Last week, Clemson University assistant professor Bart Knijnenburg took to Facebook to say, “All Trump supporters, nay, all Republicans, are racist scum.”
Apparently a native of Western Europe (he attended a university in the Netherlands), the professor was not done there. As National Review pointed out, Knijnenburg’s Facebook post went on to say that white supremacy should be opposed through “violent or non-violent” means, and the post included a meme of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet discussing how their “favorite day” is “the day we burn this motherf***** to the ground.” And according to Fitsnews, in another post, he wrote, “It’s not time to ‘reunite,’ ‘start a dialogue,’ or ‘find peace…It is time to eradicate racism by any means necessary.”
To recap, an employee of the state of South Carolina with a taxpayer-funded salary took to social media to say that everyone who supports the President of the United States is “racist scum” and that, essentially, the time for talking is over, it’s time to use violence to oppose anyone who you think may disagree with you, including any Republican.
The best response Clemson could muster was a press release from their V.P. of University Relations that read:
The university is aware of remarks attributed to a Clemson faculty member, which appear to have come from his personal Facebook account, and is looking into the matter. The remarks in question are not reflective of the university’s views. The university has consistently made it clear that expressions condoning or advocating violence or hatred have no place on this, or any, college campus.
One of the ironies of this situation is that Knijnenburg is an assistant professor of “human-centered computing” who purports to be an expert at teaching students the wise and appropriate use of social media. His LinkedIn profile asks this question: “Should I post this on Facebook or not?” Calling out this irony, Katherine Timpf wrote in the National Review,
It’s rich, isn’t it? Here’s a guy who’s bragging about having the tools to help people figure out whether or not they should post something on Facebook, and yet he’s out there posting things that clearly have the potential to damage his career. Knijnenburg claims that he has devoted his professional life to trying to “understand the psychological principles behind . . . online decisions,” and all I can think about is how much I’d like a slightly more qualified professional to help me understand his.
Another irony in Clemson’s response is that two years ago its head football coach, Dabo Swinney, agreed to accept an award from the Palmetto Family Council, a faith-based nonprofit that advocates for conservative principles in the public square. PFC supports the sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage as part of their sincerely-held beliefs. PFC didn’t call for violence. They called no one scum, and they didn’t post memes suggesting anything or anyone should be burnt to the ground. And Swinney certainly didn’t. Yet, when he agreed to accept the PFC’s award on behalf of his All-In Foundation, a firestorm ensued, and the media predictably pushed the narrative that Coach was supporting a hate group. Clemson University gave Swinney zero air cover, and Swinney ultimately rescinded his acceptance of the award and his appearance at PFC’s dinner.
In other words, one school employee cannot go to a private event on behalf of his private foundation because that event is hosted by a Christian organization who publicly says what it believes, but an assistant professor who advocates violence and anarchy can say whatever he wants on his private Facebook page. Why? Because like so many other institutions that once stood for something, Clemson University apparently values political correctness over justice.
(News Analysis)
