Cambridge defended and praised a professor for a wrongdoing

[Gravlen]

Also incorrect. In PF v Mark Meechan, the intent was to be offensive:

You told a newspaper reporter that the video was very offensive. You intended the video to be as offensive as you could make it and you posted it on your own unrestricted publicly accessible video channel which on your own description: “provides offensive social comedy and skits that get people thrown in prison”.

His intent mattered. It was, in fact, decisive.

In which case i'd argue her intent was clearly to offend white people, hence the structure of her sentence. She's merely denying it. But intent can nonetheless be gathered.

I doubt it, since she's not merely denying it but actually providing an explanation. Regardless, you'd then have to reach the level of grossly offensive, which is a high test. "Gas the Jews" or "Kill all Pakis" are on their own clearly substantially different from "White lives don't matter", and a similar level of threat/incitement as is found in the former statements cannot be found in the latter.

[Gravlen]

O boy are people now defending the nazi pug trial?

Ostro is using it as precedent, so yeah I guess he is.

Which is amusing in its own right, by the way, considering that the sheriff explicitly stated that the trial "sets no precedent."

[Galloism]

Bit of context.

In June 2020, Gopal tweeted "White lives don't matter. As white lives" and "Abolish whiteness", in response to a banner flown over a Premier League football stadium that read "White lives matter Burnley".

I guess the statement is fine if consistently held.

IE, black lives don’t matter. As black lives.

Or

Jewish lives don’t matter. As Jewish lives.

Or

Women’s lives don’t matter. As women’s lives.

If she holds all that to be true, she’s essentially saying “all lives matter”, which is probably fine as a sum up of words to a stated meaning.

[Greed and Death]

Somebody say a dumb thing on Twitter. Nobody pays any attention.
Cambridge professor says a dumb thing on Twitter!

It's not strong enough to call it illegal. I think the university should discipline her, though not actually fire her.

If you teach your pug to do a Nazi salute as a joke in the UK you face criminal penalties.

[Gravlen]

Somebody say a dumb thing on Twitter. Nobody pays any attention.
Cambridge professor says a dumb thing on Twitter!

It's not strong enough to call it illegal. I think the university should discipline her, though not actually fire her.

If you teach your pug to do a Nazi salute as a joke in the UK you face criminal penalties.

Not true, but you do you.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

Somebody say a dumb thing on Twitter. Nobody pays any attention.
Cambridge professor says a dumb thing on Twitter!

It's not strong enough to call it illegal. I think the university should discipline her, though not actually fire her.

If you teach your pug to do a Nazi salute as a joke in the UK you face criminal penalties.

Imagine what would happen if you taught a german shepherd to goose-step and do the salute!

[Galloism]

If you teach your pug to do a Nazi salute as a joke in the UK you face criminal penalties.

Not true, but you do you.

Well, you also have to put it on YouTube.

[Gravlen]

Not true, but you do you.

Well, you also have to put it on YouTube.

And shout "Gas the jews" over and over... In fact, you can leave out the dog entirely.

[Galloism]

Well, you also have to put it on YouTube.

And shout "Gas the jews" over and over... In fact, you can leave out the dog entirely.

It sort of ceases to be a joke if you leave out the dog.

But I guess that kind of nuance is for chumps.

[Gravlen]

And shout "Gas the jews" over and over... In fact, you can leave out the dog entirely.

It sort of ceases to be a joke if you leave out the dog.

But I guess that kind of nuance is for chumps.

I was just getting to the crux of the matter. You don't face prosecution for making a joke, you face prosecution for grossly offensive or threatening messages.

[Galloism]

It sort of ceases to be a joke if you leave out the dog.

But I guess that kind of nuance is for chumps.

I was just getting to the crux of the matter. You don't face prosecution for making a joke, you face prosecution for grossly offensive or threatening messages.

And it’s very selective in enforcement. You have to be grossly offensive against the right sort of people, or it’s fine. Be as grossly offensive as you want!

Not unlike a lot of laws in the US, only in reverse.

[The Emerald Legion]

Richard Dawkins isn't openly being a spokesperson for a hate movement.

So? Does that change his freedom of speech? Would it mean he has more or less freedom of speech as a spokesperson?

Britain doesn't have freedom of speech though.

[The Reformed American Republic]

Her opinion is quite valid.

When we say "White Lives Don't Matter" it's in response to a White Nationalist dog whistle that goes "White Lives Matter", yes, All Lives do in fact Matter, but "All Lives Matter" has become a White Nationalist Dog Whistle.


