Comment on Racism Pushed Jason Arday to the Top of the News Agenda
ohulancutash@feddit.uk 1 day ago
I’d argue it was his extraordinary claims, such as running 600 miles in 6 days or completing 4 marathons on consecutive days with a hairline leg fracture. Catnip for subeditors.
tenebrisnox@feddit.uk 1 day ago
Really? Nothing to do with being black and autistic? Or that the campaign against him was launched by Nathan Cofnas, the “race realist” who dowsn’t believe that black people are intelligent enough to hold academic positions and the promoted by right-wing lobbyists? Really?
ohulancutash@feddit.uk 1 day ago
Cofnas wasn’t connected to the investigative reporting by Times Higher Education last autumn which found 68 pages of comparison between Arday’s papers and his students’ - with typos intact. It also uncoveed evidence he had falsified a medical study he authored. The piece was spiked following a SLAPP threat from notorious lawfare firm Carter-Ruck, on instructions from Arday.
The first Cambridge investigation made the mistake of discounting the allegations against Arday because the complaint had been brought by another racist. This despite the investigation having found copious corroborative evidence from Arday’s colleagues, who were deeply concerned by his comduct.
tenebrisnox@feddit.uk 18 hours ago
Can you give me examples of another academic who has suffered similar levels of witch hunt by the British media? Or are there really no other academics who do stuff like this? You know as well as I do why the witch hunt was as relentless as it was.
Even when Arday resigned his post, the witch hunt continued. I’ve heard that there journalists talked about Arday killing himself long before he did. The focus should be on the process of Arday’s appointment. It wasn’t Arday’s alleged plaigarism or alleged fantasisings that caused the media witch hunt: it was because he was lauded for being young, autistic and black. Racists can’t stand stuff like.
ohulancutash@feddit.uk 7 hours ago
Can you give me another academic that’s such a Walter Mitty? His bizarre extreme claimed lifestory played a big part in the media coverage - it is silly season after all - and I can’t think of an academic like that but you may remember the case a few years ago of Nicholas Rossi, the American fugitive rapist found on a Covid ward in Scotland who fought extradition by claiming he was Irishman Arthur Knight, never even visited the US. The outlandish claims and behaviour magnified coverage of that case much as it magnified the Arday affair.
And yeah, race was a factor in the Arday case, the Heil and Telegraph can’t help themselves, but there are more sober issues which should be discussed openly - why were Arday’s colleagues, who had serious concerns - unwilling to come forward with complaints lest they be labelled as racist? Why did it take vile racists to actually get the institution to look into the matter? Isn’t something broken here?
iocase@lemmy.zip 20 hours ago
This is why it’s not Ardays fault but the people who are responsible for verifying the background of the person they hired, and maintaining academic integrity. He should never have been in that position to begin with if they had even bothered to do their jobs right.
ohulancutash@feddit.uk 8 hours ago
Oh it’s Arday’s fault for ripping off his students and committing academic fraud. Completely on him.
It’s the College’s and University’s fault for Blackwashing and promoting someone to a position they didn’t deserve to get good publicity. Also their fault for offhandedly dismissing complaints about him as racism.
It’s the media’s fault for overexposing the story, though it’s silly season and a perfect silly story.
tenebrisnox@feddit.uk 18 hours ago
Agree. People who are essentially racists and hung up on their obsession with so-called DEI appointments are going to continue to focus on Arday’s shortcomings rather than this. But to go back to the original subject of this thread: it is the racist, anti-DEI mob that hounded Arday to his death.