The Daily Utah Chronicle
A teaching assistant verbally attacked LDS students and the LDS Church, according to a group of students who now urge administrators to take immediate disciplinary action.
However, teaching assistant Amadou Niang said his only error was underestimating the response of his students when he used The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an example of institutional racism.
“This is a very unfortunate incident. I didn’t mean to offend anybody,” Niang said.
Students are now drafting a petition calling for Niang’s suspension as a punishment for what took place during the March 27 class session of African-American Experience, which Professor Karen Johnson missed for health reasons.
She left Niang to observe three student presentations on three different papers.
Between two presentations, Niang stood up and asked the class “How many of you here are from the LDS Church?” Niang said.
A majority of the students, in the class of about 40, raised their hands. Niang then asked about the LDS Church’s hierarchy. Once students told him about church leadership positions, he asked how many blacks are church leaders.
The class came up with four names, two from Utah, one from another state and one from Africa, according to a letter Niang sent to the dean of students. Niang then said that the LDS Church is an example of institutional racism because competent black Mormons are excluded from leadership positions.
“I believe this is simply an exclusion based on race,” Niang told The Chronicle.
The comments upset students and when some tried to refute Niang’s comments, they were denied the right to speak.
“I was not offended by what he said. I have heard it all before. What upset me is that he singled me out, accused me of racism by association and would not let me respond,” said William Brooke, a music education major taking the class to fulfill his diversity requirement.
“I was seriously shaking because I was so mad. During the discussion, a couple of girls left and cried,” said pre nursing major Katie Brown. “There is a difference between a discussion and an attack. He did an attack because he didn’t let us counter-argue.”
It is against U policy to ask students to identify what religion they affiliate with or their sexual preference or race.
“The problem is he singled out the students and that is a no-no,” Brooke said.
Niang disagrees with that claim.
“‘How many’ calls for number instead of individuals. They chose to raise their hands,” he said.
Brooke said Niang’s comments were inherently racist.
“Fighting racism with racism, fighting discrimination with discrimination?that is exactly what took place,” Brooke said.
Niang said that he was not trying to imply that the students were racist because they are members of the LDS Church.
“Not in a million years would I use against them what I don’t want used against me,” Niang said.
After Niang told students that if they wanted to discuss the matter further, they could talk to him after class, Brown and a small group of students walked out.
Brown and Brooke tried to find an administrator to file a complaint, but were unsuccessful. Later that day, Brown talked to her father by phone, who then called administrators.
That call lead to a meeting between Johnson, Niang, three students from the class and Dean of Students Stayner Landward on March 29. Brown attended the meeting, but Brooke could not attend due to a previous commitment.
Landward described the meeting as productive and said it ended with Niang promising to make an apology during the next class period.
“I don’t believe the TA believes that Mormons as a group are racist. He merely was using an example of an institution that may be perceived as being involved in institutional racism,” said Landward, who is Mormon.
Niang made the apology during the Monday class session, but that didn’t satisfy Brooke or Brown.
“He apologized for making people feel bad or attacked, but he went on and blamed us for being offended,” Brooke said. “He is still in complete denial that he has done anything wrong, and now he tries to put it back on the students.”
“I feel his apology was not sincere,” Brown said.
Brown drafted a petition to pass around class calling for Niang’s suspension. If that doesn’t work, Brooke plans to file a complaint with the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action.
“I think the majority of the class will agree that Amadou [Niang] should not be there in the class this semester,” Brown said.
Niang said the students are taking his comments too sensitively.
“If I knew that they were not going to be receptive and open-minded about the critique I made about a social institution, then I wouldn’t have made it in class,” he said. “I am no longer going to mention the LDS Church in my class. I don’t feel comfortable talking about this in my class after what I have seen.”
Niang said some students approached him after his apology and said they finally understood his point of view, though he knew some students would continue to pursue disciplinary actions.
Landward plans to continue his efforts to address the situation informally.
He attributes the dispute in part to cultural differences.
Niang is originally from Mali and has lived in Utah since August. African-American Experience is the third class he’s instructed, and the first in which he mentioned the LDS Church.
He said he chose the LDS Church as an example of institutional racism, instead of other examples such as the U.S. presidency or higher education, because he thought an example so close to many of the students would emphasize his argument.
“I felt I was simply doing my job, challenging my students on social issues,” he said. “I do believe in academia and people should be ready to hear social institutions being critiqued, not criticized, I am clearly saying critiqued. If you cannot question yourself and your values, I think there is a problem there.”
Influential administrators such as Associate Vice President for Diversity Karen Dace and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs David Pershing have heard about the dispute.
They expect the students to file a formal complaint with the Ethnic Studies Program, which has a committee designed to handle student grievances.
“Every student’s concerns are taken very seriously,” said Lisa Flores, chairwoman of the Ethnic Studies Program.