A Hunter College associate professor was placed on leave after making racist remarks at an online school council meeting.
The employee making the deplorable statements was Allyson Friedman, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and parent of a district student.
During the school meeting, Friedman said, “They’re just too dumb to know they’re in a bad school. I mean, apparently Martin Luther King said it, like if you train a Black person well enough, they’ll know to use the back, you don’t have to tell them anymore.”
Saying this at any time is an insult to the intelligence of African Americans.
With multiple people of color present in the video conference call, these remarks are even more harmful during Black History Month. Friedman chose to use those heinous words to belittle an entire race.
She put out her own statement, saying that she was just “trying to explain the concept of systemic racism” to her child, “by referencing an example of an obviously racist trope.”
Based on the words caught on her mic, this is incredibly unlikely. These words do not sound like they are coming from a mother trying to educate her child, but rather a bigot voicing her closeted racism.
Friedman’s return to Hunter College would create an uncomfortable learning environment.
It is unreasonable for students of color to enroll in a class taught by this professor. What message would CUNY be sending to its students and to NYC, if the school forced students to accept this behavior from a professor without receiving an adequate punishment?
Firing her is a necessary move. Not doing so creates a precedent that CUNY condones these words and will not stand up to future, escalating transgressions.
Hunter College President and Professor and Psychology Nancy Cantor did state that the school is “investigating this matter under the university’s applicable conduct and nondiscrimination policies,” rightfully calling the remarks as “abhorrent”.
CUNY’s leaders must send a strong message that this behavior must not and will not be tolerated.
