A State University of New York professor wrote in a blog post this month that he feels oppressed by homeless white men who beg for food and money in his neighborhood, and fantasizes about attacking them.
Nicholas Powers, an associate professor of black literature at SUNY Old Westbury, made the confession in a since-deleted essay headlined “Seeing poor white people makes me happy. It was published by the RaceBaitr blog on June 11.
Powers recounted walking past a “homeless white boy” and having hateful and violent thoughts about him because of “the history of colonization, slavery and mass incarceration.”
On one occasion, Powers recalled thinking of the man: “Should I kick him in the face? Hard? No, chill, he’s not worth it. But why is this white boy begging for money in a Black neighborhood? Is he stupid?”
