A Black dean at the University of Alabama has quit his post after a right-wing news outlet published old tweets he sent criticizing the American flag, and linking racism and police.
In a statement, the university confirmed dean of students and assistant vice president Jamie R. Riley was no longer working at ‘Bama.
Jamie R. Riley’s resignation comes just seven months after starting his position as dean of students at the University of Alabama. (Photo: University of Alabama)
“Dr. Jamie Riley has resigned his position at The University of Alabama by mutual agreement,” university spokesman Chris Bryant announced in an email Thursday, one day after the story by Breitbart News. “Neither party will have any further comments.”
Riley, the former executive director for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., had only served at the Tuscaloosa campus seven months before his resignation, the Crimson White reported. He’s also previously served in student affairs and diversity positions at various institutions, including the historically black Morehouse College and Johns Hopkins University.
Breitbart, which is known for posting racist, homophobic, and xenophobic content, published an article on Wednesday highlighting several of Riley’s old tweets, dating back to 2016. In one of them, he argued that the U.S. flag represents a “systemic history of racism” for African-Americans, and that police are part of that system.
“Is it really that hard to see the correlation?” he wrote.
In a tweet from October 2017, the former dean seemed baffled by how white people feel they can say what is or isn’t racist when they can’t even experience it.
“I’m baffled by how the 1st thing white people say is ‘That’s racist!’ when they can’t even experience racism?” he wrote, adding #missmewithyour whiteprivilege. “You have 0 opinion!”
A screenshot of another tweet showed Riley questioning if films about slavery were truly about educating the public, or “to remind Black people of our place in society.”
As of Thursday, Riley’s contact information had been wiped from the university’s dean of students webpage, according to the Crimson White. His Twitter page and LinkedIn account have also gone dark.
