Professor Watchlist

Dr. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor is a Professor in the Department of African-American Studies at Princeton University. According to her University biography, Dr. Taylor is a scholar of racial inequity in public policymaking, and writes “extensively” about race, politics, and “radical activism.”

As a Professor and political commentator, Dr. Taylor offers her opinion across a wide variety of social media platforms and media outlets. She is known to condemn capitalism, the United States, and Israel while lauding socialism and the Soviet Union.

On her personal Twitter account, Dr. Taylor smears Israel as a racial, apartheid state that actively commits genocide against Arabs in the Middle East. In one tweet, she alleges that Israel is attempting to “annihilate” Palestine:

The consequence of apartheid is not separation, it’s annihilation. End the occupation, free Palestine https://t.co/2jUOpL3oBq

— Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (@KeeangaYamahtta) May 12, 2021

 

In another post, she flagrantly alleges that Israel is engaged in the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank and Gaza, despite the resident Arab population quadrupling since 1948,

What we are witnessing is not the “eviction” of Palestinians from their homes. This is ethnic cleansing. This is the most basic expression of settler colonialism. This is the illegal and immoral expulsion of Palestinians with the expectation they are “accepted” elsewhere. https://t.co/erLUdzIdP8

— Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (@KeeangaYamahtta) May 12, 2021

 

Dr. Taylor likewise alleges the United States is a brutally racist and oppressive society. In an article for the Marxist publication, Jacobin, she depicts racism as foundational to the United States.

A frequent critic of policing, which she views as systemic racism embedded in the United States, Dr. Taylor lauds the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement as a “liberation struggle.” With communist, vice-presidential candidate, and Black Panther Party member, Angela Davis, writing the forward, Dr. Taylor’s book—From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation—she praises the movement for having “awakened a new generation of activists” that will fight for “black liberation.”

BLM was founded following the death of Treyvon Martin and the trial of George Zimmerman for his murder. After a jury acquitted Zimmerman in 2013, Patrice Cullors joined with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi to found an organization, as stated on its website.

“….whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on black communities by the state and vigilantes.” 

BLM came to further prominence following the riots in Ferguson, Missouri in reaction to the acquittal of police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting of robbery suspect, Michael Brown. Although later determined that Brown had attacked the officer, BLM was instrumental in spreading the lie that Brown was shot at point-blank range with his hands raised.

To learn more about Patrisse Cullors, visit her profile on the Professor Watchlist.

In an interview with the progressive news outlet, DemocracyNow, in June of 2020, Dr. Taylor praises the BLM movement’s fight against systemic racism, stating that our nation is witnessing an “uprising” against “racial terrorism” being inflicted upon black Americans by police officers.

 

According to a study conducted by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), BLM can be linked to 95% of the riots around the country–notably in Summer 2020 following the death of George Floyd. In an analysis of the study, The Federalist found, “of the 633 incidents coded as riots, 88 percent are recorded as involving Black Lives Matter Activists.” The resulting riots were the largest in American history, causing an estimated $2 billion in damages and 47 deaths.

 

In separate Twitter posts, Dr. Taylor has condemned capitalism as being inherently exploitative while promoting the merits of socialism.

There is no good US capitalism. The so called golden age of capitalism relied on shackling women to the home, bolting LGBT people in the closet, restricting immigration to Europeans, & segregating Black people into resource starved enclaves. Capitalism has always been the problem

— Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (@KeeangaYamahtta) June 28, 2019

Sequins are not too good for the working class! Socialism is about sharing the abundance not accepting the false idea of scarcity. https://t.co/Yd025LUrYd

— Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (@KeeangaYamahtta) February 22, 2020

 

Dr. Taylor’s positive view on socialism extends to the embrace of communist dictatorships. While attending the “This is Socialism!” conference in 2017, Dr. Taylor delivered a speech that praised the Russian Revolution for its inspiration towards American communists and “revolution” against capitalism.

 

Despite her praise, the Bolshevik Revolution and the resulting formation of the Soviet Union cost millions of lives. Upon overthrowing the Russian government in October 1917, Vladimir Lenin immediately set up a series of concentration camps for political prisoners and led the Soviet secret police in a brutal crackdown known as the “Red Terror.” As many as one million people perished before the carnage ended with the cessation of the Russian Civil War in 1921. Over the course of the USSR’s existence, as many as 60 million people perished under Soviet rule.

In recognition of her work, Dr. Taylor was awarded a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Award in 2021. The foundation grants $625,000 for each recipient’s “exceptional creativity” and “track record of significant accomplishments.”

 

 Students and Parents may contact the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University at (609) 258-4270 or [email protected]

 

Updated – November 19, 2021