Professor: comments on African Americans were misunderstood

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Professor: comments on African Americans were misunderstood

| May 17, 2015 | Updated: May 17, 2015 2:50pm

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — A Duke University professor has responded to criticism about online comments he made regarding African Americans.

The Charlotte Observer reports (http://bit.ly/1A6Qgtm ) political science professor Jerry Hough made comments on The New York Times website, where he compared "the blacks" and "the Asians", writing that Asians "didn't feel sorry for themselves, but worked doubly hard."

Hough received criticism for his comments on Twitter and other social media sites. In an email on Friday, Hough said that his comments were misunderstood.

Duke spokesman Michael Schoenfeld distanced the university from the professor's comments, but also pointed out academic freedom provisions in Duke's Faculty Handbook.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Professor-comments-on-African-Americans-were-6269240.php

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[center]

Jerry Hough

http://myfox8.com/2015/05/16/duke-university-professor-on-leave-after-making-racial-comment-on-news-website/[/center]

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Jeez, I could see how anyone could misunderstand that message.

Especially if their hood is on a little too tight, or the bedsheet is cutting off their carotid supply.

[Hoyt]

2. Misunderstood, my rear. That's racism, pure and simple.

[freshwest]

18. The misunderstood part is, too. IOW, he's saying 'you misunderstood because you are stupid.'

I don't know which is worse, the doubling down or the original pompous white-splaining...

I'll just leave it at both being equally racist and arrogant.

[Voice for Peace]

3. How about every new black name springs from

a righteous urge to claim a free African heritage, rather than
taking the names of their owners?

[freshwest]

19. And to find an identity that was stolen form them? Their family trees were burnt like kindling.

Why not forge new identities here, since that is all most who were kidnapped from Africa have left, their American roots?

And why not show creativity if it's not offensive to those being named that way?

This guy needs to be fired for lack of education...

[Journeyman]

4. Just because someone has a PhD is no indicator they're intelligent outside a limited field . . .

I interact with professors and research scientists regularly, do work for universities, institutes and corporations all the time, and I can say with equivocation that some of the people I meet are among the most intelligent, knowledgeable people in the world, and a couple minds of unequaled breadth, and some -- outside their limited field of expertise -- are as dumb as they come. Were I to know him better, I suspect Professor Hough would most likely fit in the latter category.

[oberliner]

7. His limited field is political science

In theory, this sort of thing ought to fall under his limited field of expertise.

[Journeyman]

9. You would think. But then, some go into college dumb, come out dumb too . . .

[oberliner]

15. Bachelors, Masters, and PhD from Harvard

At Duke University, the title of James B. Duke Professor is given to a small number of the faculty with extraordinary records of achievement. At some universities, titles like "distinguished professor", "institute professor", or "regents professor" are counterparts of this title.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_B._Duke_Professor

Maybe he is just losing it at his advanced age?

[Journeyman]

17. That could be. I hadn't thought of that. If so, very sad . . .

[oberliner]

49. Yeah it's crazy

Time for him to call it a career.

[struggle4progress]

50. "I am 80 and figure I can speak the truth as I see it"

http://www.syracuse.com/us-news/index.ssf/2015/05/duke_professor_jerry_hough_on_leave_racist_comments.html

Perhaps the blood supply to his brain has somehow been compromised

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

11. As someone with a PhD, I can say that

it doesn't even necessarily indicate that you're particularly intelligent even within that limited field. Just that you've spent a lot of time studying that field, and have persevered in grinding your way through a lot of work.

[Larry Engels]

22. "As someone with a Ph.D."?

Anyone can say that in an anonymous discussion forum such as this one. So your appeal to authority does not add one ounce of credibility to your claim.

[Lucky Luciano]

29. A bit rude on your part.

He may be lying, but deserves the benefit of the doubt at least...and he is probably not lying given that he doesnt seem to brag about this much even though he posts a lot.

...and I have a doctorate too - equivariant cohomology theories in algebraic geometry. I do applied math in industry now instead of the pure math of academia. I bet a good many people on DU have PhDs too.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

35. You're better off than me, I never used mine again after getting it.

I did mine in x-ray crystallography, a subdiscipline of mineralogy, and went into computer work instead after that degree, since my masters was in systems analysis. That was the only degree that's earned me money so far, since I haven't gotten a job in nursing since going back for more degrees.

[Sgt Preston]

37. Lucky Luciano with a Ph.D.?

I guess we are all supposed to just believe you, too? It's pointless to post anonymously and then to appeal to one's academic achievements as grounds for your views. The premise is no more certain than the conclusion.

[Lucky Luciano]

43. I think the above poster indicating their background was relevant to the thread.

I was only pointing out that plenty of people have doctorates, so there was no reason for the other guy to be rude - especially given Erich's posting history.

My math background doesn't make my political views more valid. It just means I am good at math. If anything it makes me a little cold/calculating so I do sometimes need to remember to be more empathetic in my dealings with others.

[heaven05]

33. He or she has ALWAYS been

a straight shooter, here, not always right.... but I believe it's the truth....

