LEEDS, England, March 24 (UPI) -- A lecturer at Britain's Leeds University has been suspended for allegedly saying white people are intellectually superior.
Frank Ellis, who teaches Russian studies, will also face disciplinary proceedings, reports the Guardian newspaper.
Ellis reportedly told the Leeds student newspaper he supported the theory of Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray in their 1994 book "The Bell Curve" that white people are more intelligent than black people. He also said that women did not have the same intellectual capacity as men, the report said.
A university official said the disciplinary proceedings could take months to complete and that Ellis would remain an employee during that time.
Ellis had earlier told the Guardian he would not be silenced even though the university had gagged him.
David Williams with the anti-fascist group Searchlight says Ellis is well known on the far-right circuit.
"He has been putting these ideas forward for around 15 years. These sort of opinions are very dangerous if unchallenged because they provide a veneer of respectability for outright racism and intimidation," he told the newspaper.