Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
White Rutgers Professor Complains Harlem Restaurant Is 'Overrun With Little Caucasian A**Holes'
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Jun 12, 2018
Modified Jun 13, 2018
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Jun 12, 2018
Modified Jun 13, 2018
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A white professor at Rutgers University is under investigation by the school after writing in a Facebook post that he "hates white people" and wants them ("us") out of his Harlem neighborhood.
The trouble began when James Livingston, who's taught in the Rutgers-New Brunswick history department for 15 years, encountered a group of young white people at his local burger spot, Harlem Shake, on 124th Street and Lenox Avenue. He soon took to Facebook to rail against the "little Caucasian assholes" apparently ruining the historically black neighborhood, and also the take-home dinner prospects of some white academics.
"OK, officially, I now hate white people," Livingston wrote on May 31st. "I am a white people, for God's sake, but can we keep them — us — out of my neighborhood? I just went to Harlem Shake on 124 and Lenox for a Classic burger to go, that would [be] my dinner, and the place is overrun with little Caucasian assholes who know their parents will approve of anything they do. Slide around the floor, you little shithead, sing loudly, you moron. Do what you want, nobody here is gonna restrict your right to be white. I hearby resign from my race. Fuck these people. Yeah, I know, it's about access to my dinner. Fuck you, too."
That post was soon deleted, but the Daily Caller (ugh), managed to get a screen shot. A day later, Livingston turned to social media once again to share his hyper-woke perspective: "I just don't want little Caucasians overrunning my life, as they did last night. Please God, remand them to the suburbs, where they and their parents can colonize every restaurant, all the while pretending that the idiotic indulgence of their privilege signifies cosmopolitan — you know, as in sophisticated "European" — commitments."
Rutgers is reportedly investigating the statements. A spokesperson tells Gothamist, "There is no place for racial intolerance at Rutgers. This matter has been referred to the appropriate leaders at the Rutgers-New Brunswick campus, where Dr. Livingston teaches, to determine whether his comments violate university policies prohibiting discrimination and harassment."
Livingston was also suspended from Facebook for eleven days over the rant, he says. He's since returned to posting, most recently announcing that he'd be meeting face-to-face with an online troll known as "Beefy Tips," who'd apparently physically threatened him over the Facebook statements. That meeting is scheduled for noon tomorrow inside Harlem Shake, which really doesn't deserve any of this.
Asked if they were aware that a crusading professor was now using the restaurant to settle online beefs about race and identity, a manager at Harlem Shake told Gothamist, "I'm not aware of that. I'm not even familiar with that person. I hope he doesn't do that."
Tagged
harlem
harlem shake
james livingston
race
rutgers
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
2 pedestrians killed in Bronx crash after driver ran red light, police say
The NYPD said the investigation is continuing and no one had been arrested Saturday.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
and
Ann Givens
Published Oct 10, 2026 at 1:24 p.m. ET
Rain could put a damper on NYC’s long weekend. Here’s when it will clear.
Remnants of Hurricane Isaias could bring more than an inch of rain, gusty winds and even a thunderstorm Sunday before conditions improve Monday.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
News
Rain could put a damper on NYC’s long weekend. Here’s when it will clear.
Remnants of Hurricane Isaias could bring more than an inch of rain, gusty winds and even a thunderstorm Sunday before conditions improve Monday.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Holy civics! NYC schools' own comic books in the spotlight at Comic Con
By
Jessica Gould
What we know about the ICE shooting in NYC
By
Karen Yi
DSA to Mamdani: Fire NYPD commissioner if ICE doesn't leave NYC
By
Elizabeth Kim
,
Brigid Bergin
and
Ben Feuerherd
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .