A lecturer at the University of Cambridge ignited a social media firestorm after posting inflammatory tweets attacking “whiteness” and claiming “white lives don’t matter,” and was ultimately defended by the university.
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.
Abolish whiteness
— Priyamvada Gopal (@PriyamvadaGopal) June 23, 2020
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 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.
— Cambridge University (@Cambridge_Uni) June 24, 2020
Throughout the incident, social media users suggested a double standard between black users and white users.
One person complained to Twitter, writing “@TwitterSupport this woman is dehumanizing an entire group of people based on the color of their skin. This is against the terms of service and must be removed immediately.”
Another person remarked, “This is an extremely ignorant post and the best time to delete it was the minute it was posted.”
https://twitter.com/stamford_dan/status/1275323587172368384
“No wonder Cambridge’s place in the world league tables is in absolute freefall. In the last five years it has gone from 2nd to 7th. It’s easy to see why with geniuses like this gracing the halls,” commented a third person.
No wonder Cambridge's place in the world league tables is in absolute freefall. In the last five years it has gone from 2nd to 7th. It's easy to see why with geniuses like this gracing the halls.
— Hieronymus Bougainville-Scott (@HieronymusScott) June 23, 2020
Several top universities have become embroiled in a variety of scandals regarding racism against white people. Most notably, Harvard Magazine once ran an article on a piece of work arguing for the abolition of the white race.
