Where Are All The Black Academics On The Dr. Madonna Constantine Case?
Dr. Madonna Constantine was fired from Teacher's College at Columbia University on Monday. Constantine came into the national spotlight when a noose was hung from her office door on the New York City campus. When the case was being investigated by authorities, the fact that Dr. Constantine was under fire for charges of plagiarism became national news as well.
In February, Constantine was sanctioned by Columbia for plagiarism, but not dismissed. Now suddenly, four months later Constantine has been dismissed from her tenured position at the university. Constantine may or may not have committed plagiarism, but I am highly concerned at the near silence of black academics in this case.
Why aren't black academics asking any questions or even raising the issue? She was a black female tenured professor at an Ivy League institution and got dismissed. White academics fight for their own all the time. White academics have lied, plagiarized, said offensive things and they have always found a group of colleagues willing to support or defend them. Where are the black academics in this case?
If Dr. Constantine is guilty, she deserves to be out on her ear, but as black academics don't we have the responsibility to make sure she received due process in the academic system and was not harshly punished, railroaded or retaliated against?
