Sandra Sellers and David Batson, the two teachers, talked about the performance of black students in their classes at the end of a lecture last month. His comments were included in the recorded lecture, said Hassan Ahmad, a student at Georgetown Law who posted a snippet of the video on Twitter.
In the excerpt, Sellers says: “I end up having this anguish every semester because many of my shortest ones are black”, referring to the lowest grades. “It happens almost every semester. And it’s like, ‘Oh, come on.’ There are some very good ones, but there are also some that are simple in the background, it drives me crazy. “
Although Batson says little in the video and is not heard making derogatory comments, he also doesn’t seem to challenge Sellers.
“We are taking significant steps to ensure that all students in this class are assessed fairly, without input from Professor Sellers or Professor Batson,” wrote Treanor. “This is by no means the end of our work to address the many structural issues of racism reflected in this painful incident, including explicit and implicit prejudice, observer responsibility and the need for more comprehensive anti-prejudice training. A major concern for me. . “
Ahmad said the video was discovered on Sunday and released on Monday, although CNN was unable to confirm by whom. The entire video has been removed and is not publicly available.
Salespeople: ‘I want all my students to excel’
CNN contacted Sellers and Batson for comment. Batson did not return CNN’s requests, and Sellers referred to his resignation letter, in which she apologizes for her “offensive and misguided comments”.
“While the video of this incident is an excerpt from a longer discussion of the patterns of class participation, not the general notes, it does not diminish the callousness I have shown,” wrote Sellers. “I would never do anything to intentionally hurt my students or Georgetown Law and would like to be able to withdraw my words. Regardless of my intention, I have done irreparable harm and I am really sorry for that.”
She continued: “I want all my students to excel in negotiation and mediation, which is why I have been teaching these courses in Georgetown for almost 20 years. When that doesn’t happen, it reflects deficiencies on my part, not just on the part of any student It is my responsibility to do everything I can to correct this. My comments were an inarticulate reflection of a long soul search. I must do better to understand and address these issues. “
It’s a ‘systemic problem’, say black students
“This situation not only reveals Sellers’ true beliefs about black students, but it also illustrates the conscious and unconscious prejudice that is systematically present in undergraduate law school at Georgetown Law and in law school classrooms across the country,” the students wrote on Thursday. “The difference is that Sellers was caught and his racism was broadcast for the world to see.”
The association is publicly apologizing to Batson for “his failure to properly condemn the Sellers’ statements”. He is also asking for an assessment of the grade system, an audit of the previous grades of the Vendors and more black teachers to be hired.
What makes Sellers’ comments so “unsettling,” said Nardos Bekele, vice president of administration for the Georgetown Black Law Students Association (BLSA), is that they were made “offhand in a video she didn’t think would be launched. “
“There is a systemic problem that we are facing as law students and this video is indicative of that,” said Bekele. “As a black student in law school, whether in Georgetown or not, it is very scary that these conversations are going on and we just know about this one.”
Ahmad told CNN that the lectures are continuously recorded until everyone leaves the connection with Zoom. And as Sellers and Batson stayed on the call, he kept on recording – and ended up being uploaded for students to see. He told CNN that he is not enrolled in the class, but obtained the recording from a friend who was.
In his Thursday email, Treanor, dean and executive vice president of the law school, said the school would continue “our work to address the many structural issues of racism reflected in this painful incident, including explicit and implicit prejudice, observer responsibility and the need for more comprehensive anti-prejudice training. “
But last summer, the BLSA made a series of requests at the height of protests against systemic racism. Maxine Walters, the association’s president, says student organizations have asked the school to add critical racial theory to the first-year law students’ criminal justice course, demand a racial justice requirement before graduation and create a whistleblowing system of prejudice for law school.
Walters says that such a reporting system “would have been perfect in this situation”, noting that none of his orders “has been solidified, and it is March”.
CNN contacted the university about these requests, but received no response.
“We need to stop being reactive,” said Bekele, “and we need to be proactive.”