In early 2023, Cambridge University were delighted to tell the world that Dr Jason Arday had been appointed as a Professor of Sociology of Education, with his post beginning in March that year. Cambridge University shared “Arday has faced many personal challenges – notably being diagnosed, at the age of three, with a form of Autism Spectrum Disorder which meant he was unable to speak until he was 11.” This inspiration porn style article posits Jason, a Black, working class, man with ‘autism spectrum disorder’ as being able to overcome his disability (and presumably his race and ethnicity?) to be able to become a professor. The red flags for his mistreatment within academia started waving then (if they weren’t already flying high).
Arday was a professor at Cambridge for fewer than three years and towards the end of his time there, and his time on earth, he faced a tremendous unwarranted backlash from UK media. He was accused of plagiarising his PhD thesis by another academic Nathan Cofnas, a self-confessed “Race realist” who claimed that under a meritocracy there would be no Black professors at Harvard.
After these claims of plagiarism, the media also charged Arday with “Faking” other accomplishments, including his charity fundraising and running accolades. The media, and individuals online, also questioned his autism diagnosis and his history of being non-speaking. There were no areas of this man’s life that were left private or unscrutinised. Black Spectrum Scholar has explored Jason’s disproportionate scrutiny here: The Cost of Contingent Humanity: Professor Jason Arday and how Anti-Blackness Kills.
The depths of this investigation into Arday as a academic and as an Autistic human, and how this has tragically ended in his death, show an alarming pattern of classist-racist-ableism (thanks to Sofia Farzana for bringing this term to mind at a recent clarion call – see more about the sharing event here). Too many people are intimately familiar with how this manifests in violence inside and outside education.
It is an honour to be born Black. Equally, it means that you will experience racism, prejudice and have to work twice as hard for half the acknowledgement.
– Melissa Simmonds, Celebrating Black History Month
Professor Jason Arday’s work
Professor Jason Arday had over 80 publications including his first book, written with Chantelle Jessica Lewis, We See Things They’ll Never See: Love, Hope, and Neurodiversity. Much of his work focused on anti-racism and wider inequality and inequity in higher education. His most cited work, according to Google Scholar, is the book he edited with Heidi Safia Mirza, which is free to access – click the picture below. Most of his other publications can be found here.
Racism, Whiteness and Decolonising the Academy edited by Jason Arday and Heidi Safia Mirza
What we can all do now
A Black man (Autistic or otherwise) will always be seen as Black first. Jason’s Blackness was not something he could mask. To not recognise his abuse and death as racism and ableism and very specifically where these intersect does a disservice to the abuse he endured.
White Autistic people can no longer be afraid of putting our heads above the parapet when global majority Autistic people have no other choice. They have quite literally been put in the firing line by other people and our white silence enables this. We can no longer be afraid to say something wrong and being called out. Now is not the time (and it is never been the time) to centre white feelings in talks on racism. The hurt we may feel from being called out or in does not compare to that of the racist violence faced by all people of the global majority.
I will not distance myself from someone simply because standing alongside them becomes uncomfortable or unpopular. Solidarity cannot only exist when it is easy.
Some immediate things to get involved with
There is a petition calling for the police and Crown Prosecution Service to investigate Nathan Cofnas and determine whether criminal charges should be brought in connection with his sustained campaign against Professor Jason Arday. Everyday Racism has gathered links so you can sign the petition for a public inquiry, make a complaint to IPSO, buy Jason’s book and make a complaint to Cambridge University.
There is a great deal of amazing anti-racist work out there, lead by people of the global majority. We need to listen, pay for and respect their time and knowledge. I have shared some useful resources below and of course we should read and uplift the work of Professor Jason Arday himself.
Resources
Anti-Black racism in academia and what you can do about it (open access research journal)
Challenging the System: Anti-Racism in Higher Education (podcast)
Anti-racism charter: A framework for developing an anti-racist approach in schools and colleges (free resource from National Education Union)
Dismantling Race in Higher Education Racism, Whiteness and Decolonising the Academy edited by Jason Arday and Heidi Safia Mirza (free download)
A Letter to Black and Indigenous Autistic Teens (blog)
Know your place (Instagram post by Scottish Ethnic Minority Autistics)
‘Jason Arday’ Poem by Lucas Jones (Instagram performance)
The impact of colonialism on Autistic people (Youtube conversation between Sofia Farzana, Claire Betson, and Viv Dawes)