Here’s some news from Pomona College, a school in Claremont, Calif., that any hiring managers reading this might want to take a moment to flag on any incoming resumes.
The Washington Times reports Wednesday that the college has, despite protests, hired a white woman as visiting professor of sociology, despite the fact that two highly qualified black women were competing for the same gig.
Pomona College hires white sociology professor despite student protests https://t.co/xSY61YugNZ
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) April 26, 2017
MORE INSANITY: Pomona College Students, Alumni Call For Professor's Termination https://t.co/izYi0pUqJb @ElliottRHams pic.twitter.com/wGzdF6WF3g
— The Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) April 23, 2017
Pomona College Students: Hiring White Prof an ‘Egregious’ Offense https://t.co/nVGmp8iNZd
— ❌Joe FreedomLover❌?????? (@JoeFreedomLove) April 26, 2017
A collective of more than 100 students, faculty members, and alumni signed a letter demanding that Pomona College rescind the offer, citing Alice Goffman’s “dubious reputation” and her “hyper-criminalization of Black men, and hyper-sexualization of Black women.”
Hyper-criminalization? That rings a bell … something about another white woman (and presidential candidate) having once advocated for a crackdown on “superpredators” or something.
Seeing how only the safety of conservative speakers can be assured on today’s college campuses, 128 names were redacted from the letter “for individual safety in recognition of the violence inflicted on communities of color by various publications, namely the Claremont Independent.”
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Here’s Goffman, pictured alongside a copy of her book, which no less than Cornell West called “the best treatment I know of the wretched underside of neo-liberal capitalist America.” Forget the book, though; check out the blinding whiteness on display in her publicity photos and then decide if she’s qualified to teach sociology.
https://twitter.com/FashyFit/status/857335885263720454
It’s not just that she’s white. On second thought, that’s pretty much it.
This hire does not enhance a culture of inquiry and understanding on campus as we navigate a tumultuous time in our nation’s history; on the contrary, it boasts the framework that white women can theorize about and profit from Black lives while giving no room for Black academics to claim scholarship regarding their own lived experiences.
Among the collective’s demands, besides the termination of Goffman’s contract, is a meeting with administrators to discuss the undemocratic hiring process that surely will drive students from the sociology department. You can’t just call yourself a safe space and then expect students to learn from a teacher whose skin color doesn’t match theirs.
“Students need authentic mentors,” writes the collective. “The hiring of Alice Goffman has already, and will continue to discourage students of color, and especially women of color, from entering the Sociology Department and academia for years to come.”
Those students were castigated for their extreme, racist views, right? ???
— Tweetophon (@Tweetophon) April 26, 2017
The date they demanded a meeting was today, so we’ll have to check back to see just how far the school caves to demands from students on the racial makeup of its faculty.
Editor’s note: We’ve removed a tweet that was added inadvertently.
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Related:
Third World Liberation Front begins campus hunger strike, demands $8 million for ethnic studies https://t.co/fjFajYPyUM
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) May 3, 2016
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