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

34. I'm not anonymous.

And you can look up what few papers I published while getting my PhD online.

(Edit: I mean you can look up the papers online, I didn't get my degree online.)

[Sgt Preston]

38. If there really is a Dr. Bloodaxe, why should I believe you are that person?

Anonymous or pseudonymous makes no difference. Why not just let your comments stand or fall on the basis of the arguments you give for them? Adding your claimed qualifications with no accountability does no work at all.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

44. As to your second question, because my entire argument is based on the fact that I experienced it.

That's how I know it doesn't take any special intelligence, just lots of perseverance, late nights, and deep dish pizza. Without the experience, I wouldn't have even had a comment to make.

As to your first, I don't really care if you believe me, but I'm pretty open online. I spent lots of time on Daily Kos as first 'drbloodaxe' and then 'Dr Erich Bloodaxe RN'. I'm on LinkedIn and Pinterest and ResearchGate. If you really wanted to, you could probably use one of those whitepages online sorts of websites to find out my phone and address. But I screen all calls, and don't answer ones I don't recognize, so you'll just get the answering machine.

The fact that I'm NOT anonymous or pseudonymous is exactly what gives my qualifications 'accountability'. I'm not some goober hiding behind a made up name. It's what acts as a check on me typing some of my more outrageous thoughts, because I don't want to attract stalkerish behaviour from online weirdos.

[Larry Engels]

46. Why do you need your academic degree as a shield?

Why not just give reasons for your views, as other people do? I have certain academic and professional qualifications, too, but I never appeal to them in my posts. To do so would be (a) pointless, since, like you, I have no way of establishing my true identity here, and (b) a sign of weakness and lack of self confidence in my own views, which do not require a self-referential appeal to authority.

Of course it's your right to claim any achievements you like, but they don't make your positions any more authoritative.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

47. It WAS the reason for my view.

I was giving the reason for my view 'as other people do'. I went through the experience, hence it was 'the reason for my view'.

And to show you how little I care whether or not you believe me as to who I am, it's off to 'ignore' with you. Because you've shown me nothing to suggest that it's anything more than a waste of my time to interact with you.

[Larry Engels]

48. Then you should think of a better reason.

Because the one you give is just as questionable as the opinion it "justifies."

Thanks for putting me on "ignore." Don't expect reciprocation.

[Damansarajaya]

56. For being so new here, you're really making friends, aren't you.

I enjoy hearing about the backgrounds of other people. It doesn't intimidate me like it does some people, apparently.

Someone claiming to have a PhD claiming that one doesn't need to be all that smart to get a PhD doesn't strike me as someone who is lying.

It's the opposite of bragging.

[Damansarajaya]

55. Going for the "most annoying poster" of the day, are we?

One can't really have good opinions without life experiences to base them on.

Once you've been here longer, you'll see that most people tell the truth most of the time. This isn't Bill O'Reilly's show.

[Damansarajaya]

54. Assuming the worst about someone says more about

you than him.

The poster had nothing to gain from lying about earning a Ph.D.

Just chill.

[Sgt Preston]

63. What is your problem?

Why are you attacking someone for asking legitimate questions? Now I am just a newbie, so I suppose my opinion doesn't count, but your posts on this subject seem to me to be the nasty ones. Sorry if you don't feel well.

And by the way, if you believe everyone online who says he has a doctorate, you are naïve.

[Damansarajaya]

64. Well, I have a doctorate and so does my wife.

So does my brother and my father.

Get used to it . . . DU isn't FreeRepublic, dude.

[Dont call me Shirley]

5. Jerry lacks wisdom understanding and compassion despite his academic tenure. Some people

never learn.

[bluestateguy]

6. Idiotic remarks to be sure

And he is rightfully protected by academic freedom and tenure.

But academic freedom and tenure do not mean immunity from criticism and rebuttal.

[zentrum]

8. Guys like this….

Last edited Sun May 17, 2015, 08:16 PM - Edit history (1)

….who don't know how racist they deeply are, are a bigger problem—or at least as big a problem, as an avowed racist.

Shockingly ignorant, a-historical screed for a professor. And why, pray tell, should Blacks name their kids so they "fit in" with White culture? The country was built on Black labor by people who were here from the beginning. An African sounding name is only "strange" if you define White culture as the correct center of the universe.

Too bad he can't be fired. I can only imagine the bias that is being transmitted in his classes. His critical thinking skills are appalling.

[Moonwalk]

14. He can't be fired, but students can protest his classes and him...

This isn't going to go well for him even if he can't be fired.

[Larry Engels]

23. He can be fired for incompetence or moral turpiditude....

But not for this.

[carolinayellowdog]

10. doesn't sound anything like the Durham I know

NC ranks second only to VA in black/white intermarriage, and Durham is one of the areas where it is most frequent. Unless the African American students at Duke are completely out of synch with the community, the professor's description of attitudes ring very false to me.

Any ostracism of interracial couples always comes from the family members of the white partner, in my own extended family and from what I've observed and heard about.

