Drexel University reprimanded a professor after he reportedly tweeted apparent support for “white genocide” on Christmas Eve.
“All I Want for Christmas is White Genocide,” associate professor of politics and global studies George Ciccariello-Maher tweeted on Saturday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The following day he tweeted, “To clarify: when the whites were massacred during the Haitian revolution, that was a good thing indeed.”
On Sunday, Drexel issued a statement saying: “While the University recognizes the right of its faculty to freely express their thoughts and opinions in public debate, Professor Ciccariello-Maher’s comments are utterly reprehensible, deeply disturbing, and do not in any way reflect the values of the University. The University is taking this situation very seriously. We contacted Ciccariello-Maher today to arrange a meeting to discuss this matter in detail.”
Ciccariello-Maher told the Inquirer that his inflammatory tweet was meant in jest.
“On Christmas Eve, I sent a satirical tweet about an imaginary concept, ‘white genocide,’” he told the newspaper. “For those who haven’t bothered to do their research, ‘white genocide’ is an idea invented by white supremacists and used to denounce everything from interracial relationships to multicultural policies … It is a figment of the racist imagination, it should be mocked, and I’m glad to have mocked it.”
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Write to Tessa Berenson Rogers at tessa.Rogers@time.com