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A New York college professor is going viral after a hot mic caught her making comments about Black students that officials have called “abhorrent” and “blatantly racist.”
Allyson Friedman, an associate professor at Hunter College in New York City, was on a Zoom call for a Community Education Council meeting earlier this month. At one point, a Black eighth-grade student was discussing a potential shutdown of her school. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has previously suggested that some city schools could be closed or relocated.
“They’re too dumb to know they’re in a bad school,” Friedman said on Feb. 10, not realizing that her mic was on. “If you train a black person well enough, they’ll know to use the back. You don’t have to tell them anymore.”
What a horrifically racist comment from someone who appears to be from The Center School where Cynthia Nixon sent her child and who has vehemently been pushing back on a school merger because of “equity”. Here’s the video clip of the incident: https://t.co/KZadDoeR28 pic.twitter.com/Yrqx7vpSiG
— Jean (@queens_parents) February 20, 2026
That comment is believed to be a reference to Carter G. Woodson, who wrote, “If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told,” in his 1933 book “The Mis-Education of the Negro.” Woodson had reportedly been referenced earlier on the Zoom call.
Videos of the Zoom call are circulating on social media, with students and educators alike being shocked by Friedman’s comments.
“What you’re saying is absolutely hearable here,” one person told Friedman. “You’ve got to stop.”
Friedman, who works in Hunter’s Department of Biological Sciences, later attempted to clarify her remarks, stating that the “complete comments make clear these abhorrent views are not my own.” However, she has since received considerable backlash, both on social media and, more importantly, from those affiliated with the university and the city.
Thank you Councilmember.
I agree that the anti-Black comments made at the February 10 meeting of CEC3 are outrageous and have no place anywhere, especially civic discourse. It is particularly despicable that these vile words were uttered while children were giving testimony at… https://t.co/TrSOmCn4tz
— Brad Hoylman-Sigal 🌈🥯 (@bradhoylman) February 21, 2026
“The anti-black comments made at the February 10 meeting of CEC3 are outrageous and have no place anywhere, especially in civic discourse,” Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman Sigal said. “It is particularly despicable that these vile words were uttered while children were giving testimony at the meeting, exposing them to this hatred.”
City Council Education Chair Rita Joseph expressed that she was “deeply disturbed” by Friedman’s comments. New York City estimates that just under 20% of students identify as Black.
“There is absolutely no place for this type of language in any space,” Joseph said, “and certainly not in a forum centered on our children and their education.”
Hunter College had not commented on Friedman’s employment at the time of publication. Friedman’s bio page on Hunter’s website remained online as of Monday morning.
