Dear Fellow Macroeconomist @haralduhlig,
My friend Bernice's dad & my friend & classmate Angela's uncle was brutally murdered on April 4,1968 at 6:01pm at the Lorraine Motel. Bernice & Angela were 5 & 4 years old. He was a protester. His name was Martin Luther King, Jr. 1/N
My friend Bernice's dad & my friend & classmate Angela's uncle was brutally murdered on April 4,1968 at 6:01pm at the Lorraine Motel. Bernice & Angela were 5 & 4 years old. He was a protester. His name was Martin Luther King, Jr. 1/N
@haralduhlig That day, my uncle’s classmate, Christine King Ferris, lost her brother. And my uncle, Samuel DuBois Cook, lost a best friend, @MorehouseCollege classmate, and fellow intellectual. The Cooks and Kings have been friends and civil rights defenders for 3 generations. 2/N
That day, my cousin, Floyd McKissick, Sr., lost a friend, fellow freedom fighter, and @MorehouseCollege classmate. They were fellow protesters at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. 3/N
King and McKissick, as well as @repjohnlewis, faced constant danger and ubiquitous death threats as protesters who fought for voting rights and the rule of law to be defended for all Americans. I mentioned their collaboration in 1966. 4/N
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twitter.com/search?q=%40dr…
5/N
King, McKissick, @repjohnlewis, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, Diane Nash, Viola Liuzzo, Michael Schwerner, & many others whose names we know or don't know protested & made major sacrifices to protect freedom & the rule of law for you, me & other residents & citizens of the US. 6/N
As Dr. Vivienne Malone-Mayes noted, the work of these protesters also opened many doors for Bernice, Angela, me, their and my siblings, and people in our and succeeding generations. 7/N
I agree with Angela Merkel and @FrankSchlibach that free speech has its limits. It should not be used to spread hatred and violate the dignity of other people. This is how you, Dr. Uhlig, used your words and your power – to spread hate. 8/N
This is the kind of racial harassment my mother faced 50 years ago when integrating the faculty of a college in the Jim Crow South in the 1970's. 9/N
As a protester (at least one protest organized and/or participated in each year in college, incl vs apartheid in S. Africa) & as a child who was beaten & racially harassed while integrating my kindergarten, I find your words reprehensible, hateful & profoundly inappropriate. 10/N
11/N
This is not a philosophical issue. When you disparage MLK, there are real people who are affected: me, Black people and any people who enjoy human rights, your students, or anyone else in ear shot of your comments (and actions). This is real pain you are inflicting. 12/N
I, like others, support your removal as editor of JPE. Plus, I would hope the UC investigation results in removing yr access to students. Racial harassment should be treated like sexual harassment, another means of impeding the free flow of ideas in the economics profession. 13/N
Every day, I am fighting to ensure that my students do not have to fight the battles I have had to fight to be and thrive in the economics profession (see recent coverage in @nytimes or @planetmoney). 14/N
I am hopeful about and working towards the future of economics free from racial, sexual, and other forms of harassment that are harmful to people and ideas.
Respectfully,
Lisa D. Cook
15/N
Respectfully,
Lisa D. Cook
15/N
