A professor at the University of San Diego School of Law is under investigation by administrators for a personal blog post that used colorful language in reference to Chinese government propaganda.
“If you believe that the coronavirus did not escape from the lab in Wuhan, you have to at least consider that you are an idiot who is swallowing whole a lot of Chinese cock swaddle,” wrote Professor Thomas Smith on March 10 on his blog the Right Coast.
Students took notice and complained, and Smith appended an update.
“It appears that some people are interpreting my reference to ‘Chinese cock swaddle,’ as a reference to an ethnic group. That is a misinterpretation. To be clear, I was referring to the Chinese government,” Smith added to the post.
Despite Smith’s clarification, as well as the fact that he wrote it on his personal blog and not in an official capacity as a law professor, he remains under investigation.
In a statement emailed Friday to The College Fix, USD spokesperson Elena Gomez said that “While the blog is not hosted by the University of San Diego, these forms of bias, wherever they occur, have an adverse impact on our community.”
“It is especially concerning when the disparaging language comes from a member of our community,” Gomez added. “A core value of the University of San Diego School of Law is that all members of the community must be treated with dignity and respect.”
“University policies specifically prohibit harassment, including the use of epithets, derogatory comments, or slurs based on race or national origin, among other categories,” Gomez stated.
“We have received formal complaints relating to the faculty member’s conduct, and in accordance with university procedures, there will be a process to review whether university or law school policies have been violated….”
Seven members of the USD law faculty wrote to the law school’s dean. The letter, obtained Saturday by The College Fix, states:
We have read your email to the law school community as well as your email to one of us. Here is our reaction.
The faculty member in question made a political comment in forceful language. He has the right and perhaps the obligation as a citizen and an academic to comment on matters of public concern such as the Chinese government’s handling of COVID, and to do so in evocative and forceful language. No fair, much less lawyerly way of reading what he wrote would conclude anything other than that “Chinese cock swaddle” was referring to propaganda of the Chinese government and surely not denigrating people of Chinese origin or descent. The context makes this perfectly clear….
Weighing in on the matter, UCLA law Professor Eugene Volokh, who specializes in First Amendment issues, pointed out that even without Smith’s update to his controversial blog post it’s clear he is referring to the government of China.
“To the extent people who feel some connection to China find it offensive, that is no basis for the university to prohibit such speech, or even investigate a faculty member for such speech — just as a university has no business investigating a faculty member for sharp criticism of the government of Israel (or of other Israeli institutions), or of Russia or, back in the day, South Africa or whatever else,” Volokh wrote on Reason.
The above comes from a March 20 story on the College Fix.
I have never before heard the strange derogatory term this professor used– I suspect this term may be obscene. That is unacceptable for an educated professor, teaching students at a Catholic university! He is not an illiterate “ditch-digger,” with no ability nor training to think and reason and express himself, on a more mature, well-educated, higher level! Especially, an educated university professor also should set a good example, by refraining from personal biases, being objective, carefully constructing a good English sentence, telling readers why he believes that the Coronavirus may have originated from the lab in Wuhan, China. Don’t write like a baby, with stupid personal biases, based on nothing but childish over-reactions to something, and immature, obscene, offensive language. Think and reflect clearly and carefully on a subject, before you write! Overall, I think many educators in “American Academia,” need vast improvements.
Now I wish I had never read thus article! Someone just explainined to me the horrific, filthy term that this worthless Catholic university law professor used, as stated in this article. I am beyond horrified! Where on earth did he get such horrific filth?? Why were university students given such horrible filth to read– from a professor?? Why did I have to read this story– on a Catholic website?? This filthy, evil man’s obscenities should never, never have been allowed to be publicly printed!! USD should get rid of him, and find a truly good, upstanding law professor, with decency and integrity! Will say my Rosary, now– and get my day set right, once again, after this terrible, sickening, sinful incident.
Where did he get such filthy language?
Perhaps he had just watched the Grammys.
Anon, you have a great sense of humor.
Well, O.K.– guess I did overreact a bit– but I do think respectable college professors should take care with their writing and speaking skills! I can just see a law school professor reprimanding a student for the same type of behavior, perhaps even stating that he may have reservations about recommending the student for a good job, due to possible poor use of language and racial insults…
Probably meant “codswallop.”
