At a debate organized by a conservative think tank, New York University professor Lawrence Mead, who has been criticized by colleagues for his racial comments, made more racist remarks.
Lawrence Mead is a professor of politics at New York University’s College of Arts and Sciences. (Image via C-SPAN)
New York University political science professor Lawrence Mead has come under fire for racist comments he made during a panel discussion last month organized by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has been designated a hate group. During the event, Mead attributed the high poverty rate in the United States to cultural differences. The professor has courted controversy in the past for his work in the past, drawing criticism from outside colleagues and administrators.
On a panel titled “Cultural Impact of Immigration,” Mead said life in “non-Western” countries is focused on survival rather than achievement, arguing that some “non-Western” societies prefer to be told what to do instead. leading. He also talked about the need to limit legal migration to the United States.
John Beckman, a spokesman for New York University, said that while the university recognizes the right of its faculty members to free speech, Mead’s remarks are contrary to the university’s values. Mead continues to teach at the university.
“In general, it is customary at the university not to comment on the writings and statements of faculty members,” Beckman wrote to WSN. “However, if the remarks are as odious, misguided and disturbing as the broad cultural characterizations offered by Professor Mead of the Center for Immigration Studies, they should be called as such and disavowed.”
The Center for Immigration Studies—the nonprofit organization that organized the debate in which Mead participated—co-founded eugenics and white nationalist John Tanton, and was called an anti-immigrant hate group.
In an interview with WSN, Mead addressed the comments he made at the debate and again made several racially charged statements. He said the cultural upbringing and environment of some minority groups fosters a “survival mindset” and, in particular, that low-income black people have a “short-term” psychology.
“Black and Latino people have a tremendous amount of privilege that regular white people don’t have because there’s such a desperate desire for them to be successful or to be seen as such,” Mead said. “There is such a desperate desire for them to be successful or appear to be. So they get a good job without having to compete for it.”
Other NYU politics professors have made controversial remarks about race in the recent past. David Denoon, Professor of Politics and Economics, said in a 2021 interview of Nikkei Asia said claims of widespread anti-Asian sentiment in the US were “misinformation or an attempt to create ethnic friction”. Denoon’s remarks followed a series of violent incidents targeting Asian communities in previous months.
Mead has made comments about immigrants and other groups in the past. In his 2019 book, The Burdens of Freedom: Cultural Difference and American Power, Mead argues that the greatest problems facing the United States are the result of “non-Western” cultures. He also argues that immigrants and people from lower socioeconomic classes are less motivated than what he calls “the norm.”
In 2020, Mead argued that racism and lack of jobs were not the cause of long-term poverty and that minority groups struggle to get ahead because of their “non-Western culture”. The journal Society, which published the article, later retracted it backlash from academicsand some called for Mead’s termination.
Mead said he is a “well-known figure in Washington,” adding that if Republicans take control of the House in the 2022 midterm elections, he intends to exert his political influence on welfare-related issues.
Contact Logan Wong at [email protected]
