Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
From the time Black children come into the world, they are told to be “twice as good.” The command is a form of protection. A reminder that no matter what spaces you may ascend to, someone will be waiting in the wings to pounce — to weaponize an error or gray area to deem you unworthy. It doesn’t matter if they do not hold themselves to the same standards, or if you have been exceptional in nearly all endeavors. It is you, Black child, Black teenager, Black adult, Black professional, who will be accused of being unfit, should the time come.
When Dr. Claudine Gay resigned as president of Harvard University on Tuesday in the wake of a ramped-up campaign to slander her name and reputation launched by conservative activists who dug up her 1997 dissertation with accusations of plagiarism, there was a collective deep sigh for many of grief and sadness.
We recognized this moment for what it represented; that scene we had been warned about from childhood. We understood that this was more complicated than a few paragraphs of inadequate citation (defended even by some of the academics whose work Dr. Gay drew from). This was bigger. In these scenarios where judgment calls are made, Black women do not get the same benefit of the doubt. And in an era where elite universities are now pawns for right-wing political activists hoping to dismantle DEI, this was another lost battle.
“We launched the Claudine Gay plagiarism story from the Right,” tweeted anti-critical race theory activist Christopher Rufo smugly before her takedown. “The next step is to smuggle it into the media apparatus of the Left, legitimizing the narrative to center-left actors who have the power to topple her. Then squeeze.”
Media outlets played their part and regurgitated the plagiarism allegations until they became an immovable stain….
Read the full article here
