Assistant Professor of Education, Charles H.F. Davis III, once appeared on the Jesse Lee Peterson podcast to discuss race relations in America and the pro-Palestinian movement that was taking place on college campuses. In the following discussion from 2018, the host pointed out how Davis included several hashtags (#) on his website, such as #FreePalestine and #FreethePeople. When asked why he did not include #FreetheJews on that list, Davis replied:

“Well, I guess we could talk about in a particular context, and I think we have to think about what Jews we’re talking about. I’ve chosen to take those particular political stances based on the historical record, based on the social and political context that we find ourselves in today …

“Just to be clear I’m very much opposed to anti-semitism in any particular form or fashion, but I wouldn’t want to conflate any of the [hashtags] that you just mentioned to suggest otherwise.”

Davis’ website —which now includes #BlackLivesMatter and #PoliceFreeCampus — contains several short essays and articles calling for an end to campus policing. In a publication co-authored with Kamaria B. Porter, entitled A Case for Abolishing Campus Police, Davis wrote:

Davis spreads anti-American and anti-white ideologies through his course “Race, Racism and Anti-Blackness,” in which he says, “[The] course is a deep dive into understanding how systemic racism and structural racism function in society and in higher education contexts.” For years, Davis’ social media feeds have been full of racial ideology as well as anti-Jewish and anti-police rhetoric. Using the Twitter handle “Palestine Will Be Free,” he also posted support for the pro-Palestinian campus protests that started in April 2024.

I don’t have adequate language (or theological expertise) to describe the levels of blasphemy for racist, murderous institution like the NYPD to host a gospel festival.
This is almost as bad as the FBI recognizing MLK Day. https://t.co/VwGPP5wsVh — Palestine Will Be Free 🍉 (@hfdavis) May 7, 2024

When asked if Jewish people should be freed from radical Islamic terrorism, Davis responded:

When asked if he wanted to “eliminate whiteness,” Davis said, “I want to destroy whiteness to be more specific.” When asked to define whiteness, he declared:

“Whiteness is an ideological construct … it’s a set of behaviors, beliefs, and practices that not only normalize the white way of seeing the world but white way of doing society. That structure has proven to be violent towards people of color …

“So, I think that needs to be destroyed in order for the liberation of the people of color from white supremacy to take place. Now, to be sure, that is not to conflate whiteness with white people — although all white people do benefit from whiteness.”

Please send updates and information on Charles H.F. Davis III to Watchlists@tpusa.com.

Updated - May 8, 2024

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Charles H.F. Davis is an Assistant Professor at the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan. He previously taught at the University of Southern California. According to his university biography, Davis’s research and teaching focuses on, “race and racism, systems of oppression, and structures of domination in U.S. higher education and its social contexts.” Davis previously rose to notoriety in 2017 for a series of racially inflammatory tweets. As reported by The College Fix, he tweeted that “whiteness” must be destroyed and alluded to the necessity of violence in confronting it.

The background photo of his Twitter account at the time featured a black woman pointing a gun at a pig that clearly represents a caricature of a police officer. When contacted The College Fix over his remarks, Davis responded, “To be clear, I am decidedly against whiteness as a social and political ideology, which systematically marginalize and disenfranchise people of color from opportunities for societal advancement. In addition, I am against the institution of policing, which has historically and continuously enacted racial terror, sexual violence, and economic exploitation against racial minorities, women and LGBTQ communities, and economically disadvantaged working-class people.” When asked if any of these tweets might make students uncomfortable, Davis responded that any discomfort experienced by his white students is a result of their “white fragility.” Davis had previously advocated for the right of students to disrupt conservative speakers on campus. In the wake of protesters heckling Ben Shapiro’s lecture at the University of Wisconsin Madison, school regents approved a policy to suspend or expel students that purposefully disrupt events. Davis’s subsequent op-ed at Inside Higher Ed argued that this only reinforced white supremacy: “To be clear, it is a decision that reinforces institutionalized white supremacy -- and other oppressive forms of systemic power.” Davis argues that conservative speakers like Shapiro have hijacked the First Amendment to push “white supremacist agendas.” Davis’s website, which is listed by the University of Michigan on his biography, advertises that he has taught the issues of “ race, racism, and systemic oppression in education and society” to over “7,000 students, educators and institutional leaders.” The home page of the site also features links to organizations that advocate for the Black Lives Matter movement, abolishing the police, and boycotting the nation of Israel.

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