Another prof. blasts whites on social media

Boston University Professor Saida Grundy has been the focus of recent controversy over public remarks towards white students, but one professor has made remarks that are even more extreme.

Memphis University professor Dr. Zandria Robinson has consistently directed Facebook and Twitter posts at white students and professors. In one November 2014 Facebook post, Dr. Robinson even threatened any white students who dared to say—or even think—that black students were given preferential treatment when applying to graduate schools.

“It is graduate school application season again and it has come to my attention—again—that some white students believe that students of color will simply get into graduate programs because they are racial or ethnic minorities,” Robinson’s post begins.

Robinson proceeds to denounce this as a “gotdamn [sic] lie,” before declaring that “[s]tudents of color applying to graduate schools are always already exceptional because of the various structural hurdles they leapt to get out of college, take the GRE and apply, etc.”

Robinson says applying to graduate school isn’t exceptional for white students “because they have white privilege.”

Most graduate schools, Robinson continued, will only give three spots to students of color, “if they [sic] radical.” According to Dr. Robinson, it is actually “mediocre and undeserving” white students who “are most likely taking a better equipped student of color’s spot.”

“SO DON’T YOU EVER LET ME HEAR TELL OF YOU PERPETUATING THESE RACIST LIES AGAIN. NOT EVEN IN YOUR HEAD. NOT EVEN IN JEST,” Robinson warned. “Because if you do I will come for you. And I will do so in public.”

Forty percent of the graduate students are either black or Hispanic in the Sociology Department at the University of Memphis.

In an April tweet Robinson declared shaming students as inappropriate and a characteristic of white educators.

“Some people, usually white people, think shaming students is an appropriate way to inspire classroom compliance,” Robinson wrote. “Resist the urge to shame.”

In a March, 2015 post on the blog Conditionally Accepted, Robinson dismissed most graduate programs as being located in “White Mayo Bumfuckery Township” or “Whiteheterolandia.”

Similarly, in a tweet that same month, she declared that she doesn’t want her daughter “ in school with snotty privileged whites.”

White academics appear to be a recurring target for Robinson’s criticism.

Robinson has also tweeted that “so much racist ass social science gets perpetuated, because reviewers themselves are racist as fuck. Because white.”

Similarly, in another tweet, Robinson accused white and older faculty members of having to “ lash out” because they lack the same skills “their POC [Person Of Color] and younger colleagues have gained.” In another tweet on the same day, Robinson declared “cool” to be a “ characteristic that old white men naturally can’t have.”

In a recent Facebook post, Robinson unequivocally sided with Grundy, declaring “white college aged males” a “problem population.”

“I stand with Saida because she is right,” Robinson wrote. “White students threaten us and their racist and sexist evaluations of us factor into our job security.”

Robinson also bragged in the Facebook post about how her “ TL [Timeline] makes [Saida’s] look like Billy Graham.”

Robinson also complained about the “microaggressive behavior” of her “white colleagues,” in the same Facebook post in which she defended Dr. Grundy’s comments.

According to the University of Memphis’ academic freedom policy “[faculty members] should remember that the public may judge the profession and the University by their utterances. Hence, faculty members should at all times strive to be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show respect for the opinions of others, and should make every effort to indicate that they do not speak for the University.”

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @peterjhasson