4 minute read
THE FLY-BY
May 6-12, 2021
MEM ernet
{CITY REPORTER
By Jackson Baker
Questions, Answers + Attitude
Edited by Toby Sells
A roundup of Memphis on the World Wide Web.
VACCINE HESITANT
In the rst in a sort of Reddit grab bag this week, Memphis user Jwiley92 shared this infographic (from the Centers for Disease Control) to show which populations in Shelby County were the most hesitant to get a COVID-19 vaccination.
SUSHI JIMMI REDUX
MEMernet citizens had thoughts about our story last week announcing Sushi Jimmi would leave Memphis.
“Haven’t we heard this story like ve times before?” asked CaptainInane-O on Reddit.
On Twitter, @ViewFromBoxSeat wondered, “Anybody seen an update on Sushi Jimmi? It’s been over 24 hours since the last article about him.”
“BOOTY CLAP PARKING PASS”
No one on the Memphis subreddit could quite explain just what was going on with this photo captured at Overton Park and posted by bene t_ of_mrkite.
User baabahope got closest, maybe, noting “that’s a booty clap parking pass.” Other users agreed, though, that whatever was going on was Memphis AF. U of M Law School faces charges of racial bias in hiring, promotions.
A major potential revolt is brewing in the University of Memphis Law School, based on what Black PHOTOS BY U OF M LAW SCHOOL students and a senior AfricanAmerican faculty member see as continuing racial injustice on the part of the institution. e disa ected faculty member is Alena Allen, the wife of Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, and she has announced via a letter to school authorities her intention to resign in order to underscore her dissatisfaction with a system in which she writes “[f]aculty-favored Black candidates have been denied opportunities to lead.”
Allen’s pending resignation has prompted the University chapter of the National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA) to charge the university with “racial bias” and to put forth a series of e Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law (le ); Alena Allen is an Associate demands of the administration. Professor of Law (inset) is document drew further reproach in the form of an anonymous email from a “concerned faculty member” who calls ing to say that what has happened was quite simply o ensive.” upon the rest of the faculty to support the student demands so In their supportive protest, the NBLSA members say, “ e as to avoid “a catastrophic crisis at the law school.” law school has never had a Black dean. Ole Miss has had a
In her letter of resignation — written, she says within it, Black dean. University of Arkansas has had a Black dean. “in the wake of George Floyd’s murder” — Allen, listed on Memphis, a city where roughly 66 percent of the population the law school website as an associate professor and director is Black, has never had a Black dean. … ere is real value in of faculty research, reviews several instances in which she having a diverse leadership team.” says credentialed Black applicants were bypassed for promo- As Professor Allen had done, the students also profess tion and for the position of dean, in favor of less well-quali- criticism of the current law school dean, Kate Scha zin, hired ed white applicants. by the university president and provost three years ago over a
“ e law school has never had a woman of color attain the faculty-endorsed Black male candidate despite her own lesser rank of full professor,” Allen writes. An email from her elabo- endorsement by faculty members. rating on that line suggests that it does not apply to herself. Allen writes, “My body tenses every time that Kate proShe adds, “ e Provost approved my promotion in January. I motes her diversity and inclusion e orts because I view Kate’s resigned a er he met with the faculty on March 12th and sug- hire as the exact opposite of diversity and inclusion. Facultygested that he did me (and the white male who also applied) favored Black candidates have been denied opportunities a favor by granting our promotions. He said our promotion to lead. I sincerely grapple with whether a non-problematic standards lacked rigor. It was incredibly o ensive. He later explanation can exist for why a white candidate with a negative expressed regret and tried to clarify his remarks via email.” vote is hired over a Black candidate with a highly favorable
She writes: “I have tried to move past all of this but I gura- faculty vote.” tively can’t breathe. … If Black Lives Matter, then Black candi- e students, in their protest, say, “Students were shocked dates should matter. If Black Lives Matter, then the feelings of to learn that for the past two dean cycles the faculty voted and Black faculty should matter. … I don’t view the status quo as ranked Black candidates higher than the white deans that the business as usual or acceptable, and I am exhausted from hav- Provost chose to hire.”
