Racist lecturer investigated
Frank Ellis, a lecturer in Russian and Slavonic studies at Leeds University, faces loosing his job for supporting a theory stating that black people are inferior to whites.
Both students and lectures took offence by comments made by Dr Ellis in an interview with the university 's student newspaper, where he confessed to being an `unrepentant Powellite' who considered the BNP to be `a bit too socialist' for his liking. More strikingly, he showed his support for a variety of right-wing ideas, including the Bell Curve theory supporting the idea that white people are more intelligent than black people. This theory was first put forward in a book written by Richard Hernnstein and Charles Murray in 1994, with the innocent-sounding aim of using empirical statistical analysis to explore the variations in intelligence in American society. Many of the conclusions reached and assumptions put forward by the authors were highly controversial; specifically, the low test scores by African-American subjects compared to white and Asian subjects were used to suggest that whites were intrinsically superior in intelligence to blacks. Ellis defended the book, commenting "[It] has demonstrated to me beyond any reasonable doubt there is a persistent gap in average black and white average intelligence."
These comments have outraged a number of students, who are now planning campus protests and more importantly are pushing university bosses to remove Ellis from his post. In response, a member of Unite Against Fascism and Leeds University student, Hanif Letlabi, said "Knowing that he's a lecturer and that he holds views that black people are inferior and that women can't achieve the same standard as men, it's disgusting and certainly not conducive to an academic environment." She started a petition to get Dr. Ellis removed from the university, collecting 180 signatures in favour within three hours.
This response has not altered the feelings of Dr Ellis, who wrote the following in the same university paper: "Multiculturalism is doomed to failure - and is failing - because it is based on the lie that all people, races and cultures are equal; that no one race or culture is better than any other." Furthermore, he commented on research claiming that the average IQ on the African continent was 70, saying: "In the West, an individual with an IQ of 70 would be regarded as being very close [to], or within the range of, mental retardation."
On the other hand, many feel that Dr Ellis, like all of us, has the freedom of speech and has the right to fully express his views, with a university spokeswoman stating that `The question of discrimination does not arise in student assessment. All work counting towards a degree in Russian and Slavonic studies is double-marked. Ellis has a right to his personal opinions, but he does not have the right to treat students or colleagues in a prejudicial or discriminatory manner. We have no evidence that this has happened, but we will look carefully at any such evidence if it is presented to us.' An investigation into Ellis's teaching is, however, currently underway.
