I do not agree with Priya Venkatesan’s conduct, sure. Not because that there are no subtle racism involved in that issue. I feel it’s not ethical that teachers sue their students, whatever the reasons may be. Also, after reading all the related stuff, one may almost decide that she did not fully deserve a teacher’s post. Well, I am not sure. One has to see her classes to determine that.
But, it surprises me that almost all e-mails (except one) posted here chose to rant against her. None touched the conduct of the students! Many of them ridiculed her ethnic identity and its American-preferred stereo-types. They are ‘all-knower’ as far as castes, cows and caupeenas (the loin cloth), but innocent of KKKs and red necks! Some of them were amused of her grammar and would like to see her back in a preparatory school.
Somewhere else (the Dartmouth Review?) I saw a post by an anonymous person, urging the lot gathered there that had they been listened to PV’s accent and especially her voice they would have formed a ‘sound’ judgment of their teacher’s qualities. It must have been by one of the rebellious students, I guess. One female student, the most challenging one, asks her how many ‘T’s are there in ‘Ghattaca’, and PV charges that it was a reference on her ‘tenure track’ status. And the chairman of the writing program, who was present there, hastily answers the student “two ‘T’s”. The aggressive male student who led the mutiny, wholesomely took over her position as a teacher to give a highly flourished definition on feminism and duly collected the bounty as applause from the class for doing so. He intended to teach the teacher, the tiny, the browny, the eastern, no!, the South-East-Asian, no!, the Indian alien-female who usurped and appropriated English language. And he has a political leader who repeatedly boastful in keeping up ‘nookeeler’ for nuclear! There are also posts here saying that how bad an Indian in the garbs of professors/doctors. Well, why do you employ them if they are so bad? (I am not from USA.) There must be some valid reasons if one still boasts that America is a competent capitalistic democracy, no?
I think this is why she is going for a litigation, and in a bad manner, in a truly unethical way.
But what about the kids you prefer not to talk about? Are they going to write more complicated po.mo. stuff?