A Rutgers University professor appears to have reveled in declining birth rates for White people during an online discussion, as she defended the tenets of critical race theory.
Brittney Cooper, 40, talked about the power struggle between Black and White people, touching on statistics that suggest White birth rates are in decline due to economic struggles.
“They literally cannot afford to put their children, newer generations, into the middle class,” Ms. Cooper said. “It’s super perverse, and also they kind of deserve it.”
Ms. Cooper, who is Black, held the discussion with Michael Harriot of The Root, a Black online magazine. It took place in late September, but her comments have drawn renewed attention in recent days.
The women’s and gender studies professor said White people were mad about critical race theory because its teachings are true, and that the academic thesis is a way in which Black people can reclaim power.
Critical race theory centers around the notion that U.S. institutions are inherently racist.
The teachings have been controversial and the subject of parental activism that’s dominated school board meetings across the country.
Ms. Cooper, who led a TED Talk in 2016 dubbed ‘The Racial Politics of Time,’ said it’s difficult to break through the thinking of White people because the importance of holding and exercising power has been embedded into their minds.
“They’re so corrupt. Their thinking is so morally bankrupt about power they fear that this would be existentially letting go of power because they cannot imagine that there is another way to be,” Ms. Cooper said. “It’s either you dominate or be dominated. And isn’t it sad that that is spiritually who they are and they can’t imagine a more expansive notion of the world?”
The professor also made a comment about “taking White people out,” but stopped short of suggesting a violent upheaval.
“The thing I want to say to you is ‘we got to take these motherf***ers out,’ but like we can’t say that,” Ms. Cooper said. She added that she doesn’t believe in the “project of violence.”
“I think in the end our souls suffer from that,” she said about the use of violence.
