I was looking forward to speaking next week at UMass Amherst, Mr. Whitehead wrote on the social network Bluesky. But calling the cops on peaceful protesters is a shameful act. I have to withdraw as your commencement speaker.
We respect Mr. Whitehead's position and regret that he will not be addressing the Class of 2024, Ed Blaguszewski, a spokesman for the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said in a statement.
His book Sag Harbor was a coming-of-age novel, Zone One was a postapocalyptic zombie story, and The Underground Railroad followed a young enslaved woman who escapes from a Georgia plantation.
#colson-whitehead #university-of-massachusetts-amherst #campus-protests #commencement-speech #police-actions
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