‘DISCRIMINATORY SPEECH’

Reed College Looking Into Viral Video of Professor Making Racist Comments

The psychology professor appeared to accuse a local business of “hiring illegal immigrants.”

Reed College in Portland, Oregon, says it is working to “ascertain the accuracy” of a viral TikTok video that appears to show a faculty member making racist comments at a drive-thru window. The video begins with a man identified as Paul J. Currie, a professor of psychology, appearing to question the citizenship of a person speaking off-camera. He seems to threaten the business for “hiring illegal immigrants,” accusing a worker of being “rude.” “Illegal immigrant?” the person responds. “Illegal immigrant, yes,” he says before asking, “Were you born in the United States?” A spokesperson for the college told The Daily Beast the school was aware of the “offensive” and “racist” comments, and said they are working “to ascertain the accuracy of the video, to engage a valued member of our community in conversation about what it appears to show, and to follow our guidelines for addressing discriminatory speech.” The school also backed the unidentified employees who were off-camera in the video, writing: “We express our support for the employees insulted in the video.”

-- Brooke Leigh Howard contributed reporting