“Anti-racist” author and diversity consultant Ibram Kendi attacked Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barett Saturday by suggesting that Barrett had adopted children to shield herself from allegations of racism and that she and other white parents who adopt children of other races are “white colonizers.”
Responding to a purported photo of Barrett and her two adopted children — a photo that has since been taken down — Kendi claimed that Barret and her husband were “some White colonizers [who] ‘adopted’ Black children,” in order to “‘civilize[]’ these ‘savage’ children in the ‘superior’ ways of White people, while using them as props in their lifelong pictures of denial … .”
Some White colonizers "adopted" Black children. They "civilized" these "savage" children in the "superior" ways of White people, while using them as props in their lifelong pictures of denial, while cutting the biological parents of these children out of the picture of humanity. https://t.co/XBE9rRnoqq
— Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram) September 26, 2020
When told the photo was not of Barrett, Kendi simply doubled down, attacking all white parents who have adopted non-white children. Barrett, like other white adoptive parents, Kendi claims, committed to raising their adopted children in order to shield themselves from accusations of racism: “And whether this is Barrett or not is not the point. It is a belief too many White people have: if they have or adopt a child of color, then they can’t be racist.”
Kendi, who authored The New York Times bestseller, “How to Be An Anti-Racist,” eventually fell prey to criticism from both the left and right and especially from adoptive parents, who took umbrage at Kendi’s suggestion that all cross-race adoptions are necessarily “white colonization.”
He responded by claiming his critics were “bots,” and that he would not address their concerns.
“I’m challenging the idea that White parents of kids of color are inherently ‘not racist’ and the bots completely change what I’m saying to ‘White parents of kids of color are inherently racist,'” he wote. “These live and fake bots are good at their propaganda. Let’s not argue with them.”
Many of his critics simply shared photos of their children who were adopted from other countries.
Kendi is a prominent figure in the anti-racism movement and groups, including the Fairfax Virginia School District, frequently hire the author to hold in-services and conferences for their employees and members on how to be actively “anti-racist,” an idea that Kendi explores in his book. His speeches don’t come cheap; Fairfax paid an estimated $20,000 for a single presentation, according to local media.
Kendi is also a favorite of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey who, over the summer, donated $10 million to help Kendi found a Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University, per Reason Magazine.
His ideas extend beyond challenging the “norms” of adoption. According to Reason Magazine’s dive into Kendi’s background, he once supported a Constitutional amendment that would “outlaw racism,” making any semblance of discrimination a federal crime by definition:
The amendment would make unconstitutional racial inequity over a certain threshold, as well as racist ideas by public officials (with “racist ideas” and “public official” clearly defined). It would establish and permanently fund the Department of Anti-racism (DOA) comprised of formally trained experts on racism and no political appointees. The DOA would be responsible for preclearing all local, state and federal public policies to ensure they won’t yield racial inequity, monitor those policies, investigate private racist policies when racial inequity surfaces, and monitor public officials for expressions of racist ideas.
Amy Coney Barrett was nominated, Saturday, to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Trump administration expects to begin Barrett’s nomination process next week.
Related: Meghan McCain: ‘Do Not Do To Amy Coney Barrett’s Family What Was Done To Mine’