Pennsylvania Professor Supports Death of White People to Achieve Racial Justice; Gets Slammed

A Pennsylvania professor is being slammed on social media after he stated that it's ethical for white people to die in order to atone for apartheid in South Africa.

Dr. Derek Hook is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He made the controversial remarks in June 2021 during a lecture for the American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work (AAPCSW).

In a video lecture for the AAPCSW—and captured by Twitter user, Mythinformed MKE—Dr. Hook can be heard advocating for the end of whiteness in South Africa. The video has been shared recently on the internet and is creating a buzz. "White people should commit suicide as an ethical act," said a quote in a slide for a presentation hosted by Hook.

Did Hook Advocate for a "Symbolic Extinction" of White People?

The video begins with Hook reading a quote questioning whether white people can ever be integrated into the South Africa's black majority. He states, "the only way for white people to become part of Africa is to not exist as white people anymore".

He continues, "the goal has to be to dismantle white culture and ultimately white people themselves." Hook further states the "death of white people" is necessary for integration to be successful."

Dr. Hook further also advocated for a "symbolic extinction" of white people to be achieved by the "castration of whiteness," according to an American website Professor Watchlist.

It turns out that Hook was quoting a South African philosophy professor, Terblanche Delport, who has written about White people committing suicide in South Africa, before further discussing the comments and arguing "there was something ethical in Delport's statements," reported Fox News.

After quoting Delport, Hook said, "I want to suggest that psychoanalytically we could even make the argument that there was something ethical in Delport's statements."

Duquesne University pushed back on the criticisms and claims, telling Fox News, that Hook "did not make a statement advocating anything like what was suggested." The University's statement also said, "Duquesne University is a Catholic institution that condemns any suggestion that suicide is to be advocated or endorsed in any form,"

Social Media Slams the Professor as the Video Goes Viral

Hook has grabbed the attention of netizens with many slamming the professor for his comments. One Twitter user wrote: "This is shocking. Any professor that thinks dismantling an entire race is ethical raises some questions about how they are in this position. Hopefully he'll lose tenure if he's tenured, and fired immediately."

Another wrote: "That can be really very harmful. What if there are depressive kids that can be very subjectively influenced taking classes like this?"

One comment read: "Another crack pot wanting 15 minutes of fame." Many internet users suggested that Hook could get the ball rolling and start it off by taking one for the team. One user asked, "Why doesn't he practice what he preaches & show the rest of us how to commit suicide?"