While most Americans were worrying about their communities, preparing to protect themselves from continued civil unrest, and attempting to restore peace, a University of Alabama -Birmingham professor fanned the flames of hate.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham archeologist Sarah Parcak tweeted details for bringing obelisks down as demonstrators defaced a Confederate monument and tore down a statue of Confederate Naval captain Charles Linn Sunday night.
A day earlier, protestors in Nashville, Tennessee, toppled a statue of Edward Carmac, a former politician and newspaper publisher who wrote editorials expressing racist views.Parcak’s tweets did not point to any specific protest, but hinted at the Confederate monument in the park, which is an obelisk, and her awareness of the demonstrations that followed the police-related death of Floyd in Minneapolis more than a week ago. She started by saying her comments on Twitter were a public service announcement.’PSA For ANYONE who might be interested in how to pull down an obelisk* safely from an Egyptologist who never ever in a million years thought this advice might come in handy,’ she wrote, explaining in a footnote that she was referring to any obelisk that ‘might be masquerading as a racist monument’.
Her tweets are below, which I have screen-captured, in the interest of posterity and as evidence, if needed.
Now, to be fair, ancient Egyptians were notorious in tearing down monuments to ancestors they wished to forget. It took years for Egyptologists to determine that Hatsehpsut was a female pharaoh, as her heirs made a valiant attempt to destroy her legacy. Ramses the Great was notorious in replacing former kings’ names with his own. Perhaps Parcak was in a position to truly offer expert advice.
However, her recommendations have now earned her notoriety that she perhaps will not enjoy nearly so much as being awarded the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation 2020 Fellowship.
— 3rd_x_acharm ⭐️⭐️⭐️Q’d (@acharm_x) June 1, 2020
Many who spotted Parcak’s instructions on social media contacted the University of Alabama. The officials appear to be distancing themselves for this thread.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham issued a disclaimer, saying her tweets don’t represent “the opinions of the university.”
Parcak’s ill-considered thread is shameful. I did a search, to determine what her thoughts might have been on the destruction of the Buddha statue in Afghanistan and determined she is an expert in using satellite imaging to track looted objects.
It’s too bad she didn’t show the same compassion for fellow Americans who were having their heritage erased and their properly looted when she decided to become a social media star on top of being an award-winning archeologist.
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