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Arizona Professor Suspended After Saying Some Black Lives Matter Members 'Should Be Hung'
Arizona Professor Suspended After Saying Some Black Lives Matter Members 'Should Be Hung'
Source: 3TV/CBS 5

Arizona Professor Suspended After Saying Some Black Lives Matter Members 'Should Be Hung'

Arizona Professor Suspended After Saying Some Black Lives Matter Members 'Should Be Hung' Source: 3TV/CBS 5

Civil rights leaders are calling for a Grand Canyon University professor's removal after remarks he made about Black Lives Matter.

The remarks were reportedly made over a year ago when GCU theology professor Toby Jennings was speaking at a theology conference back in September 2016 when he was asked about the Black Lives Matter movement.

"They're wanting to hear what somebody else has to say about it," Jennings said, "and you have people on the opposite extreme of that that frankly should be hung."

READ: Black Lives Matter Founders To Receive Sydney Peace Prize

The latter portion of Jennings' remark surprised members of the audience which then led to the professor trying to clarify his statement.

"That kind of rhetoric is not helpful to any conversation and that's what I mean by they should be hung," Jennings said.

On Friday, civil rights leaders criticized the Arizona university for what they said was a culture that fostered discrimination and devalued "blackness."

"Before I saw the video, I thought it was a white man," Pastor Warren Stewart, Jr. said. "It's self-hate, it's a Willie Lynch syndrome, it's a mindset of devaluing your own culture."

GCU has suspended Jennings, as well as apologized and met with the Black Lives Matter group privately to address the remarks. The university also released a statement on the incident, with a part of it stating:

The University wants to be clear that the professor’s rhetoric in no way reflects the heart of this University or its dedicated students, faculty and staff. The University's President is leading an investigation into this incident and has met with the professor who made these statements, as well as the Dean of the College, who both agree it was completely inappropriate...We have placed this professor on administrative leave until at least the end of the first semester while the University completes its investigation.

Source: 12news.com