'To abolish Whiteness is to abolish White people' lecture goes viral

A video clip that reportedly shows University of California, Berkeley, Professor Zeus Leonardo saying that "to abolish Whiteness is to abolish White people" is currently going viral.

The viral clip appears to come from a 2007 lecture titled "Teaching Whiteness in a Multicultural Context and Color-blind Era" in which the professor asked the rhetorical question, “Is it worth it to be White anymore?”

During the lecture, he argued that since White people "depend" on "Whiteness," if the latter is undercut or abolished, then the entire concept of "White people" is erased.

This is not the first time that Leonardo has been criticized for his views on White people.

The California professor previously came under fire for allegedly making similar remarks when teaching a Whiteness Studies course, namely that “white people are born human” and that they have to be “abused” into becoming White.

Leonardo "engages critical theories to inform his analysis of the relationship between schooling and social relations, such as race, class, culture, and gender," according to his university profile.

Berkeley’s Assistant Vice-Chancellor of the Office of Communications and Public Affairs Dan Mogulof told Campus Reform via email that Leonardo is legally protected by his first amendment right to free speech.

“At the same time, individual employees, including faculty, do not speak for or represent the values, perspectives or positions of the University," Mogulof wrote.

“We believe in diversity of perspective. We [don't] tell people what to believe, or punish them for what they believe in or express, but that’s not to say that the contents of a given individual’s beliefs, or expression, are consistent with our Principles of Community, that capture many of our foundational values in this regard,” the university administrator added.

Leonardo has authored numerous essays including "Critical Social Theory and Transformative Knowledge," "The Souls of White Folk," "The Color of Supremacy," "Contracting Race," and...

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