(Photo by Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 5:30 PM PT – Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Barnard College of Columbia University in New York has come under fire after one of its professors spoke about “blowing up” and “gassing” white people in what he called a possible “race war.”
AUDIO: Author Ben Philippe talks to CBC about his book, where he writes about trapping white people in a room, where they would then be blown up and gassed. pic.twitter.com/HdZ5yyzgVM
— Roberto Wakerell-Cruz ✝️ (@Robertopedia) April 26, 2021
In his recent book, English & Film Studies Assistant Professor Ben Philippe wrote that he would gather “white people” for a meeting of “healing unity” and then stage an explosion as well as a chemical attack against them.
The author claimed, free speech allowed him to make such remarks.
“Actually fun fact, that section used to be so much longer, so, thank you to my editor for condensing it,” Phillipe said. “I went into this advanced world building of what that race war could look like. And they were just like, ‘no maybe just half a page.’”
Hot Off the Press: @BookRiot rolls out the need-to-read book releases this week, including Sure, I’ll Be Your Black Friend by Ben Philippe and other anticipated titles.@gohomeben #books #publishing https://t.co/buYDzWtReI
— Pubdeets: (@pubdeets) April 27, 2021
Philippe went on to say, he was just “trying to take the state of the world to its logical conclusion.”
“If we all have to exist in this common land together and we can’t get along and we can’t heal, if it’s always gonna be: Us versus them — define the ‘us,’ [and] define the ‘them’ however you want,” Phillipe claimed. “Then, I was wrestling the question that: Isn’t the end result just all-out warfare? Like, ‘Game of Thrones’ style warfare?”
The English & Film Studies instructor added, the section was disturbing to write because he is “not a violent person” and he “loves all of” his white friends.
However, an excerpt from his book reads: “I’ll smile as we raise glasses to your good, white health while the detonator blinks under the table, knowing the exits are locked and the air vents fill with gas.”
Barnard College is now facing calls to hold Philippe accountable for unethical behavior, which includes his calls for racially motivated violence.
