College professor placed on leave after she was heard on hot mic making ‘blatantly racist’ comment about student

Prestigious New York City university, Hunter College, is embroiled in a race row after a professor was heard making “abhorrent” comments about Black students during a webinar.

Allyson Friedman, an associate biology professor at the Park Avenue institution, has been placed on leave and suspended from her duties after a racial slur was inadvertently broadcast to students.

Friedman, who hadn’t realized that her microphone was left on, interrupted a Black eighth-grader's questions about the prospective closure of her Upper West Side public school during a public Community Education Council meeting on Feb 10.

Professor placed on leave

“I write to share an update about actions that Hunter College is taking as a result 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,” Hunter College President Nancy Cantor declared in an official statement on Wednesday.

“As I shared earlier, we are investigating this matter under the university’s applicable conduct and nondiscrimination policies,” Cantor wrote.

“Pending the outcome of our investigation, the employee has been placed on leave,” the statement continued.

The educational institution had previously stated that they were “reviewing” Friedman’s conduct amid growing condemnation online.

“They’re too dumb to know they’re in a bad school,” Friedman could be heard uttering, while, unbeknownst to her, her mic was unmuted. The recording of the meeting that was subsequently posted online, was attended by Friedman as a parent of a public school student.

“If you train a black person well enough, they’ll know to use the back,” she said. “You don’t have to tell them anymore.”

She appeared to be responding to remarks made earlier in the meeting by Reginald Higgins, the district’s interim acting superintendent, who had referenced scholar Carter G. Woodson — widely regarded as the father of Black history.

During the discussion, Higgins cited Woodson’s 1933 book, The Mis-Education of the Negro, quoting: “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.”

After the professor made her controversial remark, two other adults participating in the virtual session immediately challenged her, while several others appeared stunned, some covering their mouths in shock. The call then fell completely silent for roughly 10 seconds before moderators stepped in, apologized to the student involved, and encouraged her to continue speaking.

“I am deeply disturbed by the blatantly racist and harmful remarks made during the CEC3 [Community Education Council for School District 3] meeting…,” Councilwoman Rita Joseph, who chairs the education committee, said on Instagram in the aftermath of the call.

The professor offers an explanation

Friedman later defended her choice of words, explaining that she had been describing systemic racism to her own child “by referencing an example of an obviously racist trope.” She added that technical issues with her microphone meant not all of her comments were clearly heard.

“My complete comments make clear these abhorrent views are not my own, nor were they directed at any student or group,” Friedman told The New York Times.

In the aftermath, public officials condemned the professor’s behavior and called on Hunter College to respond promptly.

Featured image credit: Hunter College