'Absolutely delicious': Princeton president wrote that racism is 'embedded' at the university, so the Dept. of Education will investigate (and HELLO BACKFIRE!)

Doug P. | 3:42 PM on September 17, 2020

At the beginning of this month, in a letter to the “Princeton community,” university president Christopher Eisgruber wrote that “systemic racism at Princeton and beyond” needs to be addressed:

In June, I wrote to you as America entered a profound national reckoning with racism. That reckoning is at once painful, because the harms done by systemic racism have been exposed so starkly, and promising, because we are seeing widespread and urgent desire to take action to achieve a more just society.

With that goal in mind, I charged my Cabinet in June to develop plans to combat systemic racism at Princeton and beyond. In my letter, I invited suggestions from all of you, and many individuals and groups responded. I am grateful for your input, and I write now with an update about our progress.
[…]
Racism and the damage it does to people of color nevertheless persist at Princeton as in our society, sometimes by conscious intention but more often through unexamined assumptions and stereotypes, ignorance or insensitivity, and the systemic legacy of past decisions and policies.

Now it looks as if somebody might have stepped on his own “systemic racism” rake:

The Education Department just informed Princeton that it's under formal investigation following the president's declaration that racism is "embedded" in the university. If true, that would violate the Civil Rights Act, rendering it ineligible for federal $.https://t.co/CIJS0fDzXE

— Tiana Lowe (@TianaTheFirst) September 17, 2020

D’OH!

In response to the President of Princeton declaring the school to be racist, the Department of Education will investigate (educations that racially discriminate violate the 1964 Civil Rights Act) https://t.co/H3GbatsRk0

— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) September 17, 2020