A California college student is being celebrated on Twitter after challenging his professor over her use of the word "n****r."

Maleek Eid, the brave 23-year-old student, began his journey on social media last week when he tweeted his idea for a class project.

"My English professor used the N-word twice for 'educational purposes,'" the Palestinian student wrote on February 27, "So I chose my analysis paper on the use of the N-word by non-Black people so that I could essentially call her out in front of the entire class as my project."

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The College of the Desert marketing student's tweet quickly went viral, and he was flooded with support and interest about his Monday presentation. Many of his new followers tweeted at the student, telling him how much they were looking forward to seeing the final project, according to The Daily Dot.

On Monday, the student made good on his promise and tweeted a video of his talk, prefacing the clips with a message that said the presentation hadn't gone over quite as he'd hoped.

“I actually thought maybe she’d react well and apologize and change," Eid tweeted about his professor's reaction. "I was very wrong. Just want to say I did f**king great and I’m still sorry I didn’t make her change.”

Eid told BuzzFeed News his professor remained calm and silent throughout the presentation, which included direct criticism of his professor's use of the word.

“I didn’t say anything the first time, and I didn’t say anything the second time, and that’s my fault," Eid can be heard saying on the audio recordings he released. "But I’m saying something now.”

Following his presentation, Eid's teacher responded by defending her decision to use the word "n****r."

“I said the word because I wanted a response," she can be heard saying. "I wanted someone to say, ‘That’s wrong to say that’ or ‘I take offense to that’ or something. So, sometimes when we’re discussing things, and you’re all [imitated snoring] sometimes somebody’s got to shake you up.”

Eid challenged her rebuttal, stating, “If your solution to getting your class to snap up is using the N-word, then you need different strategies as a professor.”

Still, the professor didn't back down, citing the word's inclusion in literature as cover for its use without excuse.

"I get you’re talking about using it in literature, but the two times you used it wasn’t in literature," Eid said. "They would have been totally acceptable times to say 'N-word.'"

Eventually, Eid dropped the matter after his teacher called him "sensitive" and threatened to use the word again. The student also says he felt discouraged by his classmates, many of whom giggling throughout the back-and-forth.


Eid is transferring out of the course and working with a college counselor who is assisting him with his complaint against the professor. He has not returned to her class since the day of his presentation.

The response on Twitter has been vastly different from what the student experienced in class. Eid told The Daily Dot that the support he received online rejuvenated him.

“Black people from all ends of the world have sent paragraphs of love and support," he said. "Reading them has been the light during this otherwise exhausting experience from class. As a Muslim, I believe all people are my brothers and sisters, and I stick up for family.”

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