Conservatives got #CancelYale trending on Twitter and targeted liberals like Hillary Clinton in their effort to troll the left, calling for the Ivy League school to change its name because it’s named after a slave trader.
Right-wing pundit Jesse Kelly kicked off the hashtag on Saturday by noting that Yale University is named after Elihu Yale, a British merchant and slave trader.
“Yale University was named for Elihu Yale. Not just a man who had slaves. An actual slave trader. I call on @Yale to change its name immediately and strip the name of Yale from every building, piece of paper, and merchandise. Otherwise, they hate black people,” Kelly tweeted.
The tweet may be satirical, but it uses the same basic logic applied to other recent examples of cancel culture promoted by Black Lives Matter activists amid the ongoing protests across the nation over the death of George Floyd.
Numerous companies have promised to change their logos for being insensitive, historical monuments have been ripped down by protesters, and even country band Lady Antebellum shortened their name to axe any connections to the Confederate South.
The growing frustration over “cancellations” fed into Kelly’s hashtag, as thousands joined in on targeting Yale.
“Yale’s entire campus is a monument to slavery,” one user tweeted.
Kelly also targeted a Juneteenth — a day celebrating the end of slavery in the US — tweet from Hillary Clinton, an alumni of Yale, to demand she “renounce” the school immediately.
The hashtag even got the attention of former Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA) and other liberals.
“Though #CancelYale is coming from right wing trolls, I’d be fine with cancelling the people who say ‘I went to Yale’ every other sentence,” she tweeted.
Though Yale is considered a fairly liberal establishment, some pointed to a 2018 incident where a white student earned headlines for calling the cops on a black student sleeping in a common room on campus.
Yale University has not responded to any of the tweets, but a Saturday tweet about students “honoring” black lives through art — a tweet with comments from non-followers blocked —was honed in on by Kelly and others.
“Did they pray for the soul of Elihu Yale who traded in slaves and who you named your university after? Why have you not changed your name and ripped down every statue with ‘Yale’ on it? Stop being racist.”
Right-wing pundit Jesse Kelly kicked off the hashtag on Saturday by noting that Yale University is named after Elihu Yale, a British merchant and slave trader.
“Yale University was named for Elihu Yale. Not just a man who had slaves. An actual slave trader. I call on @Yale to change its name immediately and strip the name of Yale from every building, piece of paper, and merchandise. Otherwise, they hate black people,” Kelly tweeted.
The tweet may be satirical, but it uses the same basic logic applied to other recent examples of cancel culture promoted by Black Lives Matter activists amid the ongoing protests across the nation over the death of George Floyd.
Numerous companies have promised to change their logos for being insensitive, historical monuments have been ripped down by protesters, and even country band Lady Antebellum shortened their name to axe any connections to the Confederate South.
The growing frustration over “cancellations” fed into Kelly’s hashtag, as thousands joined in on targeting Yale.
“Yale’s entire campus is a monument to slavery,” one user tweeted.
Michael James Coudrey
✔@MichaelCoudrey
View: https://twitter.com/MichaelCoudrey/status/1274428253780860928
WOW: Yale university was named after a man who was an ACTUAL slave trader. @Yale must immediately change its name or it is racist and hates black people.
