San Diego Union-Tribune brought to light the status of San Diego State University Tenure Professor Angelo Corlett. Although the university took the appropriate steps to remove Professor Corlett from his teaching roles, I call upon SDSU's students, faculty, and staff to do more. I find the Union-Tribune article offensive in making light of this professor's endorsement of racialized trauma in using the word N*gger in his classroom, using the n-word over 60 times. We are in the year 2022. To be made aware that Professor Angelo Corlett is attempting to shield his harmful rhetoric with "academic freedom" is appalling and disrespectful to students and academia entirely. Professor Corlett previously used "wetb*ck" to refer to the Chicano community. Professor Corlett fully understands the history of this language and the ties to mass murders, sexual abuse, torture and slavery. To repeatedly use the phrase "gang rape" in any context around using the N-word without the knowledge of sexual survivors in the classroom or to leave the criminalization of Black people as "rapists” has no educational benefit to free speech curriculum and lends credence to false stereotypes of black people. 

Indeed, I have never heard a racist who admits to being racist after making racist statements. Another observation is that Corlett was brazen during Black History Month to let a student know that he could not be terminated as a tenured professor unless he raped or killed a student. This was all done in the name of the curriculum. 

Hate Crimes are up across the nation. White supremacy has not just infiltrated law enforcement agencies but classrooms as well. The evil truth of white supremacy erodes the lives of those subjected to the inability to see us as human beings, worthy of being treated like their brothers and sisters and not their N*ggers. 

San Diego State University and its Senate better get serious about the legacy it wants to continue because donors worldwide will know that their money went to these teachings. For decades these Professors were allowed to trigger and racially traumatize students, staff, and faculty, who are often told to be quiet, keep your head down, stay out the way so you can keep your job or graduate without retaliation. 

With this in mind, we call for the following: 

 1  For professor Corlett to step down from his teaching role.

 2  For the faculty on campus to formally and publicly condemn his actions. 

 3  For Professor Corlett to be removed from all journal and editorial boards.

 4  For Professor Corlett to go through training of anti-Blackness and the impact of racial trauma on student success.

 5  For the campus to review and reconsider whatever grades that have been awarded for in class students opposing this curriculum. 

 6  For the campus to partner with local organizations to provide resources around racial trauma and mental health.

  7   For CSU to make necessary changes to that acknowledge the generational harm of racism and cease the use of racial epithets by professors in classrooms that have no benefit being used in the walls of any learning institution. 

*Aerial view of the San Diego State University campus. (Photo: Sandy Huffaker Jr.) found on https://newscenter.sdsu.edu/sdsu_newscenter/news_story.aspx?sid=76990