‘Not My Intent’: NYC Professor Drops Racist Lines — Claims It Was a ‘Teaching Moment’ as University Says She Spoke as a ‘Private Citizen’ and Vows to Investigate
A college professor in New York City is under fire for a set of racist remarks she made during a virtual faculty meeting, and now university officials are working to determine whether the comments violated their policies.
The remarks were made by Dr. Allyson Friedman, a tenured associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Hunter College, during a Feb. 10 Zoom meeting with the New York City School District 3 Community Education Council.
Friedman, a district parent, was unmuted during the meeting with council members and other parents when she unknowingly interrupted a debate on Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to shut down a few schools in the Manhattan area.
“They’re too dumb to know they’re in a bad school,” Friedman said. “Apparently, Martin Luther King said it — if you train a Black person well enough, they’ll know to use the back, you don’t have to tell them anymore.”
Her comments were met with shocked faces and frowns, and it wasn’t until another faculty member intervened that Friedman stopped her rant.
“Allyson Friedman, what you’re saying is absolutely hearable here,” a man on the call said. “You’ve got to stop.”
Friedman was apparently referencing a remark made earlier in the virtual meeting by the local school district’s interim acting superintendent, Reginald Higgins.
Higgins had referenced Carter G. Woodson, a Black scholar and author known for establishing Black History Month, who once said, “If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told.”
In a statement to The New York Times, Friedman sought to clarify what exactly prompted her remarks.
She said she was “trying to explain the concept of systemic racism” to her child, who was in the room with her, and referenced “an example of an obviously racist trope.”
“My complete comments make clear these abhorrent views are not my own, nor were they directed at any student or group,” Dr. Friedman said. “I fully support these courageous students in their efforts to stop school closures.”
She continued: “However, I recognize these comments caused harm and pain, while that was not my intent, I do truly apologize.”
A Hunter College spokesperson told Atlanta Black Star that although Friedman made the remarks as a private citizen, the school is still reviewing the matter under its nondiscrimination policies.
“Hunter College is aware of the incident during a recent virtual meeting of the New York City School District 3 Community Education Council in which abhorrent remarks were heard coming from a district parent who also is a Hunter employee. Even as these remarks were made in the individual’s role as a private citizen and we understand that the district is conducting an investigation into the matter, Hunter College is reviewing the situation under the university’s applicable conduct and nondiscrimination policies, which are described here.
In service to Hunter College, we expect our community members’ actions and words to comport with our institutional identity, values, and policies. We stand firm in our enduring commitment to sustain an inclusive educational environment that is free of discrimination of any kind, in which people of all identities will feel welcome and can thrive.“
According to The Times, Mamdani’s plan includes closing two schools with low enrollment and one public school (P.S. 191) whose building would be used to house a more popular school that educates students from fifth to eighth grade.
Parents and community members expressed concerns about the disruption the closures would cause students, including Black and Latino children who largely make up schools with lower enrollment.