Professor didnt know her mic was on..said about a black student "They're too dumb to know they're in a bad school" [View all]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/nyregion/hunter-college-professor-remarks-students.html

Hunter College to Review Professor’s ‘Abhorrent’ Remarks at Meeting
A student objected to the potential closure of her New York City middle school. The professor, speaking on a hot mic, said, “They’re too dumb to know they’re in a bad school.” The comment was assailed as racist.


The comments were made at a Feb. 10 Community Education Council meeting at which public school families on Manhattan’s West Side debated a contentious proposal by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration to close or relocate several schools.

As one student, who attendees said was Black, spoke out to praise her teachers and lament the potential shutting of her school, another attendee — identified as Allyson Friedman, an associate professor at Hunter College who was attending as a public school parent — cut in.

“They’re too dumb to know they’re in a bad school,” Ms. Friedman said, according to a recording of the meeting.

She was attending virtually and was unaware that her microphone was turned on. “If you train a Black person well enough, they’ll know to use the back,” Ms. Friedman continued. “You don’t have to tell them anymore.”


https://www.ilovetheupperwestside.com/video-and-multiple-witnesses-identify-person-behind-racist-remarks-made-during-student-testimony/

When the remarks were made, multiple attendees could be seen on the Zoom call with visibly horrified reactions.

In response, a man who appeared to be the moderator said: “Allyson Friedman, what you’re saying is absolutely hearable; you’ve got to stop.”

Click play to listen (the recording stops at around the 43 second mark; also, try listening on desktop if you’re having trouble hearing it on mobile):