Perhaps autocorrect created his weird words. I had a seventh grader write about “playing songs” at recess with friends and she hit a key wrong so autocorrect changed it to “playing thongs”. We both had a long, loud laugh.
Tom — A fine law professor at a Catholic school should act like an adult. He should set a high standard, and never stoop to racism, calling people dirty names like a filthy juvenile delinquent in the gutter.
Anon:
Even fine law professors can hit a wrong key and create a typo. That was my hypothesis. Will you hang a man’s career on a keystroke and autocorrect error (if that’s what it was)?
Tom– I don’t think he “hit a wrong key.” If so, he should make apologies. There have been shockingly tragic incidents nationwide, of thugs attacking, beating, robbing,and killing poor, innocent, helpless elderly Asians, since the Coronavirus started. In a country like America, this must never happen.
If people think what this professor said is bad, they should educate themselves about what’s said in classes at Jesuit universities across the country. No comparison.
Like the Jesuit head of Santa Clara University currently under investigation for things he said and did.
So, Juan, you say that “fine” Jesuit priests of today, are so ignorant and low-class, they call Asians filthy, racist names?? And you think that represents a “good Jesuit Catholic education??”
He said at Jesuit univirseties. Jesuits aren’t the only ones who teach at their schools. I don’t know anywhere you can get a good Jesuit Catholic education anymore. All the Jesuit schools have rotted.
It’s a bit earthy, but to be under investigation for saying it on his personal blog? Give me a break. I guarantee those tender students have heard and said a lot worse. OK, I need to go cancel myself for giving the professor a pass.
Wow. The first two “Anon” comments seem a bit over-wrought, no? Especially the second post. “Beyond horrified”? “horrific filth”? “This filthy, evil man’s obscenities…”? Give me a break. Find something truly evil to go wild about—-like China’s forced abortion policies; religious persecutions; and Uighur genocide. Thank God your saying the Rosary proved to “get [your] day set right once again”. But since you’re into throwing stones, I suggest that a less self-referential intention for saying it, like honoring the Blessed Virgin, might have been worthier, O Perfect One.
“Perfection”– 1960s hippie filth is your world– no manners no morals, no Christian decency.
The professor should not have used that phrase. That said, the law school there, where he teaches, promotes “pride” in perverse sexual behaviors. See the links below. So, they promote the LGBTQ+ agenda, but castigate one professor for using a term that has an immoral sexual implication. Something else is clearly going on at USD.
Is what he wrote about the Communist Chinese government inaccurate?
So, if we condemn the filth that came out of the professor’s mouth, let’s be fair and just and condemn the filth coming out of recognized organizations at USD.
Or, is left-leaning filth okay, while filth from someone opposing Communism is not?
https://www.sandiego.edu/lgbtq/old-pages/get-involved.php
https://www.sandiego.edu/lgbtq/community-resources.php
Maybe the Shepherd of San Diego will come to the defense of the professor at his university (after all, it is a diocesan school). The bishop there understands that “because we live in a complicated world, Catholic moral teaching is often highly complex and nuanced in its reasoning about how to navigate the issues.”
Curious– Christisn Morality is not “complex.” It is a matter of responsibility, and a good moral conscience– good manners and good morals– and respect for Our Lord and for His people. A fine, prestigious Catholic institution of higher education, does not employ professors that call people dirty, racist, derogatory, unChristian epithets. A good bishop would not want this in his diocese
It’s the bishop there who said Catholic morality was “highly complex,” not me.
Does the bishop want to promote gay sex, as some campus groups at USD do?
If not, he wouldn’t want those groups, as well as this professor, at his university.
Why shouldn’t the bishop expect all at USD, faculty, staff and students to behave and speak in a decent, Christian manner?
Just another example of white racism that needs to be eradicated from existence. Cancel him. Immediately. Build the future of equity and justice now.
Nothing more racist than an anti-racist.
Kris– Nobody knows for sure what race the ignorant law “professor” is. What it is, is an example of filthy, corrupt, ignorant anti-Chinese racism, by a low-class man. A college professor should set a good example and act like an adult.
Sure we do. If he was anything but white, we’d not even hear about it.
Those days are long gone.
