{"id":148129,"date":"2026-02-28T04:15:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T04:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/148129\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T04:15:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T04:15:17","slug":"white-hunter-college-professor-caught-making-racist-comments-on-hot-mic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/148129\/","title":{"rendered":"White Hunter College Professor Caught Making Racist Comments on Hot Mic"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Updated on 02\/27\/2026 @ 5:00 p.m.)<\/p>\n

New York City students and community members gathered via Zoom for what was supposed to be a District 3 Community Education Council meeting about the city\u2019s plan to shut down several schools on Manhattan\u2019s West Side. The discussion instead took a horrific\u2013 and racist \u2014 turn <\/a>after one professor forgot to mute her mic. Now, she\u2019s facing the music. <\/p>\n

Allyson Friedman, who worked as an associate professor at Hunter College in the state, was placed on leave amid an ongoing investigation into comments made during a recent Zoom meeting. She was one of many educators logged on to hear from students about potentially closing several schools, Newsweek reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One unidentified Black middle schooler stood before the council to give an emotional testimony about why she doesn\u2019t want her school to shut down. But her moment was quickly overshadowed when Friedman unknowingly interrupted her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re too dumb to know they\u2019re in a bad school,\u201d the college professor said during the Feb. 10 meeting. In a clip taken<\/a> from the Zoom session, you can see students and staff first sharing confused looks. Then, Friedman\u2019s unmuted mic continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you train a Black person well enough, they\u2019ll know to use the back,\u201d she said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to tell them anymore.\u201d According to\u00a0The New York Times<\/a>, the professor was referencing Superintendent Dr. Reginald Higgins \u2014 a Black man \u2014 who spoke earlier during the call.<\/p>\n

Ironically, Higgins\u2019 words come from a quote by Carter G. Woodson, the father of Black History Month. In his 1933 book, \u201cThe Mis-education of the Negro<\/a>,\u201d Woodson explained how the indoctrination of enslaved people were key to the success of chattel slavery.<\/p>\n

\"\"Screenshot from YouTube<\/p>\n

He wrote,<\/a> \u201cIf you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fast forward to Feb. 10 when Woodson\u2019s words were taken out of context. Friedman\u2019s hot mic moment was quickly met with dropped jaws and wide eyes from other Zoom participants. One person jumped in to shut her down. <\/p>\n

\u201cAllyson Friedman, what you\u2019re saying is absolutely hearable here,\u201d the person was heard saying. \u201cYou gotta stop.\u201d After a long and awkward pause, the meeting continued with no more interruptions.<\/p>\n

Friedman later told the Times she was simply trying to \u201cexplain the concept of systemic racism\u201d to her child, who was apparently also in the room with her. \u201cMy complete comments make clear these abhorrent views are not my own, nor were they directed at any student or group,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cI fully support these courageous students in their efforts to stop school closures.\u201d<\/p>\n

She apologized for the impact her remarks made on participants in the Zoom call. \u201cHowever, I recognize these comments caused harm and pain, while that was not my intent I do truly apologize,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n

Hunter College President Nancy Cantor later acknowledged Friedman\u2019s words in the context of Black History Month. \u201cThis 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,\u201d Cantor said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHunter 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,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Straight From \"The<\/p>\n

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