Written by Lev Finzi
The chairman of the San Diego Community College District has revealed that he has canceled Alice Walker to speak at an investiture ceremony. He had canceled her due to her past controversy surrounding anti-Semitism and ties with various hate groups.
Alice Walker is the first African-American woman in history to win a Pulitzer Prize for her book “The Color Purple”. She is known for her work in short films, literature, poetry, and social activism. Although recently, she has gotten backlash due to her words which relate to anti-Semitism or the hatred of the Jewish people.
The most common activity she has touched on in recent years is agreeing and finding interest in David Icke’s, a conspiracy theorist, thoughts who has written literature with heavy themes of antisemitism. Although her first husband was in fact Jewish, he opposes the idea that she is in fact an Anti-Semite. Her recent work, specifically “To Study The Talmud”, has been found by many to be quite offensive toward the Jewish people.
Less than a year ago, in September, a conference was held with the discussion question of if Israel should even exist. The Union that speaks on behalf of the teachers in the district was the one to approve the meeting
Because of this controversy, Chairman Carlos O. Cortez has decided to cancel the ceremony altogether, in fear of public backlash. The free event was planned for May 31st at Petco Park, with Walker being a keynote speaker, as well as giving a speech for the event. It was planned to celebrate Cortez becoming the new chancellor and taking office. It was estimated that 1,000 individuals would have been in attendance.
Cortez had this to say when canceling the event: “As a district that celebrates inclusion, we believe the best way forward would be to cancel the event altogether. I apologize for the pain caused to any member of our community. The investiture scheduled for May 31 will not be held,”.
Photo Cred: David Ahumada/ City Times.
