This past Thursday, October 19th, Richard Spencer spoke at the University of Florida. For those that do not know, Richard Spencer is a white supremacist. Spencer claims to not be a racist; he classifies himself as an “identitarian,” a phrase he created. In the words of Cameron Padgett, the student that pushed for Spencer to speak, being an identitarian “means you identify with your race, with your people, with your culture.” Also, Spencer wants to create a white “ethnostate,” a society of only white people. Yet, he still deflects terms like “white nationalist” and “racist.” It is not difficult to understand why so many students were appalled and decided to protest during his speech.

It is not uncommon to see protests, especially on college campus, but, the controversiality of Spencer was cause for extra precaution on October 19th. In fact, Spencer originally requested to speak on September 12th, yet was rejected by University officials because “the potential risk for violence following clashes Charlottesville between white nationalists and counter-protesters.” Though, as a public university, UF is required by law to provide a public forum, the school, knowing the risks involved, attempted make an exception to the law.  Yet, Spencer, after threatening to sue UF on First Amendment grounds, was later approved to speak. For that reason, the University of Florida needed extra security, and Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in Alachua County. While this call to action was not reactionary, Governor Scott made the declaration in order to “activate the state’s mutual aid plan, which allows for smoother coordination of police officer from multiple jurisdictions and directs the activation of the Florida National Guard, if necessary.” In other words, even Governor Scott agreed that the gravity of this situation required additional aid in order to protect Spencer and the students on campus.  

UF’s President W. Kent Fuchs was not happy about Spencer’s arrival.  Estimating that UF would be spending $600,000 on security, Fuchs said “We’re being burdened… taxpayers are subsidizing hate speech.”  Logically, if a speaker is so terribly controversial, a large amount of students would be protesting and tensions on campus would be high, so the security investment and declaration of emergency seemed necessary.

Tara Schulman, a recent PC graduate and current student at the University of Florida, gave me some insight into what it was like being on campus.  “It felt like we were bracing for a war,” she said, “Everyone was just scared as to what was going to happen and imagining the worst.  I couldn’t walk out of my building without walking through a crowd of screaming protesters.  We would receive notifications to avoid certain areas because there were people walking around with guns.  It was chaotic, but the University did everything they could to be cautious, which luckily paid off.”

Since these events transpired, Spencer and others have dubbed the protesters as nonbelievers in freedom of speech. But one of the the protesters, Brett Jaffe, stated what he was truly opposed to, “I’m not protesting his right to speak … but I am here to protest his ideals, what he stands for.” Not only were the protests against Spencer, but each individual was also exercising his or her own right to freedom of speech. Spencer’s ideas are offensive and demeaning to hundreds of students; thus, encouraging the students to show the speaker how they felt. While Spencer described the protesters as “pathetic” and “childish,” he was the one talking about people being opposed to his ideas. Spencer is bold enough to claim he is part of a superior race, yet is not brave enough to confront the people he deems “inferior.”  Instead, the white supremacist chooses to hide behind his own definition of freedom of speech: one that does not include speech that besmirches his own ideology. Not only is Richard Spencer’s platform appalling, he only applies laws and ideas in ways that benefit himself.

Sources: Miami Herald, Reveal, Fox News, Politico, ABC News, LA Times, The Gainesville Sun

Photo Source: Kenneth Lu via Flickr