When a black professor made an absolutely shocking statement online, many believed it would be grounds for immediate dismissal from his position. However, instead of firing or punishing him, the administration insisted he did nothing wrong.
The words of Irami Osei-Frimpong, a teaching assistant at the University of Georgia (UGA), have caused alarm among both students and faculty. Osei-Frimpong has been vocal in his belief that racial inequality is at the core of discrepancies within minority communities. He has gone further to suggest that “some white people may have to die for black communities to be made whole in this struggle to advance to freedom” and compared southern whites to “autistic kids” and “sociopaths.”
This inflammatory rhetoric was deemed so extreme by Facebook that it banned him from its platform after his post demanding that “we have to dismantle the institutions that make crappy white people.”
Rather than reprimanding or denouncing this demagoguery, UGA administrators defended its content. A letter endorsed by nine faculty members — including professors, teaching assistants, and administrators — was presented directly to President Jere Morehead. It condemned those who oppose Osei-Frimpong’s views which call for the death of white people as “racists” without even engaging with them on the issues.
This not only failed to address any real concerns but also placed UGA firmly behind this teacher’s comments.
Donors began threatening retaliation against UGA if it failed to take action against Osei-Frimpong’s racist stance; this seemed to get through where appeals based solely on morality had not done so before.
Belatedly aware of potential backlash from benefactors, UGA announced it would investigate what actions could be taken legally while maintaining adherence with First Amendment laws – although critics maintain this statement appears more like an attempt at damage control than genuine concern about racism on campus.
It is worrying when universities fail in their duty towards tackling racism head-on.
