Leonard Jeffries
Leonard Jeffries | |
---|---|
Born | Newark, New Jersey, U.S. | January 19, 1937
Spouse | Rosalind Jeffries |
Academic background | |
Education | Lafayette College (BA) Columbia University (MA, PhD) |
Thesis | Sub-National Politics in the Ivory Coast Republic (1972) |
Academic work | |
Institutions | City College of New York San Jose State University |
Leonard Jeffries Jr. (born January 19, 1937) is an American political scientist and academic. He was the departmental chair of
Known for his Pan-African Afrocentrist views that the role of African people in history and the accomplishments of African Americans are far more important than commonly held, Jeffries has urged that public school syllabi be made less Eurocentric.[1][2] He is a founding director and a former vice president and president of the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations (ASCAC).
Jeffries's claims that Jewish businessmen
Academic career
Jeffries attended Lafayette College for his undergraduate work. At Lafayette, he pledged, and was accepted into, the fraternity Pi Lambda Phi.[8][verification needed] In his senior year, Jeffries was elected president of the fraternity. After graduating with honors in 1959, he won a Rotary International fellowship to the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. In 1961, he began study at Columbia University's School of International Affairs, from which he received a master's degree in 1965.[8][4]
At the same time, Jeffries worked for
Jeffries chaired CCNY's Black Studies Department for over two decades, recruiting like-minded scholars and attempting to expand the number of faculty and students within or associated with the department. During his tenure, the department sponsored/hosted/organized 25 major national and international conferences and seminars. Besides administration and teaching, Jeffries often traveled to Africa and served in the
Jeffries became popular among students and as a speaker at college campuses and public organizations. He is known for his Pan-African Afrocentrist views—that the role of African people in history and the accomplishments of African Americans are far more important than commonly held.[8]
Jeffries is a proponent of the pseudoscientific
During a 1991 speech at the Empire State Black Arts and Cultural Festival in Albany, New York, Jeffries asserted that Russian Jews and the
Removal as chairman and legal battles (1990s)
In 1992, Jeffries first got his term shortened from three years to one, and then was removed as chair of the department of African-American studies, but allowed to stay as a professor. He sued the school, and in August 1993 a federal jury found that his First Amendment rights had been violated. But Jeffries had been unanimously reappointed as chair. He was awarded $400,000 in damages (later reduced to $360,000).[14][15][16]
The school appealed, but the federal appeals court upheld the verdict while removing the damages. The CUNY Institute for Research on the Diaspora in the Americas and Caribbean was created to do black research independent of Jeffries's department. It was headed by Edmund W. Gordon, who had led the Black Studies Department before Jeffries was reinstated.
In November 1994, the
Academic freedom debate
Jeffries's case led to debate about
One interpretation of Jeffries's case is that while a university cannot fire a professor for opinions and speech, it has more flexibility with a position like department chair. Another is that it allows public institutions to discipline employees in general for disruptive speech.[4]
Works
His State of New York consultancy allowed him to produce the document A Curriculum of Inclusion, calling for changing school curricula to include African, Asian and Latino families.
References
- ^ Stanley, Alessandra (August 7, 1991). "City College Professor Assailed for Remarks on Jews". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
- ^ a b Morrow, Lance (June 24, 2001). "Controversies: The Provocative Professor". Time. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
- JSTOR 2962577. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
- ^ OCLC 35317918.
- ^ ISBN 0-226-00057-5.
- ISBN 0-87495-110-0. Retrieved May 13, 2009.
- ^ Perez-Pena, Richard (April 5, 1995). "In Reversal, Court Backs City College In Jeffries Lawsuit". The New York Times.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7876-7928-6.
- ISBN 9781137549976.
- ^ Calabresi, Massimo (February 14, 1994). "Dispatches Skin Deep 101". Time. Vol. 143, no. 7. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-988107-9.
- ^ "A Deafening Silence". National Review. September 9, 1991. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved June 24, 2008.
- ISBN 978-1-351-51076-9.
- ^ a b "Academic Freedom". West's Encyclopedia of American Law. The Gale Group. 1998. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
- ^ Newman, Maria (May 12, 1993). "CUNY Violated Speech Rights Of Department Chief, Jury Says". The New York Times. pp. A1. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
- ^ Bernstein, Richard (August 5, 1993). "Judge Reinstates Jeffries as Head Of Black Studies for City College". The New York Times. pp. A1. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
- ^ Waters v. Churchill (114 S.Ct. 1878 [1994]), 511 U.S. 661 (1994)
- ^ Jeffries v. Harleston, 52 F.3d 9 [2nd Cir. 1995]
- ISBN 0-8014-3316-9. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
- S2CID 142606184. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
Further reading
- Dyson, Michael Eric (1993). "Leonard Jeffries and the Struggle for the Black Mind". Reflecting Black: African-American Cultural Criticism. Vol. 9. University of Minnesota Press. pp. 157–166. JSTOR 10.5749/j.cttts5tr.
External links
- Leonard Jeffries Virtual Museum at the Wayback Machine (archived March 7, 2009) – via the National Black United Front
- A Curriculum of Inclusion
- Appearances on C-SPAN