A Letter To The Late Jason Arday

 

Jason-Arday-Great-And-Unfortunate-Things-immigrant
Dear Jason,

I am writing this with a heavy heart to update you on the fallout since your tragic passing on August 14. What happened to you was fundamentally not right—no one should be subjected to the kind of relentless, racially motivated public shaming and harassment campaign that you endured.

The situation with Nathan Cofnas and his sympathizers continues to be a disturbing spectacle. After leading the charge on the plagiarism accusations that pressured your resignation from Cambridge, Cofnas faced his own consequences—he was fired from his junior research fellowship at Cambridge and subsequently faced a teaching ban at Ghent University. Unsurprisingly, his sympathizers and anti-DEI campaigners are rallying behind him; the US ambassador to Belgium even publicly criticized his teaching ban. Cofnas continues to play the victim, claiming people are trying to have him thrown in jail simply for expressing his "race realist" ideas. It makes me wonder—what exactly did you discover about this eugenics-adjacent movement and the racist research environment that ultimately put you in the crosshairs, costing you your position at Cambridge?

It is deeply unfortunate that I know so little about your academic work, but I will endeavour to do the research and read your publications. From what I have been able to gather, here are some of your major academic publications in chronological order, which I plan to start with:

Since you are a Ghanaian of Fante ethnicity, I wanted to ask—did you ever get the chance to visit Cape Coast? It would have been incredibly nice to have you out here on my farm. It could have been a perfect sanctuary to get away from the relentless scrutiny and negativity in the UK, just enjoying the peace of the land and the community.

In a strange way, the tragic news of your passing bridged a gap in my own life; Abigail's mother gave me a completely unexpected hug when we talked about it. I went through a similar smear campaign myself in the past because I'm married to her daughter, but those are old stories for another letter. The grief of your loss touched us all deeply, and it breaks my heart that you are no longer here.


Rest In Power Jason


Author

Campbell Kitts
Location: Cambridge, UK

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