In the latest alt-right ass-kicking news, a young woman at Auburn University shut down white supremacist Richard Spencer. In order to fully bask in the awesomeness that is this shut down, you should know a little background about Spencer and the event.
Richard Spencer is the president of the National Policy Institute which claims to be “dedicated to the heritage, identity, and future of people of European descent in the United States, and around the world,’ (AKA White Nationalists). Spencer is a leading voice for the alt-right movement and his shining moments include shouting at a National Policy Institute conference: ‘Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory,” to a crowd of supporters who chimed in adding the Nazi salute.
When Spencer gave his speech at Alabama’s Auburn University, Auburn University student Morgan Buckles told the Huffington Post, “He and his supporters continuously cut people off who were asking questions. They disrespected people and he would call them boring or say he didn’t want to hear them and dismiss them.” That is, until our unsung heroine came forth and grabbed the mic as any lady boss would. The unidentified black woman wasted no time in her questions for Spencer, asking, “How are white people more racially oppressed than black people? Because I’m a black woman at a predominantly white institution and I want to know what challenges y’all face that I don’t?” Without missing a beat, although some audience members tried to deter her, she delivered her sucker-punching question: “How did it feel when you got punched in the face at the inauguration?” Mic drop (not really but that would’ve been awesome). Walking away without even giving Spencer the time to utter some unintelligible racist blabber, this young woman proved that not all heroes wear capes.
The real kicker of the story? Spencer weaseled his way into that talk at Auburn University. Auburn had initially barred Spencer from speaking at the university citing safety concerns, but the decision was overturned by a Federal judge on First Amendment grounds. As if that wasn’t enough of a red flag, Troy Public Radio’s Kyle Gassiott reported that “Spencer had rented the meeting hall through a third party and had surprised both Auburn faculty and students last week when he announced via Twitter that he would be coming to campus to speak.” Protests appeared outside of the hall where Spencer was speaking and upon realizing that Spencer would be on campus grounds the school’s diversity officer and provost sent a letter out to students stating, “Auburn University has faced attempts by uninvited, unaffiliated, off-campus groups and individuals to provoke conflict. We will not allow the efforts of individuals or groups to undermine Auburn’s core values of inclusion and diversity,’ The crowd outside began to get rowdy and three people were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct. Hopefully, Spencer will think twice before he tries to slyly book his white supremacist talks, until then, there will always be a young woman like Auburn University’s to put him in check.
Top photo via Youtube/Sarah Burris
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