Essex County Rally Will Support Black Professor Fired After Fox News Show

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Supporters of a black New Jersey college professor who was fired following a controversial appearance on Fox News plan to hold a press conference and rally in Essex County on Thursday, July 6 at Livingston Town Hall, 57 S. Livingston Ave., in Livingston.

The rally, which will take place at 5:30 p.m. prior to the Essex County Board Of Chosen Freeholders meeting, is being held to “demand Durden’s reinstatement” to her post as an adjunct professor at Essex County College, organizers said.

College administrators fired Durden after she appeared on the FOX News show Tucker Carlson Tonight last month and made several race-related comments about a Black Lives Matter rally which had only invited African-Americans.

“You white people are angry because you couldn't use your white privilege card to get invited to the Black Lives Matter, all-black Memorial Day Celebration,” Durden said.

According to Essex County College President Anthony Munroe, following the June 6 show, administrators were “immediately inundated with feedback from students, faculty and prospective students and their families expressing frustration, concern and even fear.”

• See related article: Black New Jersey Professor Fired After Fox News Show Appearance

Watch a clip from the June 6 show below.

Durden, a lifelong Newark resident, is alleging that she was suspended and fired without union representation, even though she didn’t identify herself as a professor with the college and stressed that she was speaking on her own behalf during the June 6 show.

Durden’s supporters have launched an online petition that demands her immediate reinstatement, which has garnered more than 2,300 signatures in two weeks.

Durden has helped to provide internships in the New York City area media for Essex County College students for more than a decade, and is the recent recipient of the “Phenomenal Business Women Award” and the “Vanguard Award” for Excellence In Communications from the Black Alumni Association at her alma mater, The Seton Hall University.

Supporters at the Thursday rally will reportedly include: People’s Organization for Progress (POP), New Jersey American Federation Of Teachers (NJ-AFT), Rutgers AAUP-AFT, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Black Youth Project 100, Decarcerate The Garden State, Newark Anti-Violence Coalition (NAVC), Seth Kaper-Dale, N.J. governor candidate.

Watch Durden speak about the incident in the below video. [Video may contain strong language]

RACISM CAN’T BE FOUGHT WITH RACISM

Newly appointed Essex County College President Anthony Munroe defended the college’s termination of Durden, writing that “racism cannot be fought with more racism.”

Munroe, a black male and former president of Malcolm X College in Chicago, said that the college “supports and affirms the right of free speech and independent views and expressions of those views for our faculty and staff,” but that his administration has a duty to set a strong example of tolerance as well.

Read his full statement about Durden’s dismissal here.

Send local news tips, photos and press releases to eric.kiefer@patch.com

YouTube Screenshot: Lisa Durden