WaPo editorial board member warns 'many will not survive' unless culture and political systems change

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Washington Post opinion columnist Karen Attiah raised eyebrows on social media Tuesday when she argued that "many will not survive" unless there is a shift in cultural and political systems in the country.

In a lengthy thread on X, Attiah said the last few months have been "clarifying" after referencing the ongoing war in Gaza. She went on to warn "marginalized communities" and minorities to "divest" from institutions and systems in the U.S. and enter into a "self-preservation" mode, arguing that it's clear they "will not save us."

"Those of us who are minorities or come from marginalized communities— I hope the last few months have been clarifying. Our governments will not save us. Our institutions will not save us. People of color in high places will not save us. Only we can save us. Adjust accordingly," she wrote. 

Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah. (Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images | Julia Reinhart/Getty Images)

Attiah pointed to the decision by the University of Southern California to cancel a Muslim valedictorian's speech at the school's graduation ceremony after a series of anti-Israel social media posts she allegedly made were discovered.

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"The silence, censorship, racism, and hypocrisies on to the assault, starvation, and depopulation of Palestinians in Gaza is revealing," Attiah wrote. "For decades, we were told ‘Never Again’ to genocide and mass atrocities. The Holocaust. Rwanda. Bosnia. Darfur. We were taught to spot the warning signs--dehumanizing rhetoric, violence, forced depopulation, and the destruction of culture. We were told to speak out and act."

The university's decision, Attiah claimed, "shows that the credibility/legitimacy of many liberal institutions died in Gaza."

USC valedictorian Asna Tabassum will no longer speak at the school's commencement ceremony after anti-Israel social media posts resurfaced. (X/Screenshot/Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

"Western journalistic objectivity died in Gaza. True academic freedom died in Gaza. Do we see how much violence it takes to uphold an imperial status quo?" she went on.

Attiah continued, "Many Black and other PoC are going to withdraw/ divest from these systems and go into self + community preservation mode," she claimed. "Storms are gathering. We keep trying to educate white folks especially on how to build new shelters, but they keep holding on to old, broken tools."

"Some of us are using new tools, and will try to build new shelters," Attiah concluded. "Many will not survive what is ahead of us if our cultural and political systems don’t change course."

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In October, Attiah was dragged on social media after arguing in a column that "we cannot stand and watch Israel commit atrocities."

She wrote that Palestinians were "rightfully" pointing out "that their own pain and deaths under the actions of the Israeli state have been ignored for years" following Hamas' unprecedented terrorist attack against Israel and argued that the U.S. can't let Israel retaliate.

The former global opinions editor for the Washington Post also faced online ridicule when she warned White women that they are "lucky that we are just calling them ‘Karen’s'" and "not calling for revenge" in a since-deleted tweet.

Attiah responded to the backlash at the time by writing, "America is a racist *and* patriarchal society. We cannot dismantle the full range of oppression in this society without addressing how toxic ideas of white masculinity interplay with the notion of ‘protecting’ their women from Black people."

Attiah also received backlash in the past when she said the Texas Rangers team name "must go," claiming it "is not so far off from being called the Texas Klansmen."

Critics were therefore surprised when she announced that she had been promoted to the role of opinion columnist in 2021.

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Fox News' Cortney O'Brien contributed to this report.