full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor: Why it's so hard to talk about the N-word

Unscramble the Blue Letters


The minute she said it, the temperature in my classroom dropped. My students are usually laser-focused on me, but they shifted in their seats and looked away.

I'm a black woman who teaches the hsiterois of race and US slavery. I'm aarwe that my social identity is always on display. And my setdunts are vulnerable too, so I'm careful. I try to anticipate what part of my lesson might go wrong. But honestly, I didn't even see this one cimnog. None of my years of graduate school prepared me for what to do when the N-word entered my classroom.

I was in my first year of teaching when the suentdt said the N-word in my class. She was not calling anyone a name. She was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. She came to casls with her readings done, she sat in the frnot row and she was always on my team. When she said it, she was actually making a point about my lecture, by quoting a line from a 1970s movie, a comedy, that had two racist slurs. One for ploepe of Chinese descent and the other the N-word. As soon as she said it, I held up my hands, said, "Whoa, whoa." But she assured me, "It's a joke from 'Blazing seaddls,'" and then she repeated it.

Open Cloze


The minute she said it, the temperature in my classroom dropped. My students are usually laser-focused on me, but they shifted in their seats and looked away.

I'm a black woman who teaches the _________ of race and US slavery. I'm _____ that my social identity is always on display. And my ________ are vulnerable too, so I'm careful. I try to anticipate what part of my lesson might go wrong. But honestly, I didn't even see this one ______. None of my years of graduate school prepared me for what to do when the N-word entered my classroom.

I was in my first year of teaching when the _______ said the N-word in my class. She was not calling anyone a name. She was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. She came to _____ with her readings done, she sat in the _____ row and she was always on my team. When she said it, she was actually making a point about my lecture, by quoting a line from a 1970s movie, a comedy, that had two racist slurs. One for ______ of Chinese descent and the other the N-word. As soon as she said it, I held up my hands, said, "Whoa, whoa." But she assured me, "It's a joke from 'Blazing _______,'" and then she repeated it.

Solution


  1. people
  2. front
  3. students
  4. aware
  5. coming
  6. class
  7. saddles
  8. student
  9. histories

Original Text


The minute she said it, the temperature in my classroom dropped. My students are usually laser-focused on me, but they shifted in their seats and looked away.

I'm a black woman who teaches the histories of race and US slavery. I'm aware that my social identity is always on display. And my students are vulnerable too, so I'm careful. I try to anticipate what part of my lesson might go wrong. But honestly, I didn't even see this one coming. None of my years of graduate school prepared me for what to do when the N-word entered my classroom.

I was in my first year of teaching when the student said the N-word in my class. She was not calling anyone a name. She was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. She came to class with her readings done, she sat in the front row and she was always on my team. When she said it, she was actually making a point about my lecture, by quoting a line from a 1970s movie, a comedy, that had two racist slurs. One for people of Chinese descent and the other the N-word. As soon as she said it, I held up my hands, said, "Whoa, whoa." But she assured me, "It's a joke from 'Blazing Saddles,'" and then she repeated it.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
black people 4
african american 3
black students 3
actual word 2
white student 2


Important Words


  1. anticipate
  2. assured
  3. aware
  4. black
  5. calling
  6. careful
  7. chinese
  8. class
  9. classroom
  10. comedy
  11. coming
  12. descent
  13. display
  14. dropped
  15. entered
  16. front
  17. graduate
  18. hands
  19. held
  20. histories
  21. honestly
  22. identity
  23. joke
  24. lecture
  25. lesson
  26. line
  27. looked
  28. making
  29. minute
  30. movie
  31. part
  32. people
  33. point
  34. prepared
  35. quoting
  36. race
  37. racist
  38. readings
  39. repeated
  40. row
  41. saddles
  42. sat
  43. school
  44. seats
  45. shifted
  46. slavery
  47. slurs
  48. social
  49. student
  50. students
  51. teaches
  52. teaching
  53. team
  54. temperature
  55. vulnerable
  56. whoa
  57. woman
  58. wrong
  59. year
  60. years