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UNAPOLOGETIC BLACK OP-ED
Why They Want to Silence Harvard's First Black Woman President
They can't stand to see a Black woman in a position of power
Claudine Gay, the first Black person to become president of Harvard University, may have broken a glass ceiling, but it's clear the shards are coming down hard and fast. After expressing her opinion at a congressional hearing, critics seem determined to rip her career and reputation to shreds. And while they may claim to have legitimate grievances, it's clear racism and misogynoir are the true culprits here.
Context is key. When Congress invited Gay and other leaders in academia to testify about antisemitism on college campuses and universities, they did so in an inquisition-style effort to pressure scholars to crack down on student groups showing solidarity with Palestinians, conflating any opposition to Israeli's policies as antisemitic. Why else center the hearing on the rise of antisemitism targeting Jewish people and conveniently ignore the rise of Islamaphobia impacting Palestinians? So, when Claudine Gay stepped into the halls of Congress to testify, she was already walking into a lion's den. Conservative senators, in particular, had no plans of having a good-faith discussion about antisemitism with Harvard's first Black president.
