I RESIGN

Note: This statement was originally published on facebook on November 13, 2019.

Hello Everyone,

It is with a heavy heart that I announce my resignation from my position as Managing Editor on the Harvard Political Review’s 51st Masthead. I have not taken this decision lightly as I have been a part of and devoted to the HPR for the entirety of my time at Harvard before this point, as anyone who knows me well can attest. However, longstanding organizational problems relating to race and racism, as well as the racist and otherwise disrespectful treatment that I, a Black man, have received all year from the other members of the HPR’s 51st Executive Board (with the much appreciated exception of the 51st Publisher, Wyatt Hurt — all future references to misconduct by Exec in general exclude him as an individual), and perhaps even a few members of the rest of the magazine, have recently culminated in events that have made me unable to continue suffering at the hands of others in my position any longer.

I am making this public statement and speaking my truth to preempt and counteract any false narratives about my departure that other people may wish to spread. I also want to show those who have caused me pain that they cannot disrespect and discriminate against me without consequence. Additionally, I want to shine a light on the racism within the HPR and the Harvard Institute of Politics more generally that I and many other non-white students (despite some moderate improvements in organizational diversity in recent years) have experienced and continue to experience. This racism is usually swept under the rug to our collective detriment.

I have faced many instances of discrimination and witnessed many racist things that made me uncomfortable in my time as part of the HPR. This year alone as the only non-white member of Exec, I have been variously laughed at, interrupted, talked over, ridiculed, ignored, and scapegoated — and have also had my character, ideas, competence, and authority unjustly dismissed and called into question — too many times to count. Given the absence of any rational reason for this treatment, and given my knowledge of the reality and forms of racism in our world, I have only been able to conclude that all these instances were manifestations of my Exec colleagues’ anti-Black implicit bias and tendencies against my person, and were exacerbated by their unprofessionalism. Detailing all of these incidents would take way too long, so I will simply detail four of the most relevant incidents that best illustrate my points:

At the end of last year, very shortly after our election to the 51st Masthead, Exec had one of its first meetings. At one point in the Exec meeting, the President, Russell Reed — an individual who had significantly disrespected me even before my election to Exec, and who was the worst offender during my time on Exec — said that I specifically could sometimes be “scary”. Everyone else in the meeting laughed in agreement. For context, I am 5’ 6.5” tall, weigh about 150 pounds, am scrawny, wear glasses, and have a nasally voice due to chronic nasal allergies (massive self-joan, I know). I am not physically imposing. Therefore, I found it strange that Russell or anyone else would find me exceptionally scary. Russell’s comment to me seemed in line with the stereotype that Black men are exceptionally intimidating and dangerous simply due to their identities as Black men. Another Black person agreed with this conclusion when I told them of the incident later. This was, of course, extremely upsetting and alienating.

Shortly after Spring Break, Russell and I met to talk through some disagreements we had been having relating to my work over Break. The Staff Director, Alexis “Lexi” Mealey, was present as well to supposedly mediate our discussion. During this discussion, which lasted for over two hours, Russell and Lexi ganged up on me, showering me with a litany of complaints related to my supposedly low quality work, incompetence, and “non-HPR standard” opinions. Their complaints seemed largely unreasonable to me. Whenever I tried talk through an individual grievance of theirs or asked them what specific things they wanted me to do differently going forward (both of which I did multiple times), they got angry. They would tell me that “this isn’t just about one thing”, “you don’t just get to start doing things”, or that I just needed to “take responsibility”. It seemed to me that they simply wanted to put me down as part of some power play.

Most upsettingly, Russell and Lexi told me that the two Associate Managing Editors, both of whom happen to be white women, had said they were afraid to talk to me. This did not seem reasonable to me. Because I feared being viewed as an “angry”, “dangerous”, or “predatory” Black man, I had made sure to be much more reserved, collaborative, and kind than usual when working with them — even to the point of tolerating their disrespect. While it is certainly fair for women in general to be wary of men in general, it is also true that Black men are often unfairly perceived as posing threats to white women. Given what I knew of my behavior towards my colleagues, this seemed like a clear instance of that phenomenon. Russell and Lexi, however, refused to acknowledge that nuance, even after I raised the issue with them; Russell simply continued to yell “You’re making women uncomfortable!” at me throughout the meeting. We left this meeting on bad terms, and the other members of Exec shunned me even more after this.

