Rutgers University has reversed its earlier decision to sanction a professor who said he hates "white people" in a social media rant he claimed was satire.
James Livingston, a tenured history professor, said the comments he posted on Facebook in May were "satirical" criticism of white gentrification in Harlem. Supporters said the university's decision that he violated school policy had threatened the right of professors to speak freely as private citizens.
“I’m relieved that my right to free speech and my academic freedom have been validated by this retraction,” Livingston said in a statement Thursday.
The controversy flared after Livingston wrote on Facebook on May 31 that he’d come from a Harlem burger restaurant that was “overrun with little Caucasian a-holes."
OK, officially, I now hate white people,” wrote Livingston. “I am a white people, for God’s sake, but can we keep them—us—us out of my neighborhood?”
The comments were widely shared on social media and covered by local and national news media. Members of the public complained to Rutgers, prompting an Office of Employment Equity investigation.
The university concluded that Livingston violated its discrimination and harassment policy. But on Wednesday, officials notified the professor that it had reversed the decision, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a free-speech organization that represented him in the matter.
FIRE is pleased that Rutgers did the right thing and reversed the charge of racial discrimination against Professor Livingston,” said Marieke Tuthill Beck-Coon, FIRE’s director of litigation. “Any other result would have undermined the free speech and academic freedom rights of all Rutgers faculty members.”
A Rutgers spokesperson declined to say anything Thursday, saying the university does not comment on personnel matters.
James Livingston, a tenured history professor, said the comments he posted on Facebook in May were "satirical" criticism of white gentrification in Harlem. Supporters said the university's decision that he violated school policy had threatened the right of professors to speak freely as private citizens.
“I’m relieved that my right to free speech and my academic freedom have been validated by this retraction,” Livingston said in a statement Thursday.
The controversy flared after Livingston wrote on Facebook on May 31 that he’d come from a Harlem burger restaurant that was “overrun with little Caucasian a-holes."
OK, officially, I now hate white people,” wrote Livingston. “I am a white people, for God’s sake, but can we keep them—us—us out of my neighborhood?”
The comments were widely shared on social media and covered by local and national news media. Members of the public complained to Rutgers, prompting an Office of Employment Equity investigation.
The university concluded that Livingston violated its discrimination and harassment policy. But on Wednesday, officials notified the professor that it had reversed the decision, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a free-speech organization that represented him in the matter.
FIRE is pleased that Rutgers did the right thing and reversed the charge of racial discrimination against Professor Livingston,” said Marieke Tuthill Beck-Coon, FIRE’s director of litigation. “Any other result would have undermined the free speech and academic freedom rights of all Rutgers faculty members.”
A Rutgers spokesperson declined to say anything Thursday, saying the university does not comment on personnel matters.
