A satirical Christmas eve tweet by a Drexel University Professor has stirred up controversy and a furious reaction on the white supremacist “Alt-Right.” KBOO’s Paul Roland has the story:
On Christmas Eve, Drexel University Associate Professor George Ciccariello-Maher sent a satirical tweet, "All I want for Christmas is white genocide." As he explained in a statement published Tuesday, "white genocide is an idea invented by white supremacists and used to denounce everthing from interracial relationships to multicultural policies."
Clearly aimed to tweak the white supremacists who are feeling emboldened by the Trump election, Ciccariello-Maher's tweet unleashed a fury on the so-called "Alt-Right," with Breitbart leading the charge. He has reportedly received over a hundred death threats.
His University, Drexel, in Pennsylvania, initally reprimanded him for the tweet, but is now apparently supporting him after meeting with the professor and clarifying the statement's context and intention.
To get more on this story, I spoke this afternoon with Alexander Reid Ross, a local anti-fascist writer and researcher who currently teaches in the Geography Department at Portland State University.
More info:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/12/28/george-ciccariello-maher-vs-the-white-power-alt-right/
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/12/27/statement-on-my-satirical-christmas-tweet/
- KBOO