Thursday, September 28, 2017

Lecturer suspended for offensive prediction

I mentioned a video speculating that Hitler might be more highly regarded in the future. Now his university employer is trying to fire him for it:
A New Jersey professor at the center of an alt-right scandal since a video of him apparently spouting anti-Semitic sentiments was revealed last week has been placed on administrative leave.

The New Jersey Institute of Technology released a statement Monday evening announcing the suspension of lecturer Jason Jorjani, who was captured on video as part of a New York Times opinion piece about nonprofit Hope Over Hate's undercover investigation into the white nationalism movement.

Jorjani has insisted his comments in the video were taken out of context.

"NJIT is a university that draws great strength from the diversity of its campus community, and statements made by Mr. Jorjani in a video published by 'The New York Times' are antithetical to our institution's core values," the school said in a statement.

"A review of this and related matters is ongoing, and Mr. Jorjani has been placed on administrative leave pending its conclusion."

In the video, Jorjani is seen talking about the return of concentration camps and foreseeing a future in which Adolf Hitler is regarded as a "great European leader."

Jorjani has come out strongly against the video, saying it was edited to remove the context of the conversation, which he says was about a dystopian society that would result from continuing current U.S. political practices.
I guess academic freedom is antithetical to the institution's core values.

This sort of censorship is likely to backfire. It just makes ppl want to learn more about Hitler, and to suspect that the authorities have been lying to us about him.

Here is a 1920 Hitler speech with offensive attacks on Jews. What is anyone afraid of?

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