The Student as Nigger
Encyclopedia
The Student as Nigger is the title of an essay and subsequent book by American educator Jerry Farber
.
The essay first appeared in the Los Angeles Free Press
in 1967 and is often cited as one of the first underground
publications to receive widespread recognition. It was reprinted over 500 times in the 1960s and was published in book form in 1970 by Pocket Books
.
The essay, published during the height of the American Civil Rights Movement, in which Farber was an active participant, draws an extended analogy between the status of students at California State University
and the status of African American
s.
Farber uses the term "nigger
" in the title to connote what he perceived as a "master-slave" relationship in modern educational settings in which students were overly constrained and intellectually de-motivated.
Jerry Farber
Jerry Farber is an American educator and writer. Currently a professor of English and Comparative Literature at San Diego State University, he is widely known as the author of a 1960s anti-establishment essay, "The Student as Nigger," in which he likened the student–professor relationship in...
.
The essay first appeared in the Los Angeles Free Press
Los Angeles Free Press
The Los Angeles Free Press , also called “the Freep”, was among the most widely distributed underground newspapers of the 1960s. It is often cited as the first such newspaper...
in 1967 and is often cited as one of the first underground
Underground press
The underground press were the independently published and distributed underground papers associated with the counterculture of the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and other western nations....
publications to receive widespread recognition. It was reprinted over 500 times in the 1960s and was published in book form in 1970 by Pocket Books
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
.
The essay, published during the height of the American Civil Rights Movement, in which Farber was an active participant, draws an extended analogy between the status of students at California State University
California State University
The California State University is a public university system in the state of California. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College system. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the...
and the status of African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s.
Farber uses the term "nigger
Nigger
Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...
" in the title to connote what he perceived as a "master-slave" relationship in modern educational settings in which students were overly constrained and intellectually de-motivated.