Princeton University Scholar Cancels Speaking Tour After Receiving Death Threats

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, an assistant professor of African American studies at Princeton University, cancelled a series of public events after she received death threats and hate e-mails after she gave the commencement address at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. In her address, Dr. Taylor was critical of the Trump administration, saying that the president was a “racist and sexist megalomania.” Fox News called the speech an “anti-POTUS tirade.”

In a statement, Dr. Taylor said she had been threatened with lynching and “having the bullet from a .44 caliber Magnum put in my head.”

Dr. Taylor stated that “the cancellation of my speaking events is a concession to the violent intimidation that was, in my opinion, provoked by Fox News. But I will not be silent. We need to build a massive movement against racism, sexism and bigotry in this country, I remain undaunted in my commitment to that project.”

Dr. Taylor is the author From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation (Haymarket Books, 2016). She holds a Ph.D. from Northwestern University.

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4 COMMENTS

    • I agree. In any event, with all the “safe spaces” and “left wing” shut down of dissenting viewpoints on college campuses these days, even if the death threat allegations were true and serious, they would seem normal. Truth is the new hate speech these days. People seem unable to present counterfactual to points of views they disagree with.

    • Ed, dear Ed,

      Some of us live in a world that makes such “stories” fishy. Some of us live in a world where this “story” is too often our reality.

      Having an honest conversation with a person of color (you may be one) who is living in their truth would be a very good use of your time and grow your experience base.

  1. Interesting, actually sad, but the only two responses were clearly racist spam, and no one else bothered to comment. The comment I came to make was that NOTHING will change as long as we cave in to racist threats from anonymous cowards.

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