# UPenn Accuses a Law Professor of Racist Statements. Should She Be Fired?  ## Metadata - Author:: [[Vimal Patel]] - Full Title:: UPenn Accuses a Law Professor of Racist Statements. Should She Be Fired? - Category: #articles - URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/us/upenn-law-professor-racism-freedom-speech.html?campaign_id=61&emc=edit_ts_20230313&instance_id=87604&nl=the-great-read&regi_id=63681921&segment_id=127675&te=1&user_id=22b25941034e3298276a26e494615142 ## Highlights > Amy Wax ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4418kvpggyje40a2bhhry)) > Amy Wax, a law professor, has said publicly that “on average, Blacks have lower cognitive ability than whites,” that the country is “better off with fewer Asians” as long as they tend to vote for Democrats, and that non-Western people feel a “tremendous amount of resentment and shame.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve44rca0d1zzftrs9epc1qd)) - Note: Seems protected by tenure to me. > Black law student who had attended UPenn and Yale said that the professor told her she “had only become a double Ivy ‘because of affirmative action,’” according to the administration. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve45zsq6nvp43ppc2h5pskz)) - Note: Personal attacks are not protected by tenure > Professor Wax has denied saying anything belittling or racist to students, and her supporters see her as a truth teller about affirmative action, immigration and race ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve479ws65wmnfxdt1qyc47w)) > All of which poses a conundrum for the University of Pennsylvania ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4ac0rngrx6mwa03k0hzmc)) > He has filed a complaint and requested a faculty hearing to consider imposing a “major sanction” on the professor. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4b5q1t5kmqr1w2m6p5f6t)) > tenure’s key tenets — the right of academics to speak freely, without fear of punishment, whether in public or in the classroom ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4bh8vf05p4rktphnd2p1j)) > For years, Mr. Ruger [wrote in his 12-page complaint](https://drive.google.com/file/d/11Sfwa4PU9oTuvvw-xHhfUPDJqWD7lxex/view), Professor Wax has shown “callous and flagrant disregard” for students, faculty and staff, subjecting them to “intentional and incessant racist, sexist, xenophobic and homophobic actions and statements. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4c2ervdmf5xh6zyc0ahf7)) > The complaint said she has violated the university’s nondiscrimination policies and “standards of professional competence.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4c85wecewmdr5yswvtvtk)) > Universities want to “banish and punish” anyone “who dares to dissent, who dares to expose students to different ideas,” [she said on a recent podcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gJv2BRW7mc&t=3391s). “That is a really dangerous and pernicious trend.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4cvrgt691pcfh1yp1kccp)) > Academic freedom cannot be a privilege of those who only espouse prevailing views but a protected right of all faculty,” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4fnpz4we00etk7kd0m34m)) > some personal discussions with students — if true — could be deemed abusive, and are not protected by tenure ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4gybybf903pkg97re2p60)) > winced at the dean’s inclusion of public statements in his complaint. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4h5mqa3pt0rmpagez30hc)) > She added, “Academic freedom has to protect the Amy Waxes of the academic world, so that it can be there for the Galileos of the academic world ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4hqeym75h4tfzcwfjgpjg)) #### Building a Public Profile > She argued that many of the country’s social problems could be traced to veering from 1950s norms, like getting married before having children, respecting authority and avoiding coarse language ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4kdz8xsspvtdm0sqq7t6f)) > The article said “all cultures are not equal” and lamented “the single-parent, antisocial habits, prevalent among some working-class whites; the anti-‘acting white’ rap culture of inner-city blacks; the anti-assimilation ideas gaining ground among some Hispanic immigrants.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4m6ebmj5pv3tqte4w52ck)) > women, on average, are less knowledgeable than men.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4mn7trye0mc4y71zfswr8)) > Speaking with Mr. Carlson last year, she said “American Blacks” and people from non-Western countries feel shame for the “outsized achievements and contributions” of Western people ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4n71g7fvf3wvwq2vvspja)) - Note: They feel shame for having been subjugated in slavery by dominant countries. > On a recent podcast, she said, “I often chuckle at the ads on TV which show a Black man married to a white woman in an upper-class picket-fence house,” she said, adding, “They never show Blacks the way they really are: a bunch of single moms with a bunch of guys who float in and out. Kids by different men.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4q3m5c2f75zawegrfa6tj)) - Note: Actually, demographics say both are true. Just depends on focus. Mismatch of education & earning. > Mr. Taylor has said that “when blacks are left entirely to their own devices, Western Civilization — any kind of civilization ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4sqkfm8xnsh1dzabq1zjp)) > She did not have a right, he said, to violate confidentiality about student grades ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4tzy2jtm00r0a7cc4sdt3)) > Professor Loury, a Black economist known for his contrarian views, agreed in an interview that disclosing confidential student data to make racial comparisons would be unacceptable ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4va9bp4b8zrgb32vpt39z)) #### Finally, an American’ > Many students, especially Asian, Black and Latino students, have described a series of what they say are racist incidents involving Professor Wax. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4wew3nb6and0pp01rynrt)) > Mr. Ruger’s complaint also outlined an alleged interaction between Professor Wax and Lauren O’Garro-Moore, a 2012 graduate, saying that Ms. Moore was a “double Ivy” — attending Penn and Yale — only because of affirmative action. