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Nigerian-born academic Uju Anya has deactivated her X account, saying she took the step to protect her family after a day of violent threats, racist abuse and harassment directed at her online.
Uju disclosed this in a statement shared on Instagram on Sunday, September 13, 2026, following a wave of backlash over posts attributed to her on X, where she tweeted. “Die first, white man, then ask yourself why I’m dancing.”
The tweet prompted responses from Elon Musk and other white men, leading Carnegie Mellon University, where Uju is an associate professor, to issue a statement on September 12. The university said Uju is currently on voluntary professional leave and will not teach on campus during the 2026–27 academic year.
However, Uju said she stood by the responses that preceded the backlash and would not apologise or retract them. In her statement, she added,
“During an entire day of incessant violent threats, racist abuse, and harassment on Twitter… I was doxxed. I deactivated my account to protect my family.”
