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antiracism

John McWhorter: Ibram X. Kendi is not a “grifter”

John Fea   |  October 6, 2023

I continue to be fascinated by this Ibram X. Kendi story. One of Kendi’s harshest critics over the last several years has been Columbia University linguistics professor John McWhorter. In a piece at The New York Times, McWhorter defends Kendi […]

Pamela Paul: “a person can oppose racism on firm ethical or philosophical or pragmatic grounds without embracing Kendi’s conception of antiracism.”

John Fea   |  October 6, 2023

Pamela Paul, the former editor of The New York Times Book Review, is the latest to use the Ibram X. Kendi controversy at Boston University to critique Kendi’s philosophy of “antiracism.” Here is Paul: “…many major universities, corporations, nonprofit groups […]

Ibram X. Kendi’s “failure, intellectual and moral, is as much ours as it is his”

John Fea   |  September 29, 2023

Back in June we brought some attention to Bates University environmental studies scholar Tyler Austin Harper‘s New York Times piece on race and college admissions. Now, in a piece at The Washington Post, he has weighed-in on the Ibram X. […]

Jemar Tisby responds to Boston University’s investigation of Ibram X. Kendi’s antiracist center

John Fea   |  September 23, 2023

I am not sure if Jemar Tisby will like this comparison, but I think it is fair to say that most evangelicals see him–for good or for bad–as the Christian version of Ibram X. Kendi. Kendi wrote Stamped from the […]

Boston University Center for Antiracist Research has a lot of money, but virtually nothing to show for it.

John Fea   |  September 21, 2023

$43 million dollars later and Ibram X. Kendi’s Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University appears to be suffering from “disorganization” and “mismanagement.” This comes after diversity expert Eboo Patel turned to the pages of The Chronicle of Higher Education […]

On the privileged progressives who preach anti-racism

John Fea   |  March 21, 2023

Over at Christian Century, a liberal Protestant magazine, Baylor University ethicist Jonathan Tran argues that “privileged progressives have turned their attention from structures and systems to sentimentalism.” Here is a taste of his piece: Detached from practiced commitments and practical […]

Trumpism and American pragmatism

John Fea   |  December 19, 2022

I just finished University of Virginia English professor Mark Edmundson‘s piece on Richard Rorty, pragmatism, and Donald Trump. Is it published in the January 2023 issue of Harper’s. I highly recommend it. Here is a taste: It has been said […]