To show an article.like this about an incident at a “fine” Catholic school that has a very high tuition cost for parents, and a fine reputation– and if these people are devout Catholics, or devout Protestants– amd close family or friends you can always trust, to discuss things, or ask help or questions, etc.– it just makes the Catholic Church look extremely degraded, immoral, deviant, filthy, perverted, stupid intellectually, disgusting, and worthless! It can also shake the faith even further, of good devout Catholics– and cause them to have more resolve, never to support this school and other Catholic institutions– it is faith-eroding and devastatingly destructive! And it destroys respect for our Church, in devout Protestants! When we all were in school– religious or secular– such filthy, perverted, sickening, disrespectful language and behaviors, were not tolerated, in either professors or students! You would be sternly reprimanded, punished, and kicked out ASAP!!
Maybe because that’s what the church has become.
Calm yourself, Linda Maria!!
Yesterday on TV, a newscaster showed photos of elderly Asians, mostly women, who were brutally attacked, robbed, beaten, and even murdered, in senseless “hate crimes,” all across the U.S., since the Coronavirus began. Then the newscaster announced a tip line, for police, looking for the murderer of a poor, helpless, innocent elderly Asian grandma– and I just broke down in tears! It also makes me cry, to hear mean-spirited, horrible people call others any kind of cruel, filthy, ignorant name– to hurt anyone of a particular racial or religious group, the handicapped, elderly, or mentally-disabled people, etc. etc. That is a horrible mortal sin! Christians of all denominations must lead the fight to establish good morals, good manners, and high standards, for treating all our neighbors with Christian love, respect, dignity, and kindness.
People of all races, religions sexual orientations, etc. are bruttally murdered here in the USA every day, including the unborn. And all the Asian people murdered are not all murdered by Caucasians. Some reports failed to mention that the “white” man who killed all those “Asian” massage therapists, also murdered two Caucasians. The guy was a sicko, blame him and him only for what he did. All crimes are hate crimes. No one steals from you, knowingly commits adultery with your spouse or murderers you and on and on, does it because they love you or people. They do it for themselves.
Anne TE– Not all crimes are hate crimes. Not all crimes are motivated by hate. There are different motivations for different crimes. A hate crime is a crime committed because the criminal hates the
victim solely based on a particular type of group they belong to. A hate crime committed against an entire group of people, seeking to annihilate them, is called a genocide. I have met Armenian Christians who live nearby. They have a lovely church and parish school. Tragically, the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Empire in 1915, was the first genocide of the 20th century. I have been shown family pictures of loved ones and clerics murdered in the Armenian genocide– and pictures of beloved family members murdered by Hitler, in the Jewish Holocaust, during World War II. It has always moved me to tears! Christians of all denominations must lead the way to stand up against hate and all hate crimes, and teach and preach Christ’s teachings of brotherly love, respect, kindness and dignity for all mankind. A big Holocaust occuring today, is murder of the unborn child, which we must seek to end.
Anne TE– the post of “Anonymous” written today, March 23, at 6:57pm, was written by me, “Anon.”
I know the difference between first and second degree murder. I also know the different between someone who is stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family or stealing an unnecessary television, but the term hate crime is just made up legislation to keep some politicians in power. If a person deliberately murders ten people of a certain race or religion, then charge him/her with ten murders — period. All else is a waste of the tax payers’ dollars trying to prove it was racially motivated. And how about the murders in Colorado by Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa? Were they not so called “hate” crimes too?
I live not too far from this Armenian Church– a short bus ride away. Last year, when those horrible thugs were destroying our cities with wild rioting and vandalism, also vandalizing some of our Catholic churches and statues– the poor Armenians were vandalized also, with a horrible fire and destruction to their church, school, and cultural center complex, terrorizing their community. The FBI conducted a big investigation, offering a $50,000 reward for info leading to the arrest and conviction of the criminals. Christians of all denominations have suffered terrible acts of terrorism, persecution and death, worldwide, in recent years.
This country is done. It’s tearing itself apart. Get ready to be balkanized along racial lines. Thanks, Democrats. You did this.
Most countries are already balkanized, not just this one. There is no country on earth where one can go to be truly safe. No paradise here on earth. St. Augustine of Northern Africa was right when he said we were being prepared for the City of God after death. When someone says this is the greatest country on earth, I laugh. I have never felt truly safe here, although I was born within 80 miles of where I live now, but I know it is no better any place else on earth. One can only deal with it the best way one can.
