Enough is enough. The press must be held accountable
The recent death of Dr. Jason Arday, the youngest black person to ever become a Cambridge professor has, yet again, highlighted the issues others have towards people of colour.
In case you have not heard, this is what happened: a few weeks ago, the media reported that Dr. Arday had allegedly plagiarised some of his writings and made false claims about his life.ย This should have been looked into by his employer, the University of Cambridge, and his publishers. In a situation like this, the press ought to report the story to the extent that it is of reasonable public interest. However, what they did was create a huge scandal, amplifying racist and prejudiced voices both within and outside academia, which relentlessly hounded Dr. Arday, even when the matter no longer concerned the general public.
Shortly after the University of Cambridge announced an investigation into his appointment, Dr. Arday resigned. The attacks did not stop, despite the warning by multiple experts about the higher...