When we say "Black Lives Matter", we mean that Black people should be treated humanely, that goes for PoC to, as well as other minorities. And we do this because at the current rate, they are not treated equally.
The KKK is allowed to freely exist, and cannot be hunted down by their own government, which puts PoCs at risk. The Proud Boys and other White Nationalist Domestic Terrorist groups run freely, while a German anti-Fascist organization that disbanded at the end of WW2 is declared a Terrorist org.

Black people get bigger punishments than White people, FOR THE SAME CRIMES.
The Protests have turned to Riots because merely Protesting has done nothing.
It is in the U.S. Constitution which states that if the Leaders of the American Government have failed to ensure the American National Value that is Freedom, the people may revolt against it.
I'm of course paraphrasing here, but it does say something like that.

The American Law Enforcement System has become so corrupted and ideologically infested that a lot of White Nationalists become Cops merely to subtly create an Ethnostate.

A lot of people often deflect at such arguments with "if Black people don't want to be arrested and jailed so much, then they should stop committing crimes"

The thing is, Black people often get framed, evidence is sometimes planted (i.e. cops planting the weed), and often petty crimes lead to the Cop killing the suspect, which they cannot kill the Suspect unless given an authorization to, but this is only in rare cases. I also mentioned earlier in this reply that Black people get charged more for the same crimes as White people.

3 notable examples often come to mind when you think of justifications for BLM riots.
1. Freddie Gray, a Black man from Baltimore who grew up in a red-lined house and suffered from Lead Poisoning, he was also targeted by predatory contract dealers and such who often go after gullible folk to extract them of their compensation agreements. In 2016, Freddie Gray was arrested for carrying a spring-assisted knife, the Cops made several stops and along the way they just carelessly dragged his body into the vehicles. Freddie died 2 weeks later of neck injuries. The Cops have still not been arrested to this day. When he died, Baltimore erupted into chaos. If you go to videos of those riots, you will often find people in the comments making extremely racist and sadistic remarks, referring to Black people as "savages" and such.

2. Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who was an emergency medical technician, was sleeping in her own home on the 13th of March, this year, when three Cops stormed in with a no-knock search warrant and shot her. Let me repeat that, she was asleep.

3. George Floyd, (which was the last straw), who was carrying a counterfeit $20 bill, was killed by Derek Chauvin, one of the Cops arresting him, Derek applied pressure to his neck and George exclaimed he could not breathe. He then died some few minutes later.

These are notable recent examples, and the list goes on and on if you search for less notable examples, all examples of Police Brutality.


The Professor's statements are justified, we're not saying White people as a whole do not matter, when we say "White Lives Don't Matter" we mean that White people are not in as much danger as Black people.

Police Brutality and White Nationalism is the literal reason why a lot of People of Colour in the United States often get startled or anxious whenever a Cop car goes near them, even if they haven't ever committed a crime.

Saying "White Lives Don't Matter" in any context will alienate potential allies, provide enemies with free propaganda to use as ammunition, and attract individuals with some nasty opinions against whites.

Don't even bother to debate with someone who defends regressive political opinions.

[Juristonia]

I guess the statement is fine if consistently held.

IE, black lives don’t matter. As black lives.

Or

Jewish lives don’t matter. As Jewish lives.

Or

Women’s lives don’t matter. As women’s lives.

If she holds all that to be true, she’s essentially saying “all lives matter”, which is probably fine as a sum up of words to a stated meaning.

I think the statement is fine, taken as it is; A possibly not very smart reaction to a pretty obvious provocation.
Was it a smart thing to say? Probably not, but it's also not really harassment and fired from job worthy.

Honestly, it's a minor twitter lash out.
I wouldn't even bother to comment on it had the OP not made a pretty one-sided thread.

[Galloism]

I guess the statement is fine if consistently held.

IE, black lives don’t matter. As black lives.

Or

Jewish lives don’t matter. As Jewish lives.

Or

Women’s lives don’t matter. As women’s lives.

If she holds all that to be true, she’s essentially saying “all lives matter”, which is probably fine as a sum up of words to a stated meaning.

I think the statement is fine, taken as it is; A possibly not very smart reaction to a pretty obvious provocation.
Was it a smart thing to say? Probably not, but it's also not really harassment and fired from job worthy.

Honestly, it's a minor twitter lash out.
I wouldn't even bother to comment on it had the OP not made a pretty one-sided thread.

There’s a lot of really stupid statements going around that are making a lot of people think things they ought not, tbh.

I’m very disturbed at the verbal racial trench warfare arguments forming up repeatedly. More and more, the reaction seems to be not to what was said, but who said it. Something something many sides.

