RACISM IN HIGHER EDUCATION:

A community activist is challenging Gov. Deval Patrick’s pick for board chairman at the troubled Roxbury Community College because the new leader is white, but the administration is standing by the appointment.

Sadiki Kambon, who said he represents a group called Friends of Roxbury Community College, sent Patrick a letter Monday demanding that Gerald Chertavian, who was named board chairman last week, be replaced by “another qualified candidate (Black).”

“It’s important for our young people to see someone who looks like us who is the position of leadership in our academic community. We feel that someone from our community has the skill set necessary to run that institution,” Kambon told the Herald. Kambon declined to identify other members of his group, which sent the letter to Patrick earlier this week. The letter labels the governor’s selection of Chertavian, who is white, “insulting” because the college is a “predominantly Black institution.”

It’s sad to see such open and unapologetic racism in 21st century America.