A statement from the Chancellor’s Office at the University of California Berkeley on the recent murder of a student has drawn criticism after trivializing the shooting in light of the “stress, grief and anxiety” of those grieving over “George Floyd, Riah Milton, and other Black Americans.”
Seth Smith, an economics and history major who was described as brilliant and kind by friends and family, was shot to death near a bus stop while taking a late-night walk.
“Somebody literally walked up to him and put a gun to the back of his head and shot him and we don’t know why,” said Smith’s mother, Michelle.
Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ sent a statement to the student community Monday in which she said, “It is important to know that individuals may express their grief differently and we need to respect the different ways people react and support each other in the days and weeks ahead.”
“Many of you may have had a close relationship with Seth and are feeling a sense of loss and disbelief. Others, like many of us, are experiencing stress, grief and anxiety related to the coronavirus pandemic and the recent murders of George Floyd, Riah Milton, and other Black Americans,” Christ’s statement said.
The insensitivity of the statement was met with backlash on social media.
This response from the Chancellor of the University of California Berkeley is fucking horrific
Our country is ruled by monstershttps://t.co/W5rX5JmHoX pic.twitter.com/Pee38XnDGs
— Spotted Toad (@toad_spotted) June 25, 2020
that is appalling. people can't even make basic gestures of humanity to the grieving without geniflecting before the ideology
— Ed West (@edwest) June 25, 2020
Actually, imagine being the parent of any UC student right now, and wondering whether their child’s brutal murder might be met with the same cynical nod toward utterly unrelated political issues
— Joseph K. (@fxxfy) June 25, 2020
In another instance of tone-deaf political virtue signalling from a respected university, Cambridge University defended a racist lecturer who went on Twitter diatribes complaining about white people and saying “White Lives Don’t Matter”:
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.
The public image of many formerly prestigious institutions of higher learning is rapidly declining, as they continue to prioritize left-wing race theory over productive education.
