonghua #Mandarin #African #AfricanAmerican #GregPatton
Source: Apple Daily #Sep05
https://hk.appledaily.com/international/20200905/2N2BECNXYJCNFNUOIFM3NQ5AXA/