A black MIT professor has walked away from his job because a colleague was not given tenure due to his blackness. What sort of message does this send the students at MIT? Well, for many black students I suspect the message is loud and clear: You don’t need a job. I suppose if James Sherley were to jump off a cliff, Frank Douglas would send out an email explaining his intention to jump off a cliff later in the month as well?

Who is going to pick up the responsibilities he’s leaving behind? Probably James Sherley’s colleagues—some of whom may be white. This is not only a stupid tactic, but it will ultimately have the opposite affect (or effect?) of what was intended. Here’s what will happen:

1. One black man will have no job.
2. One black man will have no job security.
3. Black students have role models who quit.
4. White professors will work hard to pick up slack.
5. White professors will get noticed for their hard work.
6. Whites will look productive, blacks will not.
7. The children of the white professors will be ignored and grow to resent blacks.
8. The wives of the white professors will be left alone while their husbands work…they will cheat, many times with the unemployed black professors.
9. The white professors will resent the cheating black professors.

This is why it’s important for all minorities (not just blacks) to realize that when they are held down it’s often harder for the non-minorities than it is for them. It may be time that whites start to get a little sympathy for years of minority repression.