{"id":134847,"date":"2023-10-03T11:29:58","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T15:29:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=134847"},"modified":"2023-12-20T06:33:17","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T11:33:17","slug":"kendi-again-cites-racist-criticism-of-his-failing-think-tank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/kendi-again-cites-racist-criticism-of-his-failing-think-tank\/","title":{"rendered":"Kendi again cites \u2018racist\u2019 criticism of his failing think tank"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cites ‘racist’ idea about ‘corrupt’ black leaders<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Ibram Kendi continues to blame \u201cracist\u201d criticism of his Center for Antiracist Research.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot everyone wants to build an antiracist society; that is clear,\u201d Professor Kendi told the Boston University student newspaper when asked if coverage of the downfall of his center has been \u201cfair.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been disappointed in journalists who report criticisms of a Black leader without asking for evidence to substantiate those allegations,\u201d he told<\/a> The Daily Free Press<\/em>. \u201cRacist ideas about a corrupt Black leader running a dysfunctional or toxic organization are so ingrained that reporters don\u2019t feel the need for evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

He used similar themes to what he wrote<\/a> on X on Sep. 27. He acknowledged \u201cmissteps\u201d but also stated that \u201c[l]eaders of color and women leaders are often held to different standards\u201d and called his center\u2019s work \u201ccrucial\u201d for \u201cantiracist\u201d efforts.<\/p>\n

One of the primary sources of evidence for the \u201ctoxic\u201d accusations came from Saida Grundy<\/a>, a black professor at Boston University.<\/p>\n

The College Fix<\/em> has also frequently<\/a> sought information from Kendi\u2019s team and colleagues about the work of the center, reaching out dozens of times for just three articles alone, often to be met with no answers.<\/p>\n

His own university is currently investigating his center for mismanagement of funds and for allegations of a toxic workplace.<\/p>\n

He gave a similar answer when the student newspaper asked him about the high turnover rate. \u201cWhen explaining turnover rates of white-led organizations, people inside and outside the organization usually point to larger structural factors,\u201d Kendi said. \u201cWhen explaining turnover rates of Black-led organizations, people inside and outside the organization usually point to bad leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kendi also continued to cite a tracker on COVID and racial data, despite all the work being completed by The Atlantic<\/em> and a team of volunteers, as an accomplishment.<\/p>\n

He said in the interview:<\/p>\n

Early in the pandemic, the Center partnered with the COVID Tracking Project on the COVID Racial Data Tracker<\/a>, which emerged as a leading state-level tracker of racial disparity data for cases and deaths. We learned a lot about racial data collection and reporting from our work with the COVID Racial Data Tracker. We took that learning and produced a report<\/a> that called for its standardization and a nation-wide system of racial data collection and reporting. Also, all reports, briefings and trackers will be archived on the website and will continue to be available.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His center announced several weeks ago it had laid off about half of its workforce.<\/p>\n

It came just a few weeks after The Fix<\/em> reported<\/a> Kendi had not written an academic paper in the past four years but had written two children\u2019s books in the same time period.<\/p>\n

MORE:<\/strong> Diversity statements used to cull applicant pool<\/a><\/p>\n

IMAGE: Face the Nation\/YouTube<\/p>\n

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