#CancelYale https://twitter.com/jessekellydc/status/1274380903926595584 …
Jesse Kelly
✔@JesseKellyDC
Yale University was named for Elihu Yale. Not just a man who had slaves. An actual slave trader. I call on @Yale to change it’s name immediately and strip the name of Yale from every building, piece of paper, and merchandise. Otherwise, they hate black people. #CancelYale
1,474
2:45 PM - Jun 20, 2020
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jon gabriel
✔@exjon
View: https://twitter.com/exjon/status/1274418874562179072
This proves that private property is racist. #CancelYale https://twitter.com/danielrsohn/status/1274415305259806720 …
Daniel R Sohn@danielrsohn
The insincere dummies pushing #CancelYale can't even be bothered to distinguish between removing statues of racists from public squares and those situated private property, which I bet they hold holier than human life
885
2:08 PM - Jun 20, 2020
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M2@Amer1can_Barbie
View: https://twitter.com/Amer1can_Barbie/status/1274392680512942080
We must not stand for injustices like this. Silence is violence. #CancelYale https://twitter.com/jessekellydc/status/1274391355138224135 …
Jesse Kelly
✔@JesseKellyDC
ATTENTION: The @Yale Center for British Art is currently displaying this painting of Elihu Yale, prominent slave trader. Yale hates black people and thinks they should be traded as commodities. #CancelYale
1,997
12:24 PM - Jun 20, 2020
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Kelly also targeted a Juneteenth — a day celebrating the end of slavery in the US — tweet from Hillary Clinton, an alumni of Yale, to demand she “renounce” the school immediately.
Jesse Kelly
✔@JesseKellyDC
View: https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/1274390134335647744
Why did you attend @Yale University when it’s named after a slave trader? You’ve even returned to Yale to give speeches. Why do you support the slave trade and treating black people like cattle? Renounce Yale immediately or you’re racist. #CancelYale https://twitter.com/hillaryclinton/status/1273978915590111235 …
Hillary Clinton
✔@HillaryClinton
Juneteenth is more than a celebration of emancipation. It is a call to continued action for racial justice. We must answer it. https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/06/juneteenth-has-always-been-worthy-celebration/613270/ …
4,194
12:14 PM - Jun 20, 2020
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(__(__)Land@BicLand
View: https://twitter.com/BicLand/status/1274393698734936066
Elihu Yale was also the president of an East India Company settlement, one of the most powerful colonial corporate entities. #CancelYale https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/1274380903926595584 …
Jesse Kelly
✔@JesseKellyDC
Yale University was named for Elihu Yale. Not just a man who had slaves. An actual slave trader. I call on @Yale to change it’s name immediately and strip the name of Yale from every building, piece of paper, and merchandise. Otherwise, they hate black people. #CancelYale
2,850
12:28 PM - Jun 20, 2020
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The hashtag even got the attention of former Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA) and other liberals.
“Though #CancelYale is coming from right wing trolls, I’d be fine with cancelling the people who say ‘I went to Yale’ every other sentence,” she tweeted.
Cathy Young
✔@CathyYoung63
View: https://twitter.com/CathyYoung63/status/1274414317077762050
Wow, the #CancelYale tag is a fascinating convergence of right-wing trolling (Ann Coulter & Co. pointing out that Yale is named after a slave trader & should scrub its name) & leftists who agree
4,845
1:50 PM - Jun 20, 2020
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Though Yale is considered a fairly liberal establishment, some pointed to a 2018 incident where a white student earned headlines for calling the cops on a black student sleeping in a common room on campus.
anisa@anisaliban
View: https://twitter.com/anisaliban/status/1274402933891829760
Remember when a white @Yale student called the cops TWICE on 2 black students? #CancelYale
12.3K
1:05 PM - Jun 20, 2020
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Yale University has not responded to any of the tweets, but a Saturday tweet about students “honoring” black lives through art — a tweet with comments from non-followers blocked —was honed in on by Kelly and others.
“Did they pray for the soul of Elihu Yale who traded in slaves and who you named your university after? Why have you not changed your name and ripped down every statue with ‘Yale’ on it? Stop being racist.”
Jesse Kelly
✔@JesseKellyDC
View: https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/1274424078628196352
Did they pray for the soul of Elihu Yale who traded in slaves and who you named your university after? Why have you not changed your name and ripped down every statue with “Yale” on it? Stop being racist. #CancelYale https://twitter.com/yale/status/1274401541672390668 …
Turning tables: Conservatives ‘call’ to cancel Yale for being named after slave trader
Conservatives got #CancelYale trending on Twitter and targeted liberals like Hillary Clinton in their effort to troll the left, calling for the Ivy League school to change its name because it’s named after a slave trader.
www.rt.com