One of the most troubling aspects of the Claudine Gay scandal at Harvard (can we call it Gaygate yet?) is the way that her antisemitism and repeated plagiarism have been excused by woke leftists. Last month, the fellows of the Harvard Corporation gave Gay their full confidence, even though students guilty of the same infractions could have their entire academic careers ruined as a result. The double standard is obvious -- yet sadly common -- in a society that has become so obsessed with race.
And let’s not pretend that Gay’s race and gender have had no role in the widespread defense of her from the left, particularly in the wake of her resignation. You’ll notice the recurring theme in their reactions.
"Academic freedom is under attack,” said New York Times Magazine reporter and 1619 Project founder Nikole Hannah-Jones. "Racial justice programs are under attack. Black women will be made to pay. Our so-called allies too often lack any real courage."
Mara Gay of the New York Times must have gotten the same talking points, because she also called the backlash over Claudine Gay’s antisemitism and years of plagiarism an attack on “academic freedom."
"This is really an attack on academic freedom, it’s an attack on people who are pluralists and believe that you should bring people from all over the world together of diverse backgrounds,” Mara Gay whined on MSNBC. "This is an attack on diversity. This is an attack on multiculturalism and on many of the values that a lot of us hold dear. In fact, anybody, really, who is around my age in their 30s, who went to any public, major public university or private university in this country, these are values that are very important. I think that’s why these presidents are under attack. That’s why Claudine Gay was under attack. The fact that she’s a black woman and the first person who is a black American to lead Harvard only added to their thirst to dethrone her.”
"This isn’t about plagiarism or antisemitism,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) claimed on X/Twitter. “This is about racism and intimidation. This makes no one safer. The only winners are fascists who bullied a brilliant & historic Black woman into resignation."
"The next president of Harvard University MUST be a Black woman," Marc Lamont Hill, a presidential professor at CUNY Graduate Center, demanded in a tweet.
And then there’s the Associated Press, which ran an article titled "Harvard president’s resignation highlights new conservative weapon against colleges: plagiarism,” which blamed conservatives for weaponizing her plagiarism against her.
"American higher education has long viewed plagiarism as a cardinal sin. Accusations of academic dishonesty have ruined the careers of faculty and undergraduates alike,” the article began. "The latest target is Harvard President Claudine Gay, who resigned Tuesday. In her case, the outrage came not from her academic peers but her political foes, led by conservatives who put her career under intense scrutiny."
Related: Claudine Gay’s Resignation Won’t Save Harvard
Apparently it was lost on the Associated Press that the lack of scrutiny and outrage over Gay’s plagiarism is the problem, not the conservatives who called her out for it. Frankly, I’m tired of woke liberals who think that you shouldn’t be held accountable for anything if you’re a minority. But this is what the left has become. Gone are the days when a colorblind society was the ultimate goal; we now have to be obsessed with race and have different moral codes for different minority groups in the name of equity—because equality is just so thirty years ago.
But how can our society last if people, regardless of their race or background, are not held to the same standards of conduct? None of Gay’s defenders are even attempting to deny she is guilty of plagiarism; they just think she shouldn’t be held accountable for it because she’s black, a woman, and the first black president of Harvard. We saw the same thing during Obama’s presidency when his policy failings and personal scandals were ignored because it wasn’t enough for him to be the first black president; he had to be seen as successful and scandal-free, even though that didn't match reality.
This is a dangerous path that our country is on because giving preferential treatment based on minority status undermines the pursuit of genuine equality by suggesting that some individuals are exempt from the consequences of their actions, which only fosters more division and, yes, racism.
If our society has a chance of surviving, we need to care more about our shared goals and values rather than obsess over our differences. In other words, we must heed the advice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and judge people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.
