"I am not a culture vulture. I am a culture leech."https://t.co/p2rBC30Tm8 pic.twitter.com/8PZCfA2YGA
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 3, 2020
A George Washington University professor has admitted that she is not, in fact, black. Even though she told everyone she was. For a while. Even though she grew up as a white, Jewish kid in Kansas City.
Complex– Jessica A. Krug said in a widely shared (and equally widely criticized) Medium post on Thursday that she has built her life on “a violent anti-Black lie.” Simply put, she pretended to be Black.
Elsewhere, Krug said she is a “culture leech” and “a coward” and called on everyone to cancel her. “And I absolutely cancel myself,” she added.
Thus far, the ensuing discourse surrounding Krug’s Medium post has included many calling into question the timing of its release, with some speculation from those wondering if she only did so after potentially receiving word that this would all be revealed anyway.
Lady, you can’t cancel yourself. We cancel you. The hell is this? You think you’re going to win sympathy points by committing seppuku? I don’t know about everyone else, but I want my pound of flesh. You’re not B. Rabbit. We’re not just going to walk off stage because you said everything about yourself before we could say it.
Here’s my question: how does this not come out sooner? Meaning, how is it possible that she avoided having friends from her past blow her cover? She never ran into an old buddy on the street while she was walking with some other professors in the African-American studies department? Nobody ever said “Hey Jessica, it’s been a while, let’s go do (insert extremely white stereotypical activity here) sometime?” And then she had to be like, “WHAT? I DON’T EAT MAYONNAISE SANDWICHES. HAHA WHO WAS THAT WHACKJOB?!”
Sorry. Couldn’t resist.
If somehow I were able to magically turn the incandescent glow of my skin down a few notches, concoct a backstory about my ethnicity, and somehow convince people that I’m black? I’d last a day. Maybe a week at most. Somebody would come out of the woodwork and blow my cover. Probably my mom, honestly.
Thank God for Twitter:
1. This is Jessica A. Krug (photo via @dukepress)
2. According to her Medium post, she spent the better part of her adult life pretending to be black, from various parts of the diaspora.
Fuck Jessica A. Krug. I'm not sharing her damn post, helping her fucking platform. pic.twitter.com/C2uSBLi0LA
— Genie Lauren (@MoreAndAgain) September 3, 2020
— graham starr (@GrahamStarr) September 3, 2020
— roxane gay (@rgay) September 3, 2020