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The NAACP is calling on the University of South Carolina to cancel a scheduled event where right-wing figures will "roast" Vice President Kamala Harris.
According to The Hill, the NAACP sent a letter to University of South Carolina President Michael Amiridis, urging him to cancel the event because of its "blatant sexist and racist nature" and "potential for violence on campus because of the proposed event.”
“Hate speech has long served as a weapon to undermine the progress of our nation. At a time where we are witnessing groundbreaking history, bad actors aim to cast a dark shadow on those very achievements,” Derrick Johnson, NAACP president and CEO, said in a separate statement.
“If South Carolina University’s leadership values their Black students, it’s only right they shut this event down. Our nation’s schools must remain havens for learning, not platforms for hate. It is imperative that the university takes swift action in this matter and protects the campus community from patterns of divisiveness and degradation.”
The event is scheduled to be hosted by the student chapter of Uncensored America, a nonpartisan organization fighting for freedom of speech, on September 18. Gavin McInnes, founder of the Proud Boys, and Milo Yiannopoulos, a right-wing media personality, have been named as the event's "roastmasters."
“While the NAACP is a staunch advocate for, and defender of, free speech, in light of the advertisement used for the proposed event, the NAACP urges USC to cancel the proposed event, not because of what might be said at the event, but because of what already has been said and depicted in the obscene advertisement,” the NAACP’s letter reads. “History also has shown that the presence of these speakers creates an undeniable risk of violence from those attracted to campus by such speakers."
The organization noted that McInnes' Proud Boy organization is on the Canadian terrorist list.
“Put simply, inviting to USC the founder of a terrorist group, which has a history of violence, and a speaker, whose presence results in violence and property damage, would present a clear and immediate danger to the student body, campus personnel, and visitors,” the NAACP letter states. “As President, you have a duty to protect the students who have chosen to matriculate at USC, your employees, and campus guests. We urge you to make the correct decision and cancel the proposed event.”
The letter comes after student leaders organized an online petition, which has over 22,000 signatures.
In a joint statement with Thad Westbrook, chairman of the university’s Board of Trustees, Amiridis said the school is “steadfast in safeguarding the First Amendment rights of our students, even when we may be offended by their choices and statements.”
“We do not know what the speakers plan to say during the event, but they have used vulgar language in promotional material, and they have said troubling and offensive things in the past. As a university, we denounce hate and bigotry,” the statement reads.
Westbrook and Amiridis noted that censoring “even the most hateful individuals and groups does not solve the problems we face in our society and instead provides them with a platform to win more publicity and support, because their message was silenced.”
“Democracy requires active engagement and participation in the face of views we oppose,” they said. “Let your voices be heard through peaceful civil discourse that generates constructive debates even amid the most hateful words or images you can imagine. In these divisive times, we can change the narrative with the skills, grace, and intelligence that USC has long cultivated in its students.”
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