Racism and Academia: Amazingly These Faculty Members Still Have Jobs…
Those naïve enough to believe the subject of race is no longer an issue in the United States may very well want to crawl back under the rock in which they are hiding. From issues surrounding homeland security to professional sports, few subjects can elicit the same level of interest or raw emotional responses that are typically associated with discussions involving race. Of all the places an intelligent, informed dialogue on the issues of race could be appropriately facilitated in a non-hostile environment, one would think academia should be it. Unfortunately, there are plenty of glaring examples that show the opposite is true.
Rather recently, Dr. Saida Grundy, assistant professor of sociology and African American studies at Boston University, recently posted the following via her twitter account: “Why is White America so reluctant to identify White college males as a problem population?” She then followed that up with, “Every MLK week I commit myself to not spending a dime in White-owned businesses. And every year, I find it nearly impossible.”
On the surface, one has to wonder how Dr. Grundy could treat every student in her class fairly given that she considers white college males as a “problem population.” More importantly, how are Dr. Grundy’s personal bias and obvious stereotyping impacting the students she is assigned to instruct? This is also not the first time Grundy has attacked an individual based primarily on skin color. In a separate incident, she allegedly taunted the victim of a rape through Facebook primarily because she was white.
Around the same time the controversy involving Dr. Grundy was unfolding, Jerry Hough, a political science professor at Duke University, posted some of his own controversial views regarding the integration of Asians and blacks into American culture. Hough noted, “Every Asian student has a very simple old American first name that symbolizes their desire for integration. Virtually every black has a strange new name that symbolizes their lack of desire for integration.” Hough presented no actual evidence for his views throughout the piece and continues to stand by them despite the controversy they have caused.
Their respective universities openly criticized the comments by both Hough and Grundy, but to date no other action has been taken. Hough is set to retire in 2018 and remains openly defiant of the University’s response to his article. After posting what could be called a half-hearted apology at best, Grundy is presumably just starting her career at Boston University.
It is no secret that issues surrounding race permeate many aspects of our modern culture in the United States. While academia is supposed to be a place where, at least to some level, radical ideas and controversial theories can be openly discussed without fear of reprisal, should there be boundaries to those ideas and to the individuals we allow to influence and develop our youth beyond high school? Shouldn’t academia be held to the same standards as the rest of us? What value does such a divisive rhetoric have for our government, our citizens, and our society as a whole?
