Students demand action after Penn professor’s ‘racist’ comments about Asians
Written by ABC Audio All Rights Reserved on January 7, 2022
(NEW YORK) — The University of Pennsylvania came under fire this week after a law professor made inflammatory comments about Asians and the Asian-American community during an interview.
Amy Wax, in speaking to Brown University professor Glenn Loury on “The Glenn Show,” said: “Maybe it’s just that Democrats love open borders, and Asians want more Asians here. Perhaps they are just mesmerized by the feel-good cult of diversity. I don’t know the answer, but as long as most Asians support Democrats and help to advance their positions, I think the United States is better off with fewer Asians and less Asian immigration.”
Those comments sparked outrage on campus, with the dean of the law school calling them “anti-intellectual and racist.”
“Like all racist generalizations, Wax’s recent comments inflict harm by perpetuating stereotypes and placing differential burdens on Asian students, faculty and staff to carry the weight of this vitriol and bias,” Dean Theodore Ruger said in a statement.
Penn students created a petition demanding the school take action against Wax, a tenured professor.
“I think that the university needs to suspend her from all teaching duties,” said Apratim Vidyarthi, a third-year law student. “She shouldn’t be allowed to come on campus, she shouldn’t be allowed to interact with students while this investigation is ongoing.”
Wax didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment from ABC News.
She’s been accused of making racist comments previously.
“We know she said similar things in the past,” Vidvarthi continued. “She said that white European cultures are better than non-white European cultures in the past. She’s lied about Black students’ performance in class. So it wasn’t surprising, and it’s about time that we do something about this.”
Soojin Jeong, co-president of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Associated, expressed disappointment in the Penn administration.
“As much as Amy Wax has said these things,” Jegon added, “we also know right now that it is a pattern, as we said in the petition.”
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