Anne TE– Perhaps the term “hate crime” is new– but the crime of picking out someone to harm or even to murder, is ancient. Our lawmakers are trying to help protect people. The KKK used to burn crosses and commit hate crimes on Blacks, Jews, and Catholics. If you were a victim of hate crimes, then you, too, would try to get assistance from lawmakers. And yes– America is the greatest country in the world– everyone wants to come here! Yes!! We do live in a deeply troubled, irresponsible, immoral era– but working hard together, we can eventually pull America out of it.
Well, when I was younger I survived one of the roughest smaller cities here in California, and I have often said that if I could survive that town, I could survive anything. Shootings and murders all the time. I will not name it, but though it is small for a city, it has always been among the top ten in the United States for crime. California has always been “balkanized” with some places worse than others, and one country after another claiming it. Fighting over “10,000” different languages and religions. Why anyone would want to come here, I have not a clue.
You put your finger on it. People don’t feel safe. They don’t know who to be afraid of. They start to look at certain characteristics as a red flag that they might not be safe-skin color, tattoos, shaved heads, uniforms etc. Then they avoid those people. So much of it has been started and perpetuated by the media and entertainment industry. Your brain doesn’t really distinguish between bad behavior you see on TV and real life. You have to train your brain to recognize what is real and what is not. Just because someone looks like a bad person in a movie does not mean they are a bad person.
We need to listen to Jesus and love everyone. Don’t judge people. Be kind. Be not afraid.
Most people judge by their experiences. If a person was robbed or beaten by a person of another ethnicity or race, their brain is geared to suspect such people, especially if no one from that group came to their defense. That is hard to overcome, and sometimes should not be. Women especially need to be “street wise”. If ones gut feeling warns you, follow it, whether anyone else likes it or not. Better to be safe than sorry. I will give you an example. (to be cont.)
(Cont.) I was coming from inside a post office in my area, and when I started to get into my car, a young man (of my race) asked me if I had a certain tool in the trunk of my car. I told him I did not. He said that he needed to fix his tire and pointed to a car parked in the lot. My motherly instinct told me to give him a ride to a service station, but my gut instinct told me to go home, and call the local police and tell them the young man needed help. The newspaper a few days later reported that a man carjacked a car at that post office.
(Cont.) He had stole that car by hitting the owner on the head with a large wrench. I was very blessed that day that I did not have a wrench in my car.
I am not saying that we should not help people, just that we need to be very careful how we do it and who they are — only in a safe, well lit area with other people around. The post office had been closed the day the man had confronted me, so there were not a lot of other people around, but it was still open for mail depositing.
Don’t confuse real-life with the Internet. 9 million Americans have parents or grandparents of different races. There is only one race-the human race. Don’t balkanize yourself. Be open to everyone. Love everyone. We are Christians. We have a higher love. We have a more profound love. Never give up.
Anonymous– yes, the irresponsible academic liberal leftists, hippies, and Democrats did this to America. But working hard together, we can correct this blunder, and make our country great!
The balkanization of large countries and states, as a result of multi-ethinicity tensions, leads to deeper political and ethnic unrest and instability and fragmentation, and can result in a dictatorship or ethnic cleansing. In America, that is exactly what sick, misguided, activist liberal-leftists in academia and politics, and sick, misfit beatnik/hippie, anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-society– and anti-White fringe groups have all been aiming for, since the early 1960s, especially. The Denocratic Party unfortunately became full of them all, and the immoral Democrats have been busy seeking a sort of tyrannical “dictatorship” and “ethnic cleansing” of all who oppose them. History repeats itself. Radical right-wingers are just as bad, and dangerous to our society.
Instead of “multi-culturalism,” I believe in respect for our tremendous European cultural heritage of Western Civilization– and that all should share in the goods, with “Love thy neighbor” as the way of life.
Europe is multi-cultural. Always has been.
Yes, Anonymous– but in Europe, each ethnic group has their own country. And in countries like France, where a foreign ethnic group such as the Muslims are allowed to immigrate in huge numbers— it causes terrible friction, and a near-breakdown of the country. America is made up of many different cultures. But we still can unify, under the banner of “liberty and justice for all”-with “One Nation Under God”–Judeo- Christian Morality.