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4ysp0yj0108xjndz7w1vn)) > Some of these personal interactions may not be protected by tenure. And Ms. Wax has denied making many of these statements, including the “double Ivy” comment ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4zc8ytyjb1d6s9v7487vx)) > Professor Wax’s colleagues have shared their own uncomfortable moments with her in public forums. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4zxv6tqbsx2fk1fw1q6jn)) > In 2011, he gave a talk at Penn law school in which he argued that too many Black people were in prison ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve51paebc7cdkk70zbw6w20)) > During the discussion, he said that Professor Wax, whom he did not know, raised her hand and said: There are not too many Black people in prison, there are too few ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve52hza78d8ahagrc9f6py2)) > Wax uses speech as sword and shield, portraying herself as the victim of cancel culture, while also trying to create “a safe-space bubble of protection from others’ reactions.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve5735n31g0cfjhx3q2tztw)) > Still, he does not support sanctions for her public statements. “I view Amy as both a scholarly embarrassment and a toxic presence at Penn and in the academy generally,” he said, but added, “She is nevertheless a tenured faculty member at a university, and I do not support university sanctions for public expressions of horrible views.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve586fas5abzyfw1pgssgxs)) #### The University Acts > Does the spirit of liberty beat in their breast, Glenn?” [she shot back](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1vQFMxPk54), arguing that Asians tend to be “more conformist.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve59dt6k1nh0n1z4j08aj3p)) > We have conservative professors in the law school that I don’t agree with,” he said. “But they’re not making harmful remarks that are clearly racist. They’re not crossing those boundaries.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve5b91ak5440jy8q1xy1fxm)) #### What Should Tenure Protect? > Many free-speech advocates say that Dean Ruger’s complaint overstepped by including the professor’s public statements. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve5cttxgajdghapxqajxzv6)) > And some professors say her interactions with students are enough to warrant punishment. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve5debwhkkpasvcgqf9ppxk)) > The latter comment, if true, he said, is “singling out a student for abuse. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve5dwfsrag49yzjf6nqs7ht)) > The process playing out at Penn, he said, “is the system working.” > “It’s not like a group of students has voiced their concern, and she’s been terminated,” Mr. Bookbinder said. There will be a hearing, he noted, with “her fellow tenured professors, who will surely hold those same protections very dearly themselves.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve5evdyj1nshtbdzb216ycx)) # UPenn Accuses a Law Professor of Racist Statements. Should She Be Fired?  ## Metadata - Author:: [[Vimal Patel]] - Full Title:: UPenn Accuses a Law Professor of Racist Statements. Should She Be Fired? - Category: #articles - URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/us/upenn-law-professor-racism-freedom-speech.html?campaign_id=61&emc=edit_ts_20230313&instance_id=87604&nl=the-great-read&regi_id=63681921&segment_id=127675&te=1&user_id=22b25941034e3298276a26e494615142 ## Highlights > Amy Wax ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4418kvpggyje40a2bhhry)) > Amy Wax, a law professor, has said publicly that “on average, Blacks have lower cognitive ability than whites,” that the country is “better off with fewer Asians” as long as they tend to vote for Democrats, and that non-Western people feel a “tremendous amount of resentment and shame.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve44rca0d1zzftrs9epc1qd)) - Note: Seems protected by tenure to me. > Black law student who had attended UPenn and Yale said that the professor told her she “had only become a double Ivy ‘because of affirmative action,’” according to the administration. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve45zsq6nvp43ppc2h5pskz)) - Note: Personal attacks are not protected by tenure > Professor Wax has denied saying anything belittling or racist to students, and her supporters see her as a truth teller about affirmative action, immigration and race ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve479ws65wmnfxdt1qyc47w)) > All of which poses a conundrum for the University of Pennsylvania ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4ac0rngrx6mwa03k0hzmc)) > He has filed a complaint and requested a faculty hearing to consider imposing a “major sanction” on the professor. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4b5q1t5kmqr1w2m6p5f6t)) > tenure’s key tenets — the right of academics to speak freely, without fear of punishment, whether in public or in the classroom ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4bh8vf05p4rktphnd2p1j)) > For years, Mr. Ruger [wrote in his 12-page complaint](https://drive.google.com/file/d/11Sfwa4PU9oTuvvw-xHhfUPDJqWD7lxex/view), Professor Wax has shown “callous and flagrant disregard” for students, faculty and staff, subjecting them to “intentional and incessant racist, sexist, xenophobic and homophobic actions and statements. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4c2ervdmf5xh6zyc0ahf7)) > The complaint said she has violated the university’s nondiscrimination policies and “standards of professional competence.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4c85wecewmdr5yswvtvtk)) > Universities want to “banish and punish” anyone “who dares to dissent, who dares to expose students to different ideas,” [she said on a recent podcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gJv2BRW7mc&t=3391s). “That is a really dangerous and pernicious trend.