After an outcry over his “racist” tweet about a Black model, the chair of Columbia University’s Department of Psychiatry has been indefinitely suspended.
The scandal began on Feb. 17, when a photo of South Sudanese model Nyakim Gatwech circulated on Twitter. The model, who has a deeper complexion, can be seen with long braids, sitting in a black dress and reading a newspaper on a bed with white sheets.
According to The New York Times, Prof. Jeffrey Lieberman of Columbia University responded to the tweet on Monday with a creepy post, saying, “Whether a work of art or freak of nature she’s a beautiful sight to behold.”
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The statement did not sit well with social media users or the medical community.
“Hey @ColumbiaPsych, you need to fire racist Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman IMMEDIATELY,” a Twitter user posted.
“I was bullied before. I worked so hard to build tough skin,” Gatwech said in response to Lieberman’s statement in an interview with PIX11 New York. “I’ve worked so hard to be able to be in a room where I’m being discriminated [against], where I’m being looked at sideways, as if people are disgusted with me—with something I can’t change.”
The user who posted the image said that the model holds the Guinness World Record for the darkest skin complexion, a claim Guinness debunked in a statement, adding that it does not monitor skin tones. Gatwech also denied the record on her Instagram page.
After learning of the backlash of his so-called compliment, Lieberman issued an apology to the academic community and Black women as a whole.
“I tweeted from my personal account a message that was racist and sexist,” Lieberman wrote to colleagues Tuesday in an email provided to The Daily Beast. “Prejudices and stereotypical assumptions I didn’t know I held have been exposed—to myself and to you—and I’m deeply ashamed and very sorry.
“I have participated in the many efforts of Columbia University, including by the medical faculty, the New York State Office of Mental Health, and New York-Presbyterian to root out discrimination at all levels,” he continued. “And although tackling unconscious bias is an ongoing part of these efforts, it starts internally. An apology from me to the Black community, to women, and to all of you is not enough. I’ve hurt many, and I am beginning to understand the work ahead to make needed personal changes and over time to regain your trust.”
Apparently, his apology was not enough. On Wednesday, Lieberman was removed from his position as psychiatrist-in-chief at Columbia University Irving Medical Center/New York-Presbyterian Hospital and suspended as the psychiatry department chair at the university’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, the university confirmed to The Daily Beast.
The Times reported Lieberman also resigned as the executive director of the New York State Psychiatric Institute and deleted his Twitter account.
According to The Times, Columbia’s new chief medical officer, Dr. Thomas Smith, said in a statement to university staff, “We condemn the racism and sexism reflected in Dr. Lieberman’s tweet and acknowledge and share the hurt, sadness, confusion, and distressing emotions you may be feeling.”
The Columbia University Medical Center did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment.
“Why we need more Black leaders in medicine,” tweeted Dr. Ima Ebong, as assistant professor of neurology at the University of Kentucky. “Calling us ‘Freaks of nature’ is racist, fetishizes our bodies, and is rooted in slavery and colonialism. Shameful.”
“When I consider the fact that Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman was the head of psychiatry at Columbia, a prestigious medical school, and former president of the American Psychiatry Association, it’s easier to understand why the DSM-V is such a mess,” posted Dr. Brian Leyva of the University of Minnesota, referencing the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
“I’m standing up for myself,” Gatwech told PIX11. “If I speak for myself and stand up for myself and say, ‘This is not right,’ it’s showing little Black girls out there our voices are the most proper weapon we have. And we have to use it at all costs.”