[Moonwalk]

12. This guy sounds like his views are decades old, when intermarriage was rare..

...he clearly hasn't bothered to update himself. Even if he really saw such himself, however, a professor should know better than to make generalities from personal experience, let alone without doing research and validating ones facts.

[zentrum]

16. Agree….

I see young and older interracial couples everywhere—Asian and White, Black and White, Asian and Black—no idea what he's talking about. He's an ignorant hammer who sees the only nail he wants to hit.

[Jamastiene]

62. Your experiences are more in line with what I have seen, experienced,

and heard here as well. The guy sounds like he is imagining an entirely different world than the one that really exists.

[romanic]

13. I'm beginning to think

college professors are getting stupider and stupider each day. :x

[Larry Engels]

24. And you base this claim on what?

This one case? How can you generalize so irresponsibly?

[jtuck004]

20. No they weren't. n/t

[KingCharlemagne]

21. I'll bet Hough is the toast of the next departmental

faculty party!

[tblue37]

25. I'm thinking he's just toast. nt

[KingCharlemagne]

26. Well, absent some overt moral turpitude, his tenured status probably protects him

through retirement. So "toast" is a relative term, I'm guessing.

Nice bon mot, though!

[tblue37]

27. I'm thinking in terms of social acceptance and reputation, not

in terms of whether he keeps his job.

[KingCharlemagne]

28. I hear ya! - nt

[heaven05]

30. he looks like

one of the skull size measurers.....what an asinine thing to say. This society is devolving into a morass of conflict, I just feel it.

[treestar]

31. They always do this

Asians came here under very different circumstances, especially the more recent arrivals.

Immigrants who come from overseas today are likely just beneath upper crust in their countries. The airfare alone requires it. And they weren't brought as slaves. Geez.

[freshwest]

36. +1. And generations of being pushed aside. And one becomes POTUS and the h8rs go nuts!

BTW, that great sig pic is now making the rounds at DU, thanks to me, LOL!

[sarisataka]

32. I understand his comments perfectly well

[geek tragedy]

39. "My racism was rigorous and peer-reviewed." nt

[montana_hazeleyes]

40. Well, I only have a GED,

but i know racist bull$#^! when I see it.

[6000eliot]

41. He must be speaking for "The morons."

[marble falls]

42. The word "the" as in "the" blacks or "the" Asians tell me what I need toknow: what follows...

will almost always be racist. Usually in the apology a "you people" will show up, too.

[MrScorpio]

45. White supremacy, pure and simple.

I think every got the message quite clearly.

[struggle4progress]

51. ... 2016 will be his last year teaching at Duke ...

Breaking: Jerry Hough took academic leave long before New York Times comment
By Amrith Ramkumar on May 18, 2015

[Damansarajaya]

57. One has to wonder what he "teaches" . . .

Is it education or indoctrination?

[merrily]

52. For some reason, wingers love comparing African Americans to Asians dishonestly.

Now, why is this racist POS a university professor again?

[DonCoquixote]

53. Translation

when bigots say "I was misunderstood" what they really mean is:
This is what I really feel, but I realize that the dominion I had as a white person is not as ironclad as it was, so I will keept these comments to my fellow whites."

As fior Professors, the addition is : "I know as a white professor I can make a jackass of myself, but if I was black, I would be fired, Nyah Nyah."

The important thing to keep in mind is that, while people like this deserve ridicule and scorn, they have one useful function: they remind the rest of us that many more people agree with them, and that the only thing keeping Jim Crow and the lynching tree back is ETERNAL VIGILANCE.

Say what you will about what we wanted Obama to be, but if nothing else, a lot of the majority finally felt free to slip their masks off, revealing white sheets behind them, revealing why, for all the more than justified lauding of MLK, there will always be the need for a Malcolm X to keep people honest. Obama bent himself into pretzels to accomodate the same people that hated him, and all they rewarded him with was more hate.

The real question wil be what happens in the next presidency: we know the GOP will try to roll back the clock to the "Happy Days" era which were not actually all that happy. The real question will be what will Hillary do? Will she keep Bill from screaming "we got mugged" or will she confront the people who use dog whistles, the people who say "I'm a liberal" but always seem to find a way to blame the Trayvon Martins of the world for getting shot. The problem is, while the Majority of her consitients are NO, repeat NOT this sort of fake liberal, the ones that tend to have the money to donate (be it big checks or think tanks) are.

[olddots]

58. Dupe University .

[reflection]

59. Was this Duke University or David Duke University? n/t

[Paladin]

60. No surprise that the Discussionist.com racists are jerking off to the prof's comments.

Failing grade, Dr. Hough, other than an A+ in White Privilege......

[Jamastiene]

61. Oh, everyone heard him loud and clear.

His dog whistle was heard by both his fellow racists and recognized as the dog whistle is was by racists and nonracists alike. He is a prime example of how higher education does not change prejudiced attitudes. They go in with that type of ignorant, hideous ideology and come out with it as well. It makes me wonder how many AA students he may have given bad grades to because of his prejudices. Duke should open an investigation into that and see more about his history.