Here is a List of 33 Black Scholars for The President of Purdue University Who Thinks They are ‘Rare Creatures’

The president of Purdue University thinks that black scholars are ‘rare creatures.’ Unfortunately, you read that correctly. In late November, Mitch Daniels, president of the university, announced that he would be recruiting a black academic who he referred to as “one of the rarest creatures in America—a leading, I mean a really leading, African-American scholar.”

As you could imagine, news of what Daniels said traveled fast and in the essence of Black Twitter, the hashtag #IAmNotACreature surfaced on the web sparking debate on the controversial statement from black students, professors, and those who shared the same sentiments.

After receiving backlash for his comment, Daniels told the Lafayette Journal & Courier, “I was saying that, this very week, we’re working on a superstar who happens to be African American,” Daniels said. “Extraordinarily rare talent and one of our target populations. That’s what I said. And to have that stood on its head as an indifference to diversity, or worse, it hurts. That’s all I’ll say.”

Black Scholars Aren’t Having It

In response to the news, G. Gabrielle Starr, president of Pomona College and a professor of English and neuroscience, wrote an eloquent opinion piece in the New York Times.

When I learned about Mr. Daniels’s words from another African-American scholar on my own campus, I felt indignant but also constrained. The standard etiquette for college presidents, like me, is to let the remarks of another leader pass on by.

I can’t do that. The idea that scholars of color are rare is a damaging fiction. Yet it’s pervasive in academia, causing untold damage. It allows some faculty deans to simply throw up their hands and give up on their recruitment efforts. It leads to small recruitment budgets for minority candidates.

It means some disciplines structurally ignore the presence of brilliant candidates of color, believing, contrary to their own eyes, that none exist. It means that another generation of younger scholars may think it’s impossible ever to lead. It means lost creativity, delayed discoveries and fewer transformative ideas of the kind our world desperately needs. And for those who want to maintain the status quo, mission accomplished.

It’s true that the number of black scholars is smaller than one would like. But they’re also suppressed by the fiction that black leadership is an impossible dream — a rare bird.

As an ode to black excellence, here is a list of 33 black scholars who are and have shaped the world:

33 Black Scholars You Should Know:

Gabrielle Starr, English and Neuroscience
Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, Jurisprudence and Critical Theory
Keonte Coleman, Media Studies
Toni Morrison, Literary Theory and Cultural Criticism
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Literary Theory and Africana Studies
Yvonne Welbon, Cinema and Cultural Criticism
Rhonda Vonshay Sharpe, Economics
Kobi K.K. Kambon, Psychology
Tamara Jeffries, Media Studies
Patricia Hill Collins, Sociology, Critical Theory, Africana Studies
Evette Dionne, Cultural Criticism and Feminism
Ta-Nehisi Coates, Cultural Criticism
John Henrik Clarke, Pan-African and Africana Studies
Carter G. Woodson, African American History
Robin G. Kelley, Africana Studies
William Leo Hansberry, Literary Theory
Bell Hooks, Literary Theory and Cultural Criticism
Mary Frances Berry, Africana Studies, History, and Jurisprudence
Robyn C. Spencer, Civil Rights and Black Power
Johanna Fernandez, Africana and Latino Studies
Cornell West, Philosophy, Theology, and Critical Theory
James H. Cone, Theology
Angela Y. Davis, Philosophy and Critical Theory
Annette Gordon-Reed, Jurisprudence and History
Niara Sudarkasa, Anthropology
Kwame Anthony Appiah, Africana Studies, Philosophy, Critical Theory
Stephen L. Carter, Jurisprudence and Cultural Criticism
Thomas Sowell, Economics, History, and Political Science
William Julius Wilson, Sociology
Beverly Daniel Tatum, Psychology
John H. McWhorter, Linguistics and Cultural Criticism
Claude M. Steele, Psychology
Dr. Anthony Jack, Education

And, the list goes on.