Excerpts:
“I must have been nine or ten years old,” began Joseph Epstein, in an essay in the September, 1970 issue of Harper’s, “when my father, who had read me stories out of a children’s Bible, out of Robin Hood, out of the Brothers Grimm, who carefully instructed me never to say the word ‘nigger,’ one night sat me down in our living room to explain that there were ‘perverts’ in the world.” 

What Joseph Epstein’s father meant by “perverts” were men who were sexually attracted to other men. Epstein’s “Homo/hetero: The Struggle for Sexual Identity” elaborates on the condition of those men cursed (“in the medieval sense of having been struck by an unexplained injury, an extreme piece of evil luck”) with such perversion.

“I would wish homosexuality off the face of the earth… nothing [my four sons] could ever do would make me sadder than if any of them were to become homosexual. For then I should know them condemned to a permanent Niggerdom among men, their lives, whatever adjustment they might make to their condition, to be lived out as part of the pain of the earth.”

– Emily Greenhouse, writer at The New Yorker Magazine – Merle Miller and the Piece That Launched a Thousand “It Gets Better” Videos (Oct. 11, 2012)

Excerpt:
In September 1970, Harper’s Magazine published an article by Epstein called “Homo/Hetero: The Struggle for Sexual Identity” that used the word “nigger” to describe being gay and was criticized for its perceived homophobia […] – Larry P. Gross & James D. Woods, The Columbia Reader on Lesbians and Gay Men in Media, Society, and Politics (Columbia University Press, 1999)

I’ll expound on his “gay equals “Niggerdom” comment in my follow-up response….

Epstein is a genuine relic of a certain ilk. Not only does he have contempt for strong, educated and confident women. The Old man hates “other” groups as well.  

But as DJ noted – this time “his words did not go unnoticed and he was absolutely flamed on social media.” And apparently his alma mater was none too amused either:  

‘Joseph Epstein wiped from university website after backlash over ‘sexist drivel’ Jill Biden column’

Northwestern has now scrubbed Epstein’s page from its website, where he was previously listed as an emeritus lecturer of English. In a statement, the university said that it is “firmly committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, and strongly disagrees with Epstein’s misogynistic views.” – MSN News, Dec. 14, 2020