A free speech group has demanded the City of University of New York drop its probe into a professor caught up in a “blatantly racist” hot-mic ordeal — as furious parents insist she should be fired.
Allyson Friedman, an associate professor at Hunter College, has faced intense backlash after she was busted uttering the controversial comments as a black student was voicing concern about the potential shutdown of her school during a Feb. 10 Community Education Council meeting.
“They’re too dumb to know they’re in a bad school,” Friedman said in part while her mic was live, leading to shocked reactions from those on the call.
But the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression publicly defended Friedman on Tuesday soon after CUNY revealed it was reviewing the professor’s remarks.
“FIRE is alarmed at Hunter College’s investigation of Professor Allyson Friedman for her comments at a NYC school district meeting,” the free speech group’s lawyer, Zach Greenberg, said.
“Discussions of systemic racism fall squarely within the First Amendment rights this public college is legally required to uphold. Faculty have the right to discuss political issues off-hours, especially those related to their children’s schooling and local communities.”
Meanwhile, enraged parents, activists and officials called during a Tuesday meeting for Friedman to be ousted from her Hunter gig — arguing the controversial comments proved she had no business teaching anyone.
“It’s unacceptable,” Wendy Liz Martinez, a member of Community Education Council 3, raged.
“She has no business being an educator and shaping the minds of people in any setting.”
