Jason D. Hill

Jason Damian Hill (born c. 1965) is a Jamaican-American professor of philosophy at DePaul University in Chicago.

Childhood and career[]

Hill was born and grew up in Jamaica.^[1] He describes himself as "mixed race" in Caribbean terms, but "perceived as being black in America." He immigrated to the U.S. in 1985 when he was 20 years old,^[1] and eventually became a U.S. citizen. Hill has written extensively about his journey to the United States, most notably in his last book, We Have Overcome: An Immigrant's Letter to the American People. Hill, a gay man, has credited Ayn Rand's work with helping him come to terms with his homosexuality, especially as someone who grew up in Jamaica, a country he describes as "the most homophobic culture in the world."^[2]

After coming to the United States, Hill earned a B.A., magna cum laude, in philosophy from Georgia State University, and both a M.A. and PhD in philosophy from Purdue University,^[3] eventually becoming a professor and an Honors Distinguished Faculty member at DePaul University, where he teaches courses on ethics, political philosophy, and American politics. With regard to his intellectual principles, he has stated he is committed to moral foundationalism, moral universalism, and the absolutism of reason.^[4]

Politically, Hill has defined himself both as a conservative Democrat and as a conservative independent.

Opinions and beliefs[]

On racism in the U.S.[]

Hill has written that he has experienced racism, but does not consider himself a victim, stating that "you encounter racism, you deal with it, address it and move on." In his most recent book, We Have Overcome, he responds to Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between The World and Me, arguing that Coates' book "reads primarily like an American horror story and, I'm sorry to say, a declaration of war against my adopted country [the U.S.]."^[5] He has argued that the U.S. left promotes victimization of people of color and immigrants, telling them that "they are incontrovertibly oppressed by whites, that there's a new form of oppression since Donald Trump became president." He argues that it is not "resurgent racism" that has emerged after Trump's election, but rather "moral hysteria and hyperbole on the part of a far left that wants to paint racial minorities as helplessly under the yoke of white oppression."

On Palestinians, and response[]

On April 16, 2019, Hill published an article in The Federalist in which he argued that Palestinians should be stripped of their right to self-determination as "...supporters of the Fatah (Palestine Liberation Organization) Charter, which basically calls for the end of Jewry in the region" and of their right to vote since they have "voting patterns that openly advocate and work for Israeli and Jewish destruction and annihilation."^[6] In response to his article, a coalition of DePaul students started an online petition to the administration demanding that DePaul censure the content of Hill's argument; that he apologize for his dehumanization of Palestinians; and that he attend racial sensitivity training.^[7] In response to student protests, President Esteban sent an email to the DePaul community defending Hill's right to academic freedom and freedom of speech, while stating that Hill's views were his own and that he did not speak for the university.^[8] President Esteban refused to censure or take any action against Hill as a result of his views.^[9][10] Following student protests, the university organized events regarding the content of Hill's opinion piece and the students' response to it, including a forum on the Middle East and freedom of speech, and a gathering between students and faculty to share perspectives on the impact of Hill's piece and on the university's response. Additionally, a resolution to censure Hill's article was discussed and approved by DePaul's Faculty Council.

Books[]

Nonfiction[]

• Civil Disobedience and the Politics of Identity: When We Should Not Get Along (Palgrave Macmillan, July 2013)^{[citation needed]}
• Becoming a Cosmopolitan: What It Means to be a Human Being in the New Millennium (Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, 2000/paperback, 2011)^{[citation needed]}
• Beyond Blood Identities: Post Humanity in the 21st Century (Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, November 2009)^[11]
• We Have Overcome: An Immigrant's Letter to the American People (Bombardier Books, July 10, 2018).^{[citation needed]}

Fiction[]

• JAMAICA BOY IN SEARCH OF AMERICA (KDP Publishers, July 8, 2013)^{[citation needed]}

References[]