Ibram X. Kendi posted and then deleted a tweet promoting an article which stated that white college applicants pretend to be non-white in order to gain acceptance
Ibram X. Kendi posted and then deleted a tweet promoting an article which stated that white college applicants pretend to be non-white in order to gain acceptance – which his critics claim contradicts his own theories about white supremacy and ‘privilege.’
The controversial anti-racism author and Boston University professor tweeted a link to an article from The Hill.
‘More than a third of White students lied about their race on college applications, and about half of these applicants lied about being Native American,’ Kendi tweeted.
‘More than three-fourths of these students who lied about their race were accepted.’
The Hill story cited a survey by Intelligent which found that 34 percent of white students falsely claimed they were a racial minority.
Most of those students – 81 percent – said they lied in order to improve their chances of getting accepted while half of them said they did so in order to qualify for minority-focused financial aid.
Nearly half – 48 percent – wrote on their application that they were Native American while 13 percent said they were Hispanic. One in ten wrote that they were black.
‘More than a third of White students lied about their race on college applications, and about half of these applicants lied about being Native American,’ Kendi tweeted. ‘More than three-fourths of these students who lied about their race were accepted.’
Nine percent said they were Asian or Pacific Islander.
Kendi is the director of Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research. He is also the author of the three bestselling books, including How to Be an Antiracist, which became more popular in the wake of last year’s police-involved death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
He was also named by TIME magazine as one of the most influential people in the world.
Born Ibram Henry Rogers, Kendi changed his middle name to Xolani, which means ‘Peace’ in Zulu, and his surname from Rogers to Kendi when he got married after choosing the new name together. Kendi means ‘loved one’ in Meru.
His area of expertise, anti-racism, has been mentioned in the same breath as ‘critical race theory,’ which critics say is being taught to children to indoctrinate them about the evils of being white.
Those against critical race theory have argued it reduces people to the categories of ‘privileged’ or ‘oppressed’ based on their skin color.
Supporters, however, say the theory is vital to eliminating racism because it examines the ways in which race influence American politics, culture and the law.
Last year, Kendi sparked controversy after saying Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett was a racist ‘white colonizer’ for adopting two black children from Haiti and using them as ‘props’.
On Twitter, Kendi’s critics said that his deleting of the tweets was an admission that his philosophy is false and that this country does not oppress non-whites.
Jack Posobiec tweeted: ‘Ibram X. Kendi accidentally admits minority applicants have a better chance of getting into college, deletes tweet.’
Posobiec said Kendi ‘deleted it after realizing he just debunked his life’s work in one tweet.’
When Posobiec bragged on Twitter that he ‘broke’ Kendi, the author accused him of employing a racist trope.
‘Jack couldn’t deny his lies so this is how he responded. And his “broke” reference has a long history within racist structures,’ Kendi wrote.
‘White enslavers boasted of *breaking* Black people (when they did not *break* Black people).
‘The resistance never stopped then and it won’t stop today.’
Journalist Andy Ngo tweeted: ‘Celebrity critical race academic Ibram Kendi tweeted out a story about how white university applicants identified as people of color for better treatment.
‘He deleted the tweet after realizing it didn’t advance his argument of systemic white privilege.’
Another Twitter user said: ‘Ibram X. Kendi deleted this tweet about college admission when people noted it undermines his entire life’s work of claiming America is rife with white supremacy.’
Cathy Young tweeted: ‘LOL not a good day to be Ibram X Kendi.’
‘So please tell me some more about that big, bad, evil bogeyman of “white privilege,” Ibram X. Kendi,’ tweeted Paul Schlienz.
Last year, Kendi tweeted that Justice Amy Coney Barrett (right) is a ‘white colonizer’ because she adopted two black children from Haiti
Barrett, a devout Catholic, has seven children – five biological and two adopted. Her youngest child also has Down Syndrome
‘Some White colonizers “adopted” Black children,’ Kendi wrote on Twitter. ‘They “civilized” these “savage” children in the “superior” ways of White people, while using them as props in their lifelong pictures of denial, while cutting the biological parents of these children out of the picture of humanity.’
Thomas Lawrence commented: ‘Ibram x Kendi suddenly realizes that non-whites have a whole lot of privilege these days.’
‘Interestingly, the tweet backfired, as the study undermines his theory,’ Ismael Hernandez tweeted.
‘If white students are provileged for being white there will be no need for claiming minority status.
‘There must be some privilege in claiming minority status…’
Source: dailymail