This is a ridiculous overreaction to a statement made in jest- the kind of slightly risky, edgy humor that probably all of us engage in from time to time. And here a distinguished academic who has written some of the most important works on the holocaust now has to suffer humiliation- his intentions and his accomplishments count for nothing. And the mealy-mouthed administration at U of T does nothing to stand up for him. There are real issues of systemic racism at the U of T and elsewhere- where is the diversity in the faculty and the top tiers of the administration? But changing that is hard- much easier to win a cheap victory by piling on to an offhand remark taken out of context.