I have gotten death threats from people who don't like what I have to say in the media and on twitter. People were able to target me because they knew my name, because I don't hide behind a pseudonym.

Anonymous trolls are some of the biggest cowards on the planet.

So many anonymous trolls are white supremacists yelping from the shadows about how unfair the world is because increasingly people are rejecting a social order that puts them on top.

And also some of them are paid shills from a political farm.

I work at a public university which means that the First Amendment applies to our employment.

Challenging academic freedom/freedom of speech might seem like a good idea in the moment but comes with serious risks for feminist and anti-racist faculty. Tread with caution.

Importantly, the first amendment does not mean that it is legal to violate Title VI (discrim against protected classes in programs receiving federal funding), Title VII (employment), or Title IX (gender discrim).

But remember who is in charge of interpreting these laws now.

University of New Hampshire has fewer Black faculty (tenure track and lecturers) in 2020 than it did in 2004. The Department of Physics has taken clear steps that shows it really cares about changing this, and I hope UNH higher administration supports us fully in our efforts.

I believe a faculty member retweeting revenge porn (for example, nude photos of Katie Hill) in a place where students can see it is a possible Title IX violation.

A faculty member tweeting harassing comments about trans people and comparing any of their non-violent activities to rape (for example) is also a possible Title IX violation and indicates a bias against trans students. I wonder also if it is a violation of UNH policy.

It's easy to point to public examples of white supremacy in academia and make a scene about a specific institution, but I've worked for several universities and they all had white supremacists on campus and were all structurally racist. Your school isn't exempt.

It's easy to point fingers at the conditions elsewhere, to say "oh look at how bad your conditions are!"

Make sure you're doing that work on the conditions around you.

Make sure you're showing concern for the victims and not just using a bad story to make yourself feel better.

Some people get caught being white supremacists on twitter. But some white supremacists are people with tenure who don't have twitter. Some of them are high level administrators: deans, provosts, chancellors, and presidents.

And you don't need to be actively white supremacist to help maintain a system that is structurally white supremacist, where Black applicants have a harder time getting a job than white people with similar CVs. Where people continue to pretend we don't live in the wake of slavery.

Also, just because a department hires a Black person does not mean that things are all good -- even a department that is trying can have a ways to go.

What I can't stop thinking about is Senator Joe Keene, Jr. on The Watchmen. In public, he's all for supporting Black folks. In private? He's the leader of the Seventh Kavalry.

We Black folks, in real life, never know when someone has a hood (or its equivalent) in their closet.

Annnnd let me say this more directly: I, an actual woman of color (and child of immigrants) STEM faculty member, do not believe in violating collective bargaining agreements (and other employment rules governing my employer) just bc Tweeps think that this time it is a good idea. https://twitter.com/ibjiyongi/status/1311383552420872199

Let’s talk about the time a white woman grad student *at another school* filed a complaint with our affirmative action office because she didn’t like me asking her on Twitter to stop misrepresenting a Black scholar.

Imagine if the situation was such that the UNH administration — which is almost entirely white and at senior ranks overwhelmingly male — felt entitled to fire people on a whim because they don’t like their tweets.

No, friends.

What should happen though is that Chapman should be removed from all responsibilities that involve contact with students and there should be a thorough investigation into how his Twitter and in-person activities contributed to structural discrimination.

I’m actually tired of people who don’t understand the consequences of their requests — especially people who are not directly impacted as members of the UNH community — making demands that are illegal and make working at UNH *even more risky for people of color.*

The question people should be asking is what people didn’t get hired in the search where Chemistry chose Chapman? What scholars of color and immigrant scholars is UNH missing out on? Is the administration doing all it can to bring them to campus?

I actually have to go back to work now because I lost work hours yesterday and today to both this situation and other issues. I love that all of the conversations have been with extremely supportive colleagues in physics. I hate that our time is being used like this.