Law school is the wrong place for this. One of the main functions of law school is to teach students that they must be self-sufficient. ... The professors couldn’t care less who succeeds and who doesn’t. And that’s a good thing because as a lawyer there is nobody helping you when you get into the real world.
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Kevin B, I enjoy going back and forth. You are well-reasoned and reasonable. I see two problems with your logic. First, it can be circular and self-fulfilling: law schools need students to be tough because the real world is tough; and out in the real world, the toughness is ok because law schools have prepared their students to abide it all.
Second, I am only arguing for common sense whereas it seems to me that you are taking a principled stand that does not hold up. I would not hold faculty responsible for a perfectly level playing field, but rather basic mitigating efforts like learning all students’ names and how to pronounce them correctly. What I have learned over the past ten years, gradually, is that there are dozens of simple measures that I could and should be doing that really matter. Some of the activities that my university puts forward are heavy-handed nonsense and offensive; some of it helps me to be a better teacher. Admitting to the latter does not make me a liberal or RINO.
I think it’s best to just end this discussion by saying that I’m glad you take the time to learn to properly pronounce your students’ names, regardless of their skin color, and that they like you. That has nothing to do with the topic of this thread, however. Have a good evening.