I thought that at least some of the racists did get sacked? People who attempt to dress up racism using pseudo-scientific approaches and language rightfully deserve to have their output scrutinized with a microscope and not get any kind of pass. We do not want anyone getting the impression there may be something to it but there is a conspiracy to censor it.
As for journalists and academics who plagiarize, if the question is, should they be fired, that depends on the circumstances of each individual case. Mocking them or not mocking them will not alter the ultimate facts.
But the reason things piled on Arday so heavily was due to the extreme nature of his lies. I mean, he claimed to have run 600 miles in 6 days, to have had brain tumor + testicular cancer + autism + epilepsy and to have finished several marathons despite a fractured leg bone + raised million of pounds for charity + have people harass and threaten him with a knife and pig’s head and that he was mute until age 11, said he played semi-professional soccer, made so much money from snooker his mom thought he was a drug dealer, claimed he was in a BBC television documentary he couldn’t have possibly been in, did 30 marathons in 35 days, etc. That’s an incredulous list of claims.
If Arday had merely lied and said “I had a 4.0 GPA” when he had a 3.0, or said he ran 150 miles in six days, or said he was a member of Mensa when he wasn’t, and that was the extent of his fibs, nobody would have batted an eye, and the harassment campaign would have probably been either just one day long or nonexistent. Nobody would be trolling with the “I guess you walked the Moon before Neil Armstrong” jokes.
I have no inside knowledge of this case, but it is logically possible that there was a vile smear campaign and the guy was guilty of plagiarism. None of the options excludes the other.
There were about three academics who had previously been sacked or sidelined over their (earlier, unrelated) racism who gleefully took the opportunity to blow the whistle on Arday.
Unfortunately, their views and motivation don’t make Arday’s likely plagiarism and fabulism about his past OK.
Gonna push back and say it: on that example, still as long as he was a black man wearing braids, both the racist agitators, and the press hounds, would have kept on magnifying every last issue with him. Maybe not as a daily sensational headline but no peace, with a new claim every so often. As one of the articles above said, he was exactly the kind of “poster child” everyone wanted to make their point.
Sure, but he would have given his enemies a lot less material to work with. Headlines of “Black professor claimed to have a 4.0 GPA when in fact he only had a 3.0” just doesn’t go far as a story and offers no “fun” for the trolls, it’s hard to stretch into a multi-day tale. They would still try, as you said, but it would be much harder and with much less juice.
…but they won’t pile into his accuser due to the extreme nature of his racism? Why not?
I mean here is the original fundraiser.
Here is the original reporting that he had finished it.
Is this just an argument from incredulity?
And did he or didn’t he have these? Autism is pretty much confirmed. Epilepsy wouldn’t surprise me. What is your source he didn’t have these?
Do you have evidence that he didn’t?
He never claimed he was in a television documentary that quote was attributed to him. It isn’t the sort of thing that demands a hundred new articles in a couple of weeks. He’s a nobody.
I’m going to ask you for a cite for each and every single one of your allegations. Because as it is this is gish gallop.
Why would anyone even care? The president of the United States tells a lie multiple times a day. How many articles about Donald Trumps lies do you see in the paper every day?
Where are all the articles about his lies? Why are Arday’s alleged lies so IMPORTANT we need over a hundred articles in two weeks?
It was a vile smear campaign. And I’m not claiming he was or wasn’t guilty of plagiarism. I just don’t think that even if he were guilty, he would deserve being a victim of a vile smear campaign.
Can someone say what the difference is between “smear campaign” and “telling the truth about Cambridge and Arday?” Because it looks like the “smear-ers” are factually pointing out, and focusing on, what has happened. Nobody has, for instance, accused Arday of working for al-Qaeda.
…I asked for a cite for the rather large list of alleged lies. Because if this is about “telling the truth about Cambridge and Arday,” then that would be the appropriate place to start don’t you think?
…he was initially targeted by a professional racist and then got dogpiled by the media, who wrote over a hundred articles about him in two weeks. It was a vile smear campaign. And it resulted in him kiling himself.
Yes but do you have any cites for any of this other than the dozens of links in this thread? And if you do, do you have any besides those? OK, but leaving those aside, do you have any more?
…it wasn’t a “slice-of-life story.” Slice of life stories are positive and don’t convince people to kill themselves.
Velocity had a long list of very specific allegations. Many of the multiple cites in this thread don’t provide primary sources for any of these allegations. If you have them feel free to provide them.