The College Fix

Scholar argues remarks were taken out of context

A scholar who specializes in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion who made the comment that “whites are psychopaths” during a recent guest lecture at the University of California San Francisco has drawn outrage and scrutiny.

The Feb. 8 lecture, held as part of the school’s Black History Month events, featured DEI expert Dante King and was titled “Diagnosing Whiteness and Anti-Blackness: White Psychopathology, Collective Psychosis and Trauma in America.”

“This talk will overview King’s upcoming course and book, and center on the development, construction, and functionality of race and racism as psychopathology, psychopathy, and sociopathy,” according to the university’s online description of the talk.

Young America’s Foundation obtained a recording of the nearly two-hour lecture and on Feb. 9 posted an edited highlight reel from the talk on X, which quickly went viral.

Many comments were critical of the scholar’s lecture, which also argued that “whiteness” is rife with “delusions” and “perversion.” He also said the law allows for the rape of black women.

.@UCSF invited Dante King to speak on "Diagnosing Whiteness."

He claims that "whites are psychopaths" and that white people "have it written in the law you can rape black women." He also makes excuses for black teenagers who commit violent crimes.

This is the modern university. pic.twitter.com/EzVlliZPR9

— YAF (@yaf) February 9, 2024

YAF reported that King said during his talk:

“Whites are psychopaths,” King said. “And their behavior represents an underlying, biologically transmitted proclivity with roots deep in their evolutionary history.”

“There is no discussion about the delusions and the perversion of whiteness. Say this with me: rape culture in America is a legal, economic, and moral institution. So we’re going to, ‘we have it written in the law, you can rape black women – but we’ve never been a racist country!’”

Later in his speech, King criticized Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ efforts to remove the Left’s racial division agenda from public schools and universities within the state.

Quoting DeSantis, King read, “In Florida, we’re taking a stand against the state-sanctioned racism that is Critical Race Theory. We won’t allow for the tax dollars to be spent teaching kids to hate our country, or to hate each other.” King then sarcastically interjected, “Only to hate black people, we will invest dollars in that.”

Breaking News Network reported that UCSF and King have defended themselves:

UCSF released a statement acknowledging the controversy and emphasizing their commitment to promoting open dialogue and diverse perspectives. However, they did not directly address the content of King’s speech or the specific concerns raised by his critics.

King, for his part, has defended his remarks, stating that they were taken out of context and that his goal is to examine and educate about the legal construction of colonial and post-colonial America. He maintains that his speech was intended to provoke thought and discussion, not to incite hatred or division.

Fox News also received a statement from King:

[King’s representatives] provided notes for his presentation citing three state Supreme Court decisions from 1855, 1859 and 1918 that King claims allow for the rape of Black women. The notes also cited multiple state laws between 1802 and 1858 that “specifically focused on protecting White women.”

His notes did not cite a state law that specifically allowed for the rape of Black women, though he wrote that “Black women and non-white women were exempted from these rape statutes and laws.”

He is scheduled to speak again at UCSF in March to discuss “understanding racism.” YAF has filed a public records request to learn how much the university has paid King.

MORE: Black university lecturer won’t take daughter to ‘Barbie’ due to its ‘unintentional whiteness’

IMAGE: YAF X screenshot

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