HuffPost Live presented a 30-minute video in which an anchor and four guest speakers discussed University President James W. Wagner’s controversial column in which the Three-Fifths Compromise as a model example of political compromise, on Wednesday.

HuffPost Live is The Huffington Post‘s online video-streaming network that showcases live conversations about breaking news for 12 hours during the day.

“Are his racially-insensitive comments indicative of a broader issue facing universities?” the anchor, Marc Lamont Hill, asked the speakers.

Joining Hill in the live conversation were college professors, conservative radio host Ben Furgeson; and College sophomore and Black Student Alliance president Jovonna Jones.

A large portion of the discussion revolved around the issue of labeling people racist after they have made racist comments.

All the speakers were in agreement that Wagner should not have chosen that historical event as an example of political compromise.

“It demonstrates a level of insensitivity that I haven’t seen on a university campus in quite some time,” said Camille Charles, professor of sociology and Afrikaner Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

She mentioned that there were examples Wagner could have used that would not have “thrown black people under the bus.”

While Hill was reading Wagner’s statements during the video, he started laughing at one point and said, “I’m sorry. I’m trying to be an objective journalist, but this s–t is just racist.” Some of the guest speakers laughed along.

“Whether consciously or unconsciously, what he is doing is echoing the very sentiment behind the politics that led to the Civil War,” said Jelani Cobb, director of the Institute for African American Studies at the University of Connecticut.

Ferguson said that Wagner’s apology was acceptable in the context of his entire career.

“I hate it when what we do is we sit there, and we try to just turn someone into something without looking at the overall human being,” Ferguson said.

Later in the discussion, he mentioned the numerous tweets he had received labeling him a racist and accusing him of defending the president.

Ferguson made it clear that while he did not defend Wagner’s comments, the community should think before taking away his job.

Charles disagreed with Ferguson as she saw a problem with the president’s continuous justification of his example in his apology.

Ferguson argued that Wagner’s apology was a realistic response – defending thoughts that he may be racist and providing a justification for his actions – because of the pervasive stigma that white people have to worry about being labeled a racist.

Charles responded that the society does not have to jump to the conclusion that Wagner is a racist because of these comments but can instead say that he said something racist and then use this as an opportunity for conversation.

“That conversation gets cut off when mainstream society jumps to this whole racist idea,” Charles said.

Ferguson agreed that there is a societal issue of labeling people racist.

“How can we continue to have an America where we can have an exchange of ideas when as soon as someone brings up a point you automatically are mounted to a wall?” Ferguson said.

The group also mentioned the University’s apologies this year regarding racist parts of their history – including the anti-Semitic policy in the University’s now closed dentistry school – and the recent “The Dooley Show” episode that many found offensive.

“This is the climate that the president is operating in,” Hill said.

Moving forward, Jones said transparency was a part of the solution and encouraged Wagner and his team to “genuinely regard to what students want,” which involves taking some concrete action to make certain portions of the campus feel more welcome.

– Contact Karishma Mehrotra at

kmehrot@emory.edu

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