Professor Johnson Responds to Opinion on Race

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS -- Javon L. Johnson, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of performance wtudies in the Communication Studies Department at SF State. On December 3, Golden Gate Xpress published its weekly newspaper filled with articles on everything from World AIDS day to student registration. Amidst this country’s current racial turmoil sparked by the recent decisions not to indict Darren Wilson for the murder of Mike Brown or Daniel Pantaleo for the murder of Eric Garner, Social Media Editor Michael Duran opined that in the case (or lack thereof) of Wilson, “racism isn’t the issue.” As a relatively young and passionate professor, I love to see students share their ideas and exercise their right to free speech, but it is that same passion that does not allow me to sit idly by when students make misguided, problematic, and unsubstantiated claims.