A Cambridge academic who tweeted “White lives don’t matter. As white lives” has called on the university to do more to advance the national conversation on race after being subjected to a torrent of abuse. Dr Priyamvada Gopal, a reader in anglophone and related literature, received death threats and a campaign was launched to have her fired in response to what she described as criticism of systemic white supremacy. She tweeted on Tuesday: “White lives don’t matter. As white lives” and “Abolish whiteness”, in response to a banner flown over a Premier League football stadium that read “White lives matter Burnley”. Gopal told the Guardian that her tweets were opposing the concept of whiteness – the societal structure that presumes the superiority of white people – and not attacking white people. But this had been misunderstood by many and used as a tool by others, she said. When she had said “White lives don’t matter. As white lives,” she had meant their value should be inherent and not linked to ideologies around race, she said. “Whiteness does not qualify someone to have their life matter; the life matters but not the whiteness.” She added: “You cannot oppose Black Lives Matter with ‘white lives matter’ because they are not comparable. Whiteness is already valued but blackness is not.” Gopal subsequently shared a number of offensive messages she had received. A petition to have her removed from her post claimed her “statements are racist and hateful and must not be tolerated” by the university. On Wednesday afternoon, the university tweeted a blanket defence of its academics’ right to free speech, without specifically referencing her case. Gopal said the institution should go further and it had an important role to play in increasing the quality of public debate on race, highlighting that many of the abusive messages sent to her had been based on a flawed understanding of the nature of racism in the UK. “I would like to see the university take the lead in getting the public discussion on race in the UK to be more complex and rich than it is. So, instead of a statement on freedom of speech, actually saying that there is something to be said about a critical look at whiteness,” Gopal said. A Cambridge University spokesman said: “As well as the university’s ongoing access work to increase diversity in its student intake, Cambridge … is working to address racial inequalities in collaboration with students, academics and professional staff, including the university’s race equality inclusion champions. “We are aware of the magnitude of the problem and are working on improving our support services for staff and students – recognising, investigating and challenging barriers to recruitment, progression and retention of black, Asian and minority ethnic staff and students.”