NEW YORK CITY — Hunter College has placed a professor on leave after they were caught allegedly making racist comments during a Zoom meeting last week.
“They’re too dumb to know they’re in a bad school. Apparently, Martin Luther King said it, like, if you train a Black person well enough, they’ll know to use the back. You don’t have to tell them anymore,” Friedman said.
The video quickly spread on social media and Friedman faced immediate backlash.
Hunter President Nancy Cantor announced the suspension in a statement posted on the school’s website on Wednesday.
She said the “abhorrent remarks” were heard coming from a district parent who also is a Hunter employee.
“As I shared earlier, we are investigating this matter under the university’s applicable conduct and nondiscrimination policies. Pending the outcome of our investigation, the employee has been placed on leave.”
Friedman, who teaches Biological Sciences at Hunter, told West Side Rag, that she was trying to “explain the concept of system racism by referencing a historical example.”
“Due to an in advertent unmute, part of that conversation was captured. My remarks were not directed at the student speaker, and they do not reflect my beliefs or values. Regardless of context, my words were wrong and caused real harm. I take full responsibility for their impact, and I am deeply sorry.”
This painful incident unfolded at a meeting where Black History Month was being celebrated and the pernicious and enduring effects of anti-Black systemic racism were being discussed, especially with regard to the role of educational institutions in addressing them. Hunter has long embraced such a role, which requires constant vigilance to remain attentive and responsive to the ways in which we continually draw and redraw discriminatory social lines,” Cantor added.
“With that in mind, Provost Manoj Pardasani, Chief Diversity Officer Dean John Rose, Vice President of Student Affairs Eija Ayravainen, and I have begun reaching out to constituencies across campus to listen, learn, and discuss ways that we can continue striving together to make Hunter the fully inclusive educational environment we aspire for it to be, where all will feel welcome and can thrive.”
Hunter College has not disclosed a timeline for its investigation.