Beyoncé scholar investigated for incendiary political statements has Twitter account restored

To get this out of the way right up front: yes, Twitchy is a conservative site, founded by a conservative and written for a mostly conservative audience. But now that the New York Times, Facebook, and Twitter are all trying to recalibrate following a presidential election that caught them all off guard, things are getting even messier than they were before.

We’ve been tempted to write about Kevin Allred, Rutgers’ “Beyoncé Professor” before, but things just got serious after his post-election tweets landed him in serious trouble.

Yes, he’s a white man who teaches an American Studies course at Rutgers called, “Politicizing Beyoncé.” Yes, he looks like this:

This is the Professor of Beyonce Studies from Rutgers. (That is a real thing. I am not joking.)

More like Professor of Appropriation. pic.twitter.com/d3GWAEErJS

— Meowski Catovitch (@catovitch) November 17, 2016

Beyoncé professor. Professor. He teaches Beyoncé. Beyoncé professor. Of Beyoncé. pic.twitter.com/JmNIKJkytZ

— Alejandro Argandona (@Toshi_TNE) November 17, 2016

Here’s another shocker: he’s a fan of Beyoncé, but not so much a fan of Donald Trump, or Donald Trump fans. That was made apparent in a tweet that didn’t sit well with the folks at Twitter in particular:

That’s some true douchebaggery on display, but did it necessitate everything that followed? We’ll let Allred’s follow-up tweets speak for themselves for a bit. (Some have been omitted for space concerns.)

NYPD just came to my house bc Rutgers Police told them i'm a threat based on political statements i've made on campus and on twitter.

— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016

they've forced me to now undergo a psychiatric evaluation at the hospital. they brought me by ambulance tho i'm not under arrest technically

— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016

We’ll interject only to say that question shouldn’t be a rhetorical one; there are plenty of conservatives available to answer it, though probably not so many in a class on black feminism and progressive social change. Pro tip, though: Don’t buy whatever you might have seen in Katie Couric’s anti-gun “documentary.”

THAT IS WHAT THEY DEEMED A THREAT ENOUGH TO SEND POLICE FROM 2 DIFF STATES AFTER ME & FORCE ME INTO A PSYCH HOSPITAL. wow. ?

— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016

https://twitter.com/KevinAllred/status/798752589860851712

jesus fucking christ. not the way i thought my night would go. also not that bad comparatively. but i'm not intimidated. i won't be.

— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016

now more than ever it's important to fight back, make your voices heard, push for change in WHATEVER way you can. cuz Trump wants us silent.

— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016

& the new regime will go to even greater lengths to silence us. Trump has already proved it true before taking office. let's not let him.

— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016

& i should also say, at this point i'm completely fine. this is not nearly even comparable to what others go through daily. but still scary

— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016

i'm a white man&privileges allow me to navigate this much easier than many others. just wanted to share experience bc we'll only see more

— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016

The next day …

so now i haven't slept in 24 hours thanks to police intimidation & i'm headed back to teach my classes today. BUT I'M THE PROBLEM SOMEHOW? ?

— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016

oh right. bc education is what scares the right the most. bc teaching folks to think for themselves is their ultimate kryptonite.

— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016

Wow … that really isn’t a fair accusation to level at conservatives at all. The right-wing push for school choice is so that parents have a chance to free their children from indoctrination and pursue the education they deserve.

YES, my 2nd amendment tweet was incendiary but completely w/in free speech. ZERO direct threat involved. posed as a rhetorical question.

— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016

TWITTER JUST SUSPENDED MY ACCOUNT!!!! TO GET IT BACK THEY MADE ME DELETE ONE OF THE TWEETS IN QUESTION. ?

— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016

that tweet was not a threat. it was a hyperbolic question posed to show a double standard-look at context/tone of most every tweet i make.

— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016

Again, Twitter is among many social media outlets in need of recalibration. Twitchy has compiled a number of explicit death threats over the years that have managed to escape consequences, while long-time and respected users like Instapundit, himself an educator, are finding themselves suspended and investigated.

i don't want a gun. i don't have a gun. i don't like guns. if anyone had read any of my TL for context, you might see all that…

— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 17, 2016

GOD, white people's feelings are so fragile. (we all know this and everyone's been saying it for decades, but jesus…)

— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 17, 2016

like…the only way Trump supporters understand things is through the literal word itself — no context, organization, tone, etc.

— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 17, 2016

Now, now … the mainstream media’s speciality in its coverage of Trump was taking quotes out of context, like that time he lashed out at a baby during a rally or called veterans with PTSD “weak.”

look. this is not my 1st white nationalist/racist twitter rodeo. i know what you all do. & you only want do it more now cuz of Trump. ok. pic.twitter.com/5DqRKWhKi5

— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 17, 2016

Let’s make a deal; there’s no way in hell we’re going to sign up for a university-level course on progressive social change, with Beyoncé providing the soundtrack. But since we’ve heard Allred’s side of the story, we’d ask he to complete as a reading assignment this excellent analysis from Ken White.

True Threats v. Protected Speech, Post Election Edition https://t.co/YgBauMG6Vu

— IWantNothingHat (@Popehat) November 16, 2016

White writes:

I think that the tweets should be protected, embedded as they are in a figurative expression of rage. But Allred’s an asshole. If I were one of his co-workers, or students, I would be a little worried about being around him, because I wouldn’t be sure that these are hyperbole. If I were his employer, I’d spend the whole day dealing with the fallout and trying to weigh risk and liability and the fears of other employees.

Allred might not agree with the whole asshole part, but we’d guess he’s on board with this:

“Reasonable person” analysis tends to discredit threats from people like … Allred and credit threats from people who are offensively dark, poor, incarcerated, or unbalanced in a way that does not lead to tenure. That’s the way the system works. Sorry, no refunds.

Honestly: we might not all have studied at Rutgers, but we conservatives are generally reasonable people once you get to know us — that is, if you bother to get to know us.

Pump those brakes first, though.