White George Washington professor who lied about being Black resigns
WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - A white George Washington University professor who admitted that she’d pretended to be Black online has resigned.
The school confirmed Jessica’s Krug’s resignation via Twitter on Wednesday afternoon:
"Update regarding Jessica Krug: Dr. Krug has resigned her position, effective immediately. Her classes for this semester will be taught by other faculty members, and students in those courses will receive additional information this week."
Krug – who taught Black history at GWU – confirmed the deception in a blog post on Medium entitled “The Truth, and the Anti-Black Violence of My Lies” last week.
“To an escalating degree over my adult life, I have eschewed my lived experience as a white Jewish child in suburban Kansas City under various assumed identities within a Blackness that I had no right to claim: first North African Blackness, then U.S. rooted Blackness, then Caribbean rooted Bronx Blackness,” Krug wrote.
The admission ignited outrage in the university community – and across the nation – at a time when the Black experience in modern America is of central concern.
Krug said she has been dealing with mental health issues since childhood when she first assumed a false identity.
READ MORE: White GWU history professor admits she lied about being Black
“The mental health professionals from whom I have been so belatedly seeking help assure me that this is a common response to some of the severe trauma that marked my early childhood and teen years,” she said.
But Krug qualified that her mental health issues cannot justify or condone actions.
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“I am not a culture vulture. I am a culture leach,” she said. “I have thought about ending these lies many times over many years, but my cowardice was always more powerful than my ethics. I know right from wrong. I know history. I know power. I am a coward.”
Krug has authored several books on Black history. According to GWU’s website, Krug’s areas of expertise include Africa, Latin America, African American History, and Imperialism and Colonialism.