After Ibram Kendi’s “anti-racist” centre at Boston University faced layoffs, readers of The New York Times writer Michelle Goldberg brought her to task for defending the “anti-racist” activist.
Goldberg made an effort to defend Kendi by claiming that the failure of the Boston University Centre for Anti-Racist Research was due to a “failed funding model,” rather than Kendi’s own inadequacies. Goldberg’s attempt proved unsuccessful.
“It’s almost impossible to fault right-wing supporters for their glee; Kendi’s errors worked right into their favour.” Goldberg argued that “for the rest of us, it’s important to understand that the apparent breakdown of the centre is more the result of a failed funding model than a failed ideology.” “It exemplifies the lamentable tendency among donors with a left-leaning ideology to chase fads and celebrities rather than build sustainable institutions.”
The people who read Goldberg’s article were not convinced by her explanation and stated that it is not just conservatives who are against Kendi’s opinions.
One individual is quoted as saying, “It’s exactly the opposite,” in Hot Air. “This isn’t only a problem with the way the implementation was done. The concepts that Kendi presents do not convince those of us who identify with the center-left, and even many liberals find them unconvincing. Except for certain individuals, such as Michelle’s colleague John McWhorter, we don’t make a big deal out of them because we’re afraid of offending others or because we’re nice. It is not indicative of opinions held by a larger population to characterise the situation as though only people on the political right disagree with the policy solutions he advocates.
An individual who resides in New York remarked in the comment section that Kendi is “a false prophet of the most damaging kind.” “As someone who studied critical race theory in the 1990s in law school guided by actual intellects, I’m still floored that people fell for his grift for as long as they have. I’m still floored that people fell for his grift for as long as they have. He has been more detrimental to the theory than beneficial. Anyone who asserts that someone is a racist simply because they disagree with some aspect of their philosophy is being completely dishonest. His “solution” of creating a federal department of anti-racism that would be managed by people he had educated himself was authoritarianism at its worst.
Another New Yorker emailed Michelle, saying, “no, it’s not simply a failed funding model.” It is a flawed collection of concepts, and perhaps it is the realisation that the religious model (consisting of a collection of unprovable beliefs, evildoers, victims, and martyrs, among other things) is not an excellent foundation for an academic centre. The liberals and moderates in our society have had some time to consider all of this and come up with a sensible response, and the majority of the time, that answer is “No.”
“Goldberg makes it way too easy for Kendi to get out of trouble. An individual living in California penned in a letter that “surely it is an indictment of the donors: fools and their money are soon parted.” However, the fact that Boston University was willing to accept such a large sum of money with such little control is a mark against the university. However, the majority of it is an accusation against Kendi. The work of Kendi, in the opinion of many of us who are concerned about the fundamental issues, is devoid of any meaningful intellectual content. It would appear that he is equally skilled at the management of finances and of an organisation as he is at writing.
According to the site, a third person said that Kendi’s “juvenile ideas” were to blame for the damage that was done to a person’s psychology.
“One of the reasons why progressives aren’t as good at coordinating as conservatives are is because of their propensity to cry racism or Tom-ism at those who questioned the academic quality of Kendi’s work. Insults and inciting unnecessary fear won’t get you any serious support. In addition, Kendi’s immature notions contradict the fundamental principles of cognitive behavioural therapy, which state that one should steer clear of black-and-white thinking, steer clear of catastrophizing, and accept individual agency. In the meantime, Kendi is having a great time and laughing all the way to the bank.
According to Hot Air, one mother expressed her “horrification” about Kendi’s “cancellation-style measures” for primary school-aged children who are purportedly predisposed to showing “racist behaviour.”
“A few years ago, Dr. Kendi gave a talk at the elementary school where my children were enrolled. I listened in (everything was on Zoom), and the things that I heard appalled me. He voiced his support for punitive disciplinary actions, such as expulsion, being taken against young children who exhibited ‘racist behaviour.’ I am aware that this kind of behaviour can be upsetting, but I also believe that it is neurotypically normal, and even seductive, for some young children to test the limits of acceptable behaviour in order to see what the consequences would be. It is obvious that this kind of behaviour needs to be addressed, but cancelling them is not the solution.
According to the publication Hot Air, a local of San Francisco referred to Kendi as a “embarrassing narcissist” and a “deeply flawed reasoner.”
“In a nutshell, Kendi wants a dictatorial body to have unlimited control over our laws and public authorities. This organisation would be formed of “officially qualified specialists on racism,” which is another way of saying people much like Kendi. Why is it that nobody ever brings up this point? according to the publication, another author stated.
In a statement released on Friday, Kendi broke his silence over the layoffs at the “Anti-Racism Centre” by stating that he had made the difficult decision to lay off a large number of staff members “to ensure our long-term sustainability and impact.”
“In order to ensure the Centre for Antiracist Research’s long-term viability and influence, I was forced to make the most difficult decision of my professional life and let go of a number of outstanding and dedicated staff members at the BU Centre for Antiracist Research. “We are doing everything in our power to assist our affected coworkers during this challenging period of transition, and we welcome Boston University’s investigation into the Center’s operations,” Kendi stated.
