Psaki Says There Is ‘Systemic Racism’ in Learning Institutions

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that there continues to be systemic racism in “some learning institutions” in the United States, in response to a question about New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones rejecting tenure from UNC citing a history of racism.

During her daily press briefing Psaki was asked about Jones’ decision to decline an offer of tenure at the University of North Carolina, and whether the controversy was an example of the “systemic racism” that President Biden has promised to fight against.

Psaki replied that she had not spoken to Biden about the Jones situation, but that “…there is no question that there continues to be systemic racism in our country, we see that in a range of sectors, including in some learning institutions.”

UNC’s Board of Trustees voted 9 to 4 to offer the Times journalist and lead author of the controversial 1619 Project a tenured teaching position late last month.

The decision comes after months of controversy that started when the North Carolina school denied Hannah-Jones tenure after she was tapped to be the school’s Knight chair in race and investigative reporting {snip}

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Hannah-Jones announced Tuesday that she was turning down the position after all, tenure notwithstanding, and instead taking a teaching position at Howard University.

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