Leading black leftist scholars are not blaming the resignation of Harvard University President Claudine Gay on her dozens of instances of plagiarism recently exposed, nor the outrage over her apathy for Jew hatred.<\/p>\n
No, it’s racism’s fault.<\/p>\n
“Racist mobs won’t stop until they topple all Black people from positions of power and influence who are not reinforcing the structure of racism,” Boston University Professor Ibram X. Kendi posted<\/a> on X on Tuesday in the wake of news that Gay was stepping down from her leadership position at the Ivy League institution.<\/p>\n “What these racist mobs are doing should be obvious to any reporter who cares about truth or justice as opposed to conflicts and clicks.”<\/p>\n Critical race theory and journalism scholar Nikole Hannah-Jones responded to the news by posting<\/a> on X: “Let\u2019s be real. This is an extension of what happened to me at UNC, and it is a glimpse into the future to come. Academic freedom is under attack. Racial justice programs are under attack. Black women will be made to pay. Our so-called allies too often lack any real courage.”<\/p>\n Janai Nelson, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, argued on the social media platform that criticisms of Gay that led to her resignation were really about fomenting “hate.”<\/p>\n “Attacks against Claudine Gay have been unrelenting & the biases unmasked. Her resignation on the heels of Liz Magill’s set dangerous precedent in the academy for political witch hunts. The project isn’t to thwart hate but to foment it thru vicious takedowns. This protects no one,” she posted<\/a>.<\/p>\n Duke University adjunct instructor Eric Deggans, who teaches in the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy, cited her race as the driving force behind Gay’s dethroning.<\/p>\n “The intimidation is the point,” Deggans posted<\/a> Tuesday on X. “Will the next president at Harvard stand for diversity? Will that person be female? Will that person be Black? If not, they have forced several steps back. And everyone across the school gets the message.”<\/p>\n Kimberl\u00e9 Crenshaw, the scholar who famously coined the critical race theory term “intersectionality,” reposted<\/a> an argument on X on Tuesday that stated: “Whatever one\u2019s feelings about Gay, to not see this as a victory for the far right, for crowing racists, and for the new McCarthyism aimed at ideologically cleansing Higher Ed, is to be willfully blind.”<\/p>\n MORE: Claudine Gay will resign as Harvard president<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n IMAGE: Aspen Institute<\/p>\n