At the beginning of the Fall semester, I had to copy edit an article that happened to have been written by one of the Associate Managing Editors, Katie Weiner. Katie was blockmates and close friends with Russell, and they frequently allowed their personal relationship to undermine their professionalism; Russel often consulted Katie on editorial matters before me and tapped Katie to speak on editorial matters at meetings, even though I was the most senior person on the Editorial Side of the magazine

Katie’s article — which was entitled “Renaissance for Rwanda’s Dogs” and argued that the supposed change in Rwanda’s treatment of dogs was a sign of development, cultural advancement, and nationwide post-genocidal healing — was poorly sourced and logically unsound. Additionally, it trafficked heavily in anti-Black and anti-African tropes and false narratives. As an African (although I was born and raised in the US, both of my parents are Nigerian immigrants), I was horrified at the thought of the HPR publishing such a low quality and frankly racist article (here is a copy of the first version of the article that I saw: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MBgnFJVRPJaEkq9rexSaGuQDfpOGlA8N_XaAoZewP-I/edit;). I met with Katie in person to kindly explain to her why we could not publish the article; this was not a decision I took lightly as I had never done this previously in my nearly two years on Masthead.

Katie refused to acknowledge my concerns. She went over my head and complained to Russell and the rest of Exec about my decision. The rest of Exec asked me to detail my specific problems with the piece, so, knowing that I was being held to a very high standard, spent the next four days detailing all of my problems with the article on a copy of a draft (here is a copy of that document. It includes some responses to my comments:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sPsR2Zte7JFn374U38oH9ZpRN7ylYloA_b0LNWJCmyY/edit;). After I shared my comments with them and begged them to listen to me, Russell simply overruled me with the support of the rest of Exec. Nobody had looked at the document I had shared before Russell made the decision (I realized this when I looked at the Google doc after Russell gave his decision the first time). After I asked them to at least look at my specific comments before making a decision, Katie opened the document and began furiously responding to all my comments. Although she did add some nuance to the piece based upon my comments, she still failed to acknowledge my most fundamental concerns. In the end, Russell again overruled me in favor of his friend, and the article was published. After this incident, the rest of Exec stopped talking to me almost completely.

On Monday night, while editing an article on Wordpress, I suddenly realized that, for some reason, I was no longer an admin and could not finish making my edits. I also received an email saying that I was no longer an admin on our facebook page. The next morning, I received a slack message from Lexi in a newly created channel that included, me, her, and Russell. She said that they had decided to strip me of my editing and posting privileges due to their displeasure with some hashtags I had added to Katie’s “Rwandan Dogs” article when I posted it online, and threatened to formally impeach me if I did not acquiesce to their decision. For context, when uploading articles to Wordpress, editors must add hashtags to the article which relate to the content of the article. These hashtags are not visible on our social media posts and, in the case of “featured” pieces like Katie’s article, are not even visible on our website itself (

Here is the article on our website. The hashtags are clearly not visible here:http://harvardpolitics.com/culture/renaissance-rwandas-dogs/) . These hashtags were seen by nobody outside the organization and simply increased the likelihood of the piece being read as a result of internet searches. Moreover, the hashtags I used were clearly related to topics referenced or discussed in Katie’s article. Based upon the specific hashtags Lexi mentioned (including “colonialism” and “xenophobia”), it seemed that the Exec members’ anger was based upon their own irrational feelings, as well as discomfort with the mere mention of race issues due to their own white guilt and fragility.

Moreover, they had arrived at this decision without following formal organizational procedure, and without talking to me in any capacity or allowing me to speak for myself. The lack of professionalism and due process in the way they hastily made their decision — and the fact that they were punishing me for doing the same, standard thing I had done for almost two years without receiving any complaints — showed me that they were simply itching to strip me of power and remove me from the organization at the slightest opportunity. Incensed and fed up, I explained myself and told them that if they did not reverse their decision and fully apologize in 24 hours, I would resign and make my grievances public. They refused to fully apologize or have an in-person meeting when I later offered to do so. Russell and Lexi instead just asked me not to resign and make public comments under the vague pretense that it would “hurt the organization”. As a result, I finally resigned.

Although no two experiences are exactly the same, I know that my experiences have a lot in common with those of other Black and otherwise non-white individuals who have been involved in the HPR and IOP more generally in recent times. I hope that sharing my experience will give other people like me the courage to share theirs in order to further bring this problem to light. I also hope that it forces these organizations, and the relevant individuals within these organizations, to take the necessary steps towards real change. From what I know of them personally, I believe that the members of the HPR’s newly elected 52nd Masthead (at least the ones who I have not specifically implicated in past wrongs here) have the ability to take these steps, and they have my full support. I also know that there are other people involved in the IOP more generally who have the capability to do this as well. However, they must be fully committed to doing this and realize that this work is not easy, that progress is not inevitable, and that regression is very possible.

Moreover, even though I personally no longer have the energy to engage with these organizations, I do hope that other Black and otherwise non-white students continue to participate in both the HPR and the IOP more generally, both in order to affect change and to receive the benefits that these organizations do provide. However, they should be aware of the potential pitfalls. Thank you for listening to me. I hope that all relevant individuals consider what I am saying, see the truth in it, and do what is necessary. I wish everyone well.

Chimaoge Ibenwuku

Harvard Class of 2020

B.A. Candidate in English and AAAS

Former Managing Editor of the Harvard Political Review

#HarvardPoliticalReview #HarvardInstituteofPolitics #HPR #IOP

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