UGA TA Faces Backlash Over Racist Remarks

Irami Osei-Frimong speaking at a UGA Young Democrats meeting. Video Courtesy of Andrew Logan Lawrence.

On January 16, a philosophy teaching assistant at the University of Georgia came under scrutiny for comments regarding racial politics in the United States. In a discussion thread on Facebook, he wrote ,” Some white people may need to die for Black communities to be made whole in this struggle to advance to freedom. To pretend that’s not the case is ahistorical and dangerously naive.” On that same day, he took to Twitter to emphasize that white women are also a part of the problem, and should not be viewed as allies: “Man, these women are really bad. Maybe White women have been a big part of the problem the whole time.” Judging by these statements, it is fair to assume that the University would require him to issue an apology; yet, that doesn’t seem to be coming any time soon.



Irami Osei-Frimpong, the philosophy TA in question, has never been shy in expressing his world view. After looking at his Youtube channel or Twitter account for mere seconds, it becomes apparent that Osei-Frimpong is a racial collectivist with rather extreme views. Nearly every tweet or video he makes is about race, and he makes an effort to frame every issue into a black vs. white dichotomy. For example, on January 10th, he tweeted, “White Communities and their institution produce psychopaths.” On the 12th he wrote (in a now deleted tweet):



Examples like these took place before his Facebook comment on the 16th, yet they drew no reaction from the University. Last week, the story began to spread rapidly among students (and more importantly, donors) when a video surfaced of Osei-Frimpong being confronted on his rhetoric by a student at a meeting of UGA’s Young Democrats. The student was none other than former SGA presidential candidate and Arch Conservative contributor Andrew Logan Lawrence. Lawrence, recently graduated, has been primarily credited for the story’s rapid spread.



When Osei-Frimpong’s antics were first brought to the attention of the Equal Opportunity Office on the 17th, UGA’s review of the situation found “that the views expressed are personal opinion expressed by this person in their personal capacity on a private platform.” Even in its most recent statement on Twitter, possibly in response to criticism of their first statement, the University is cautious to say anything affirmative in regards to its next steps to resolve this issue:



“The University has been vigorously exploring all available legal options. Racism has no place on our campus, and we condemn the advocacy or suggestion of violence in any form. We are seeking guidance from the Office of the Attorney General as to what actions we can legally consider in accordance with the First Amendment.”



At first glance, this statement may appear anything but cautious. The University overtly states that it condemns Osei-Frimpong’s racist remarks and that it is currently looking at possible legal action. However, when compared to the decisive action UGA took in response to the words of Adam Sasser in the fall of 2018, this response shows some glaring inconsistencies.



For those unaware, Adam Sasser was a UGA baseball player who was alleged to have yelled racial slurs at UGA quarterback Justin Fields during a football game. This event was brought to UGA’s attention by a third-year student named Klarissa Gulebian, who posted about the incident on Facebook. As soon as the story caught the attention of local media, the Equal Opportunity Office swiftly launched an investigation into the issue and reached a verdict that ultimately lead to Sasser being removed from the team. The similarities between these stories are numerous. To start, both Sasser and Osei-Frimpong are essentially employed by UGA to represent the school. Sasser was enrolled on grant money to play for UGA’s baseball team, and Osei-Frimpong teaches philosophy on behalf of UGA and is eligible to receive funding from UGA’s budget. Both Sasser and Osei-Frimpong made their racist remarks on public forums. Sasser made his literally in public, and Osei-Frimpong made his on social media giants, Facebook and Twitter, not to mention some responses given by students who have taken his class.

There exists a thought experiment among circles which are skeptical of the social-justice Left whenever events like Osei-Frimpong’s occur: What would happen if the races were reversed? What if a white philosophy TA, likely funded through UGA’s budget, had publicly stated, “Some Black people may have to die for White communities to be made whole in this struggle to advance to freedom. To pretend that’s not the case is ahistorical and dangerously naive.” Does anyone doubt it would take UGA more than two seconds to fire this hypothetical TA and issue a lengthy statement rightfully condemning these statements? Would they feign ignorance and suddenly claim to care about the First Amendment? Does anyone think that the national media would stay largely silent as they have with Osei-Frimpong? Food for thought.



A university is entitled to set the rules for permissible speech among its staff and student body when they are representing the school. However, when these rules are not applied equally, they cease to mean anything. If UGA wishes to retain a sense of moral credibility on the issues of race in America, they need to start acting with some consistency when approaching these types of cases.



–Oliver Bunner is a freshman studying electrical engineering. He is a regular contributor to The Arch Conservative.

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