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4cvrgt691pcfh1yp1kccp)) > Academic freedom cannot be a privilege of those who only espouse prevailing views but a protected right of all faculty,” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4fnpz4we00etk7kd0m34m)) > some personal discussions with students — if true — could be deemed abusive, and are not protected by tenure ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4gybybf903pkg97re2p60)) > winced at the dean’s inclusion of public statements in his complaint. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4h5mqa3pt0rmpagez30hc)) > She added, “Academic freedom has to protect the Amy Waxes of the academic world, so that it can be there for the Galileos of the academic world ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4hqeym75h4tfzcwfjgpjg)) #### Building a Public Profile > She argued that many of the country’s social problems could be traced to veering from 1950s norms, like getting married before having children, respecting authority and avoiding coarse language ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4kdz8xsspvtdm0sqq7t6f)) > The article said “all cultures are not equal” and lamented “the single-parent, antisocial habits, prevalent among some working-class whites; the anti-‘acting white’ rap culture of inner-city blacks; the anti-assimilation ideas gaining ground among some Hispanic immigrants.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4m6ebmj5pv3tqte4w52ck)) > women, on average, are less knowledgeable than men.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4mn7trye0mc4y71zfswr8)) > Speaking with Mr. Carlson last year, she said “American Blacks” and people from non-Western countries feel shame for the “outsized achievements and contributions” of Western people ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4n71g7fvf3wvwq2vvspja)) - Note: They feel shame for having been subjugated in slavery by dominant countries. > On a recent podcast, she said, “I often chuckle at the ads on TV which show a Black man married to a white woman in an upper-class picket-fence house,” she said, adding, “They never show Blacks the way they really are: a bunch of single moms with a bunch of guys who float in and out. Kids by different men.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4q3m5c2f75zawegrfa6tj)) - Note: Actually, demographics say both are true. Just depends on focus. Mismatch of education & earning. > Mr. Taylor has said that “when blacks are left entirely to their own devices, Western Civilization — any kind of civilization ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4sqkfm8xnsh1dzabq1zjp)) > She did not have a right, he said, to violate confidentiality about student grades ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4tzy2jtm00r0a7cc4sdt3)) > Professor Loury, a Black economist known for his contrarian views, agreed in an interview that disclosing confidential student data to make racial comparisons would be unacceptable ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4va9bp4b8zrgb32vpt39z)) #### Finally, an American’ > Many students, especially Asian, Black and Latino students, have described a series of what they say are racist incidents involving Professor Wax. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4wew3nb6and0pp01rynrt)) > Mr. Ruger’s complaint also outlined an alleged interaction between Professor Wax and Lauren O’Garro-Moore, a 2012 graduate, saying that Ms. Moore was a “double Ivy” — attending Penn and Yale — only because of affirmative action. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4ysp0yj0108xjndz7w1vn)) > Some of these personal interactions may not be protected by tenure. And Ms. Wax has denied making many of these statements, including the “double Ivy” comment ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4zc8ytyjb1d6s9v7487vx)) > Professor Wax’s colleagues have shared their own uncomfortable moments with her in public forums. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve4zxv6tqbsx2fk1fw1q6jn)) > In 2011, he gave a talk at Penn law school in which he argued that too many Black people were in prison ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve51paebc7cdkk70zbw6w20)) > During the discussion, he said that Professor Wax, whom he did not know, raised her hand and said: There are not too many Black people in prison, there are too few ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve52hza78d8ahagrc9f6py2)) > Wax uses speech as sword and shield, portraying herself as the victim of cancel culture, while also trying to create “a safe-space bubble of protection from others’ reactions.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve5735n31g0cfjhx3q2tztw)) > Still, he does not support sanctions for her public statements. “I view Amy as both a scholarly embarrassment and a toxic presence at Penn and in the academy generally,” he said, but added, “She is nevertheless a tenured faculty member at a university, and I do not support university sanctions for public expressions of horrible views.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve586fas5abzyfw1pgssgxs)) #### The University Acts > Does the spirit of liberty beat in their breast, Glenn?” [she shot back](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1vQFMxPk54), arguing that Asians tend to be “more conformist.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve59dt6k1nh0n1z4j08aj3p)) > We have conservative professors in the law school that I don’t agree with,” he said. “But they’re not making harmful remarks that are clearly racist. They’re not crossing those boundaries.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve5b91ak5440jy8q1xy1fxm)) #### What Should Tenure Protect? > Many free-speech advocates say that Dean Ruger’s complaint overstepped by including the professor’s public statements. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve5cttxgajdghapxqajxzv6)) > And some professors say her interactions with students are enough to warrant punishment. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve5debwhkkpasvcgqf9ppxk)) > The latter comment, if true, he said, is “singling out a student for abuse. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve5dwfsrag49yzjf6nqs7ht)) > The process playing out at Penn, he said, “is the system working.” > “It’s not like a group of students has voiced their concern, and she’s been terminated,” Mr. Bookbinder said. There will be a hearing, he noted, with “her fellow tenured professors, who will surely hold those same protections very dearly themselves.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gve5evdyj1nshtbdzb216ycx))