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Professor in NY Times Op-Ed: I'll Teach My Children to Be 'Cautious,' 'Distrust' Friendship With White People

Ekow N. Yankah / YouTube
November 13, 2017

In a Sunday New York Times op-ed, a law school professor wrote he will teach his young children to distrust those of another race.

"Can My Children Be Friends With White People?" asked Ekow N. Yankah, a professor of law at Yeshiva University's Cardozo School of Law in New York City.

The law professor's op-ed centers on the question of whether his kids can be friends with white people, and he expresses "profound doubt" they can be.

"Donald Trump’s election has made it clear that I will teach my boys the lesson generations old, one that I for the most part nearly escaped. I will teach them to be cautious, I will teach them suspicion, and I will teach them distrust," wrote Yankah.

"Much sooner than I thought I would, I will have to discuss with my boys whether they can truly be friends with white people," he continued.

Yankah argued that real friendship requires trust and caring for one another's well-being, something he says is not possible between "White Trump supporters and people of color."

"The desire to create, maintain or wield power over others destroys the possibility of friendship," Yankah wrote.

"I will teach my boys to have profound doubts that friendship with white people is possible," he concluded. "When they ask, I will teach my sons that their beautiful hue is a fault line."

He clarified that he did not espouse such views with "glee."

"I do not write this with liberal condescension or glee," Yankah wrote. "My heart is unbearably heavy when I assure you we cannot be friends."

The op-ed was met with substantial criticism on social media, including from other professors.

"Teaching kids to be suspicious of kids of other races is illiberal, is against MLK’s vision, [and] borders on child abuse," wrote Yale professor Nicholas A. Christakis‏.

"Teaching your four year-old not to be friends with white people isn’t woke; it’s racist," responded Harvard lecturer Yascha Mounk‏. "The left needs to defend, not attack, multiethnic democracy."

Published under: New York Times