If you heard that a professor at a private Christian university said that some members of the Black Lives Matter organization “should be hung,” you might assume those words came from the mouth of a closeted white supremacist. You'd be wrong. Professor Toby Jennings of Arizona's Grand Canyon University is black, and he's been suspended for his controversial statement about Black Lives Matter activists.
Jennings was placed on administrative leave after this video circulated after a September 2016 panel discussion titled, “God’s Concern for the Poor: What’s Missing in Social Justice?” The panel of four included two white and two black professors engaged in a 75-minute discussion about racial tensions and social unrest in the country from a Biblical perspective. During his talk, Jennings said:
The Black Lives Matter movement, we can’t even talk about it as the Black Lives Matter movement because it is not a monolith, that is, it does not look the same all across the board. You have folks who claim to participate in that on one side that are very thoughtful about the matter. They are very gracious and discerning and conversationally, dynamically dialoguing about the issue. They’re wanting to hear what somebody else has to say about it. And then you have people on the opposite extreme of that that frankly should be hung. And, yes, I did say that on video. They are saying things that are not helpful to any way, shape or form of human dignity or flourishing. That is not helpful to any conversation. That kind of rhetoric is not helpful to any conversation. And that’s what I mean by they should be hung. That’s not to say that I’m joining the rhetoric. But I’m saying that is not contributing to the conversation is what I mean by that. And then you have everybody in between. And so, when we talk about the Black Lives Matter movement, you have some who would support it, but what is it that you are supporting? I support facets of it. …”
"The University wants to be clear that the professor’s rhetoric in no way reflects the heart of this University or its dedicated students, faculty, and staff," Phoenix-based GCU said in an apology published on its website this week. "The University’s President is leading an investigation into this incident." While Jennings has been suspended pending investigation local NAACP and Black Lives Matter leaders are calling for deeper repercussions according to AZ Central. In an email to GCU Provost Hank Radda the organizations stated, "Left unchecked, this sort of divisive rhetoric is a dangerous seed in the soil of impressionable minds."
In a pivot from his initial statement, Jennings has since issued an apology of his own saying, "I deeply and sincerely regret having communicated such ill-motivated rhetoric — particularly in light of our nation’s present rhetoric-saturated distress." Jennings continued, "While words, once spoken, can never be taken back, my hope is that my sincere apology for my own words can pave a more gracious path toward reconciliation."
We'll see how this one plays out.
