Tommy J. Curry is an author and full professor of philosophy at Texas A&M University. He is the first African-American ever promoted to the rank of professor in the department of philosophy’s history at Texas A&M University. Curry received his masters at DePaul University and his doctorate in philosophy from Southern Illinois University. His main research areas include Critical race theory, Black Male Studies, and Africana philosophy.
According to various documents including a signed statement by other faculty in Texas A&M University’s philosophy department, Dr. Curry was hired specifically to research Critical Race Theory and revolutionary violence and armed resistance. Dr. Curry’s publications and podcast routinely thank radical race scholars like Derrick Bell, Richard Delgado, and Robert Guthrie for their intellectual influence and guidance.
In 2017, Curry was targeted by white supremacists and the alt-right related to previous statements he had made comparing revolutionary violence and armed self-defense in the United States in a podcast analyzing Jamie Foxx’s lead character in Django .
Curry received death threats after the comments he made in 2012 were taken out of context on a conservative website. Rod Dreher, an alt-right commentator, admitted in a subsequent interview with the Chronicle that he targeted Curry after a student at Texas A&M University said they were disturbed by his research and classes on American racism. Dreher then admitted that Curry’s language choices and rate of speech offended him, so he decided to write a series of blogs attacking the professor. Curry later blamed the situation on the alt-right’s targeting of Black professors and other anti-racism scholars across the country.
Here’s an article outlining the current relationship between Curry and A&M.