ADL Blasts Controversial Pennsylvania Professor for ‘Sluts’ Facebook Post
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A tenured professor at a Pennsylvania university drew strong criticism on Thursday from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which issued a statement condemning his social media posts as “deeply offensive and outrageous.”
Kaukab Siddique, a literature professor at Lincoln University, made derogatory comments toward women regarding rape in a Facebook post earlier this month.
“Many women are sluts,” he wrote, speculating on reasons for the wave of rape allegations against entertainer Bill Cosby.
As of Thursday, the Facebook post appeared to have been removed.
The ADL took issue with his comment. Siddique has been criticized previously by the organization, which aims to combat bigotry, for making public statements denying the Holocaust and promoting anti-Semitism.
“We strongly condemn Professor Kaukab Siddique’s reported remarks targeting the LGBT community, the Jewish community, and women,” said Nancy Baron-Baer, ADL regional director, in a statement.
“Such comments are deeply offensive and outrageous, especially coming from a professor whose statements reflect bigoted stereotypes,” she said.
Siddique could not immediately be reached for comment. In an interview with The Daily Beast this week, he said his remark had been taken out of context.
Lincoln addressed Siddique’s recent posts on Wednesday, saying they do not represent the views of the university.
“Like all faculty members, he is entitled to express his personal views in conversation or in public forums, as long as he does not present such opinions as the views of the University,” the school’s statement said.
Lincoln University, which has about 2,000 students, is an historically black college that dates to 1854.
Located about 50 miles west of Philadelphia, Lincoln’s alumni include the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and poet Langston Hughes.
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