Finals week, angry grad students, and vaguely racist comments do not a pretty picture make.

According to an anonymous tipster, Russell BRickford, a TA for Barnard's American Civilization Since the Civil War class, objected to a statement written by one student in the course's final exam yesterday. And so e-mailed the entire class about it. Full e-mail after the jump.

----------------------------- Original Message ---------------------------
Subject: HIST X1402.001
From: rjr2020@columbia.edu
Date: Wed, May 10, 2006 12:15 pm
To: ------@barnard.edu
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Dear beloved,

One of my students wrote the following statement in an essay on her final
exam yesterday: "This austerity is at the root of Protestantism in America, but
is considered quite different from the sensuality and decadence of black
culture."

Now, some of my best friends are black. Some of them show signs of sensuality. Others, not so much. Some are decadent. Some ain't. As a matter of fact, I too am black. And I'd like to think that from time to time, I can be pretty darn sensual myself. What's more, I must confess that, on occasion, and twice in recent memory, I have been as decadent as my graduate student stipend would allow.