(Reuters) A Drexel University professor, whose tweet that he wanted “white genocide” for Christmas sparked a firestorm of criticism from the school and social media, said on Tuesday that administrators supported his right to take part in political debate.
George Ciccariello-Maher, a white associate professor of history and politics at the Philadelphia university, has said his Christmas Eve posting of “All I Want for Christmas is White Genocide” on Twitter was aimed at poking fun at white supremacists.
He is an expert on Latin American social movements with about 10,000 Twitter followers.
But his attempt at satire triggered a backlash from conservative websites, with some online comments calling for him to be fired or commit suicide. Drexel on Sunday called his tweet “utterly reprehensible” and said it would meet with him to discuss it.
