Last Updated on June 29, 2020
The newly minted University of Cambridge who received social media backlash following her tweets claiming “white lives don’t matter” and demanding society “abolish whiteness” is facing new criticism for a number of older tweets.
Priyamvada Gopal, originally a lecturer at Cambridge, was promoted hours after igniting a social media firestorm when she tweeted “white lives don’t matter.” Thousands of people reacted to the tweets, petitioned for her sacking, and some even sent death threats.
In the latest controversial tweet, Gopal wrote in 2019, “I resist urges to kneecap white men every day. So, no **I** am the hero.”
Just in case you accidentally hit the delete button. You're welcome #solidarity pic.twitter.com/nd3ZXIZJIw
— Re-Enlightenment (@REnlightenment) June 29, 2020
Gopal was responding to a reply on one of her own threads where she spoke about Guardian columnist Gary Younge by another user, who wrote, “Indeed, that was the first thing I noticed. I was once robbed at gun point, and none of my friends asked that. But then they are not racist bastards. FYI, he was white and with blue eyes. Had an urge to kill blue-eyed lads for a week or so. but it passed. I am a hero.”
https://twitter.com/AlessandraAster/status/1093130027879813122
Several people tagged the university’s Twitter accounts to conduct a further investigation after her promotion. Initially, the university defend the English Faculty lecturer’s tweets as “freedom of expression.”
https://twitter.com/leaveme_4lone/status/1277600340876169221
Another social media user spoke about her father’s attendance at the university and his intention to stop supporting the university after its promotion of the controversial figure.
“@Cambridge_Uni my dad’s an alumni. He won’t be giving you a penny ever again after seeing the racist staff you employ. This isn’t even an isolated instance, it’s a pattern of behaviour,” she tweeted.
On the original firestorm, elevating Professor Gopal to infamy, National File reported:
English faculty member Priyamvada Gopal tweeted, “I’ll say it again. White Lives Don’t Matter. As white lives,” at a time the slogan “White Lives Matter” has been considered to be a racist phrase by the progressive establishment.
Gopal continued by tweeting “abolish whiteness,” adding fuel to the fire which saw thousands of engagements as a result of the tweet.
Cambridge published a statement in defense of Gopal after the lecturer was met with backlash on social media, and a petition calling for her removal.
“The University defends the right of its academics to express their own lawful opinions which others might find controversial and deplores in the strongest terms abuse and personal attacks. These attacks are totally unacceptable and must cease,” the Cambridge University account tweeted.
Throughout the incident, social media users suggested a double standard between black users and white users.
Several universities have been placed under the microscope as many people have expressed concerns over anti-white and radical left-wing positions, potentially alienating student in favor of ideology.