Hakeem Jefferson

A colleague at Stanford’s business school used The Stanford Daily to argue—poorly—against DEI. The piece was riddled with historical errors and left one searching for fact, so I broke my public writing hiatus to respond.

I hope you’ll read and share the piece.

stanforddaily.com/2025/04/22/w...

What DEI threatens isn’t merit. It’s monopoly.

Political science professor Hakeem Jefferson argues for DEI's importance to de-monopolizing universities.

It is simply not enough for universities to say, “Our grants & research offices are looking into how research will be affected by the latest directive.”

University leaders must actively and very publicly make the case for the kind of work many of us do. The silence on this front is deafening.

The Trump-Vance embrace of Daniel Penny isn't just about "law and order" — it's white identity politics. A defense of a racial hierarchy where Penny can kill a Black man on a train and face no consequences. They're reminding us they want to preserve this status quo.

If the government can “deport” you for having beliefs they don’t like, none of us is free. Call it what you want, but it sure as shit ain’t democracy.

Even when they show signs of weakness or forced regret, we must not give an inch. Authoritarian governments still respond to public opinion, which is why sustained pressure matters. We have to keep making clear that these thuggish actions are unconscionable and will not be tolerated. Don’t let up.

As outgoing as I am, I really do try to mind my own business.

But let’s be clear: it’s a rare occasion that I’ll hear an old white man call Kamala Harris “dumber than a cow” & “Willie Brown’s mistress” without going off.

Sexist piece of shit. Told him he couldn’t wipe Harris’s dirty shoes.

I think a lot abt how marginalized people are expected to be perfect just to be treated w/ basic dignity, just to access legal protection. But democracy can’t mean rights for the respectable few. It has to mean fair and just treatment even for those seen as least deserving. That’s the real test.

I grew up in rural South Carolina with a single mom who worked multiple jobs. At times, we relied on Medicaid and SNAP—like so many others. My heart breaks for those now wondering if that help will still be there.

Imagine having all that power and choosing to make people’s lives worse.

Shameful.

Let me say this again:

If a president can illegally deport someone, conspire with that country’s leader to abandon them to human rights abuses, and face no consequences, we are in a hellish authoritarian moment. What a fucking evil, illiberal government this is.

One reason this government can so easily frame protesters as terrorists is that others—including some at universities—have already laid the groundwork. When we treat students engaged in constitutionally protected speech like criminals, we make it easier for authoritarian governments to do the same.

Laura Seay @texasinafrica.bsky.social

Before Mahmoud Khalil's detention last week, ICE came for a Columbia PhD student. She had nothing to do with the Gaza protests, but was arrested last spring during a roundup while trying to walk home. Charges were dismissed. The State Department still revoked her visa.

How a Columbia Student Fled to Canada After ICE Came Looking for Her

Ranjani Srinivasan’s student visa was revoked by U.S. immigration authorities. That was just the start of her odyssey.

If this administration reminds of nothing else, it makes clear something I say all the time: race is the central organizing feature of American politics and American life. Nothing else comes close.

These fools can’t even talk about a tragic plane crash without talking about “DEI.”

I couldn’t write a more eye-opening lecture on race and white identity politics than what this administration is offering in its differential treatment of Afrikaners versus every other refugee or immigrant group.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com

Q: There are many people who fit the criteria of fleeing persecution. Afghans for example. But they're being denied refugee status. So why such an exception for the Afrikaners? TRUMP ADMIN OFFICIAL: One of the criteria is making sure they can be assimilated easily into our country

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Every chance you get, say “fuck you” to authoritarian demands. One of the regime’s tools is making people believe resistance is futile—that acquiescence is the only option. But especially for those with power and privilege, the most basic, necessary act is to say: FUCK YOU.

Here’s the reality: This government—despite what they’d have us believe—cannot simply do whatever it wants. The moment we accept that bullshit, we become complicit in this blatantly authoritarian move by the president and his administration.

With a loud, collective voice, we must say: fuck this!

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social

UPDATE—Mahmoud's attorney says they do NOT know where he is. They were first told he was sent to an ICE facility in Elizabeth, NJ. But when his 8-month-pregnant wife tried to visit him, she was told he's not there. They've received reports he may be sent as far away as Louisiana.

A Nazi Tattoo Exposes Democrats’ Greatest Weakness www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...

@tressiemcphd.bsky.social is unmatched. Read her latest piece—and everything else she writes.

FWIW, I don’t think the major problem in my field, or related ones, is that people need to move faster & produce more.

I read a lot of papers as part of the job, and I’m increasingly convinced we’d benefit from fewer papers and better ones, not more mediocre work produced ever more “efficiently.”

If the Voting Rights Act is rightly seen by many of us as the real beginning of American democracy, then it is fitting that a Court hell-bent on undoing democratic rule, including granting the president king-like powers, would seek to dismantle it.

It’s really important to keep saying the obvious part out loud: this administration is advancing a white supremacist project that’s been long in the making. Their problem isn’t just with democracy. It’s with multiracial democracy, specifically.

Senator Scott Wiener @scottwiener.bsky.social

Like my family, Miller’s family came here during the waves of Jews fleeing violence. Now he says immigrants come here for “baby mill motels.” Back then, nativists hated Jews & Italians. Now nativist racists like Miller hate Black & brown people, as they welcome in white people from South Africa.

Claudine Gay responds, and she’s spot on:

“It is not lost on me that I make an ideal canvas for projecting every anxiety about the generational and demographic changes unfolding on American campuses: a Black woman selected to lead a storied institution.”

www.nytimes.com/2024/01/03/o...

Opinion | Claudine Gay: What Just Happened at Harvard Is Bigger Than Me

The demagogues won’t stop with Harvard.

I’ve been interested in political speeches for as long as I can remember. I’ve listened to nearly every inaugural and major address, and I’ve given tons of public speeches myself.

Zohran’s talent in this arena ranks among the best. He’s damn good. Hella good. Remarkably good.

Crazy to watch.

Coates is always worth reading.

apple.news/AEP72W5oLQW6...

Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app

Ta-Nehisi has a way of clarifying things. So good to read him today. It’s in Vanity Fair but I got past the paywall by using Apple News.

“The Homeland” Is War on America: The Blood-and-Soil Nationalism That Killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti — Vanity Fair

In the time following 9/11, even conservatives voiced skepticism of the proposed Department of Homeland Security, writes Ta-Nehisi Coates. Now, Trump seeks to cleanse, purge, and expand this so-called...

Let’s be clear:

If the government can arrest, detain, and disappear peaceful protestors, none of us are free.

That’s not law and order. It’s fascism. And we should all be outraged that this is being done in our name.

A reminder today that no one—not even those at elite privates—are safe from extreme right wing attempts to remake universities in their image.

And for those of us who dare to engage in public facing work, the risks of doing so have rarely been higher.

The msg: “Cross us and we will come for you.”

“Decades of political science research show that societies that are open & pluralistic, w/ high levels of both individual & political rights, are more prosperous, more peaceful & more effective than autocracies that are closed and stagnant.”

Winners of poli sci top prize speak out.