We may assume that what happens at a university has the highest pursuit of knowledge as its inspiration, but the presence of racism has long roots within the university. In the same way that the civil war and constitutional amendments did not end Jim Crow laws, the civil liberties movement has not ended overt and covert racism from organizing on campus or through the administration and appointees of the state. It may take complex forms, but at the root of the conflict is the implicit acceptance of capitalism and the competition for jobs through racial groups.

Racial stereotypes exist as facts, in the sense that a reference to such a stereotype does not escape detection. We do not need to accept excuses, such as someone claiming personal experience with a particular race or someone claiming to innocently describe a specific individual character who just happens to belong to that hated race. In that sense, we can demand a measure of objectivity.

In the particular case of the racism of the University professor at the University of Michigan, the professor had to give up on the class. The students felt united in their opposition to the offense, but the professor will continue to teach at the University and his tenure remain protected. This may suffice if the teacher returns for training in sensitivity to racial stereotypes. The party’s defense of this professor’s “academic freedom”, a professor who has no relationship with the party, contrasts with its complete silence on the case of an SSE faculty advisor and tenured professor at Rutgers University. When a fascist paper, the Daily Caller, published Facebook posts from Dr. James Livingston, Rutgers University immediately moved to remove his tenure and have him fired. An appeal and a defense from FIRE reversed the decision, and he continues to teach and write and publish books. Yet the WSWS, despite letters written in to make them aware of the situation, did nothing to stand up for the former SSE faculty advisor. To betray a professor in the midst of a national scandal shows, not respect for academic rights, but a prostration before the far right that cannot stand at the leadership even of a nominally revolutionary party.