Photo: Getty Images
A Black college professor put one of his white colleagues on blast after she threatened to call the police on him for disagreeing with her online.
Jelani Nelson is a computer science professor at UC Berkeley who called out Stanford University lecture Jo Boaler for her approach to changing math education in California. According to Nelson, Boaler recommended revisions to the state's math curriculum, specifically lowing its rigorousness, to boost "equity." On top of that, Nelson says Boaler charged upwards of $5,000 per hour for her consulting services.
"A @Stanford professor just threatened me with police. After BBQ Becky, Permit Patty, Golfcart Gail, and all the memes, we now have Retweet Rachel. Public advisory: don't call the cops on black people for no reason. Black people disagreeing with you on Twitter is not a crime," Nelson tweeted Tuesday (April 5), attaching screenshots of emails from Boaler threatening to get police involved in the Twitter conversation.
"As a courtesy to a fellow faculty member I wanted to let you know that the sharing of private details about me on social media yesterday is now being taken up by police and lawyers," Boaler wrote in the email. "I was shocked to see that you are taking part in spreading misinformation and harassing me online."
Boaler tweeted a follow-up message, walking back the message from her email to Nelson. Apparently, a separate post, not from Nelson, exposed Boaler's mailing address, but was later deleted.
"I want to apologize for the impression that I had referred you to the authorities or was threatening to. That is not what happened," Boaler wrote. "I referred the original post (not yours) to Twitter because it violated Twitter's policies by revealing my address."
"I did not mention your name to any authorities or to Twitter," Boaler added, stating later, "I'm sorry that my communication wasn't clear."
Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.