Jason Arday, celebrated as the youngest Black professor in Cambridge University's history

cawacko said:
For context, in case you're not familiar with McWhorter, he's a black intellectual who has spent decades in academia. That doesn't make him above reproach but he's not speaking as some outsider.

While he came down hard on Arday personally, his basic position is that some black scholars are rewarded for their advocacy and identity and not held to the same intellectual standards as others. He has spoken about his own experiences where (white) colleagues have treated him differently for being black.

Even after all the plagiarism and lies of Arday were exposed there were still people in academia supporting him, they could not get past the identity part.
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My issue with McWhorter is his comments, at least the ones i have heard, and i have heard a lot, tend to run in one direction only as you highlight above. And while that can be true the converse is also true. Black scholars and professionals are constantly denigrated and downgraded for their identity and held to a much higher standard before getting the same opportunities as white colleagues. There resumes often have to be much greater and even still many will claim DEI and that they do not deserve the job (ie, Ketanji Brown Jackson who when assessed by those who look at the CV's of SC nominees was found to have one of the deepest).
 
QP! said:
My issue with McWhorter is his comments, at least the ones i have heard, and i have heard a lot, tend to run in one direction only as you highlight above. And while that can be true the converse is also true. Black scholars and professionals are constantly denigrated and downgraded for their identity and held to a much higher standard before getting the same opportunities as white colleagues. There resumes often have to be much greater and even still many will claim DEI and that they do not deserve the job (ie, Ketanji Brown Jackson who when assessed by those who look at the CV's of SC nominees was found to have one of the deepest).
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I'll offer several responses since I've read multiple books of his and listen to him regularly as a guest on Glen Loury's podcast. McWhorter will never say racism doesn't exist. Nor will he say what has happened in the past has no bearing on today.

What he will talk about is that excessive dwelling on the past at a certain point begins to take away agency from black people today in terms of moving forward. That can create an almost permanent victim mindset.

I've not heard him speak against the idea that having more black people in higher levels of academia is in and of itself a bad thing. What he's spoken to is what he said he's experienced, others (white people) thinking he is not at their same intellectual level because he is black. That's a different type of bigotry and racism if you want to call it that.

And it manifested itself in this Arday situation.
 
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