[Elevanos]

Well this is something. I know in the UK there have been cases where people have been arrested for speech that was offensive, and they were listed under section 127 as can be seen here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/arrests-for-offensive-facebook-and-twitter-posts-soar-in-london-a7064246.html
And since this "offensive speech" is technically illegal in the UK, I'd assume it would be illegal for someone to say something like white lives don't matter, but I would assume with most policies like this that they're's probably a double standard that is usually not listed in laws. I 100% think that the professor would've been arrested if she said the same for black lives.

By the way, I'm in the middle of the woods, so I could only load a single source, so if they're's more cases of her current state or if she did get arrested, please link it because Google can't handle independent searches to the top results.

[Greed and Death]

So? Does that change his freedom of speech? Would it mean he has more or less freedom of speech as a spokesperson?

Britain doesn't have freedom of speech though.

And while they have a right to remain silent. Your silence can be sued to infer guilt.

[The Reformed American Republic]

If it was said against a minority, the professor would have been fired and arrested. Let's not kid ourselves. This is what happens when the Frankfurt school takes over your civilization.

[Outer Sparta]

Not illegal for the professor to say that, but the university defending this and not discipling for this kind of thing sets the wrong message. People have the right to free speech but there are consequences associated with what people say.

[Sarderia]

Of course she ought to be disciplined. Not fired, and not arrested, maybe - if the laws of Great Britain does not prohibit that - but that is clearly very disrespectful for the White British community (who is, by the way, the majority in UK of course).

[Cetacea]

Cited from this article

A British university defended one of its professors following a petition launched against her after she posted on social media that “white lives don’t matter.”

Priyamvada Gopal, a professor in colonial and postcolonial literature at Cambridge University, posted a series of tweets Tuesday saying “white lives don’t matter” and “abolish whiteness” and the backlash prompted the university to issue a statement that said that professors have the right to express their opinion

And on Twitter, Cambridge stated:

"The University defends the right of its academics to express their own lawful opinions which others might find controversial and deplores in the strongest terms abuse and personal attacks..."

Some online took issue with Cambridge’s decision, pointing out that it did not stand by intelligence researcher Noah Carl and Jordan Peterson when their affiliations with the university were canceled over controversial things they said.

Does anyone else find that the professor's opinion doesn't seem very lawful at all?

My apologies to the moderators if this isn't allowed here.

Free Speech Academic Freedom Right to be Provocative blahblah

Her opinion may be shite but its hers and shes not outright advocating genocide

[Gravlen]

Well this is something. I know in the UK there have been cases where people have been arrested for speech that was offensive, and they were listed under section 127 as can be seen here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/arrests-for-offensive-facebook-and-twitter-posts-soar-in-london-a7064246.html

To be clear, your source links to a source which says that offensive speech was "credible threats of violence, harassment, or stalking." It also links to a source which says:

He said at the time:

"Having considered the consultation responses, and our experience of dealing with these cases in recent months, I believe the guidelines do set out the right approach to prosecution by making the distinction between those communications that should be robustly prosecuted, such as those that amount to a credible threat of violence, a targeted campaign of harassment against an individual or which breach court orders, and those communications which may be considered grossly offensive, to which the high threshold must apply."

That threshold meant that a communication that was offensive, shocking or disturbing; or satirical, iconoclastic or rude; or represented unpopular or unfashionable opinion about serious trivial matters; or banter or humour that might be considered distasteful or even painful to those such a joke targeted was effectively protected under the new rules.

And since this "offensive speech" is technically illegal in the UK,

Technically, only grossly offensive speech is illegal.

I'd assume it would be illegal for someone to say something like white lives don't matter,

Why would you assume that? The police don't think it was illegal.

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police told Varsity that “after receiving multiple complaints” in relation to the content of “a Twitter post that has been shared a large number of times in recent days,” officers had “concluded no offence has been committed.”

but I would assume with most policies like this that they're's probably a double standard that is usually not listed in laws. I 100% think that the professor would've been arrested if she said the same for black lives.

I have no doubt she would not be arrested if she has said "Black Lives Don't Matter. As black lives." It is not a credible threat of violence, harassment, stalking, or even grossly offensive.

By the way, I'm in the middle of the woods, so I could only load a single source, so if they're's more cases of her current state or if she did get arrested, please link it because Google can't handle independent searches to the top results.

She did not get arrested. Instead, she was promoted to full Professorial Chair at Cambridge university.

[Juristonia]

If it was said against a minority, the professor would have been fired and arrested. Let's not kid ourselves. This is what happens when the Frankfurt school takes over your civilization.

I mean, no, they wouldn't, but yes, if the circumstances of a situation are completely different, the outcome will likely be different as well.
Not exactly sure what point you think you're making here.
Well, I do, but it doesn't hold up at all.

[-Astoria-]

Britain doesn't have freedom of speech though.

Now is the time to drink.

[The Two Jerseys]

Sounds like a professional race-baiter at work...