Richard Spencer came to my campus. Here’s what happened.

“Diversity is not a strength,” Sam Dickson deadpanned to a surprised crowd. He was speaking in James E. Foy hall, which houses all of Auburn’s international programs, just a few yards from the center for diversity and multicultural affairs. The crowd, which seemed to be equal parts skeptical student and eager outside participant, listened on as Dickson, the Alabama lawyer who argued Richard Spencer’s case in court earlier that day, said, “I don’t have problems squaring my belief in God with my belief that people are not equal.”

Just a few days before, Spencer’s planned event at Auburn had been canceled by the university due to safety concerns. However, after a short court battle, Spencer won his chance to speak. In the hours leading up to the event, there was a great deal of speculation on how protests would look, who would show up, and how we would keep students safe from the inevitable chaos that follows Spencer wherever he goes. Not cowed by threats of violence like the ones shown below, many students gathered in peaceful protest.

Dani Douglas, a senior at Auburn who attended a counter event, shared her thoughts with me. “As a black student at Auburn, it was good to see that so many people wanted to take a stand against Spencer. It was a mixed crowd,” she said, noting that she felt support from students from all walks of life. “The vibe was really calm. We realized something dangerous was going on, but we were intentionally not taking part in it. Equality and equity are ideas I believe in, and it felt like something I had to do.” The students present at this event wrote messages on the walk-ways expressing support for their fellow students and sending a message that diversity is important to the Auburn student body.

The stage was set for Spencer by his de facto hype man, Michael Enoch, who proclaimed that “Multiculturalism and diversity are code words for anti-white!” The response from the crowd was a symphony of incredulous retorts and enthusiastic cheers, but when Spencer sauntered to the front of the lecture hall, everyone fell silent (with the exception of sporadic shouts of “hail victory”, an oft repeated alt-right slogan). I’ll spare you a play-by-play of the entire speech, but if you would like to hear it in full, here’s the link . (Disclaimer: Side effects may include nausea, heartburn, indigestion, and sudden, onset loss of faith in humanity.)

I will, however, hit the highlights of the speech that I unfortunately listened to in full…thrice. The main theme was embracing your identity, not as an individual, but as a race. “We have to become something greater than ourselves,” he said insisting that the only identity of any import is race. According to Spencer, all identities other than race are meaningless, abstract, and can be “easily integrated into the global, capitalist, and consumerist system.”

This highlights another major theme from Spencer’s speech, which was distancing the alt-right from libertarianism. It is often, incorrectly, assumed that the alt-right is just a radical offshoot of the Libertarian party, but Spencer refuted this multiple times by saying he agrees with most of what Bernie Sanders says, advocating for “high taxes, big government, and socialism,” and , uttering a sentence that would make a libertarian’s head explode, “Human liberties are only possible through the state.” He did, however, note his appreciation for the misinterpretation of their platform, because it allowed them to enter the mainstream.

There were other disgusting moments like his thinly veiled dog whistling reference to a “black cloud”, and he made sure to stress the word “black”, that is hanging over the heads of white people and preventing them from embracing greatness. He also encouraged whites to “challenge the system” by saying “I am German! I am English! I am white!” The speech was followed by an hour-long question and answer session where of students asked valid, challenging questions that Spencer punted because he found them “boring”. Presumably, he was unable to answer them because his entire ideology is built on a fragile and teetering assemblage of logical fallacies and moral depravity.

Initially, I was extremely discouraged. It’s a bit jarring to have a Nazi speak so close to the place I call home, even more so when I considered what students of color and other groups might be feeling. Spencer was there to speak against their very existence in this country, and the worst part is that there were factions of his audience who agreed with gusto. That’s scary, and it’s something we need to be very honest with ourselves about. A common phrase I heard during the election was “hate doesn’t have a place in my party/country/etc.” but the reality is that hate has wriggled it’s ugly head into mainstream politics. Spencer-style hate comes from the left, right, and center, and if we want to maintain any semblance of morality in our politics, we must call it out and name it as unacceptable.

Once I overcame the initial emotion, I realized that Spencer’s speech could have some long term positive effects. Maybe the frat boy who thought pepe memes were funny and harmless was exposed to the ideology that uses him as their mascot. Maybe people who were unaware that white nationalists still exist caught a glimpse of their prevalence. Maybe this started conversations that are long overdue about race, diversity, and what we can do better. My advice to people who have to deal with Spencer in the future is to do what Auburn did. There was no violence (excepting a scuffle between two non-students that ended in their arrest), but there was a quiet resolve to make sure Spencer, his followers, and their sinister ideology did not feel welcome. Students pushed back calmly and orderly and refused him the sensationalized media attention he so desperately needs to maintain relevancy.

The main question left in my mind was what I should do next? How do I respond to someone who says that creating a white ethno-state will, “make the world more beautiful.” I think it’s in a million acts of normality with people who are different than me. Sit down to a meal with someone whose skin looks different than yours, study for finals with the international student in your class, and embrace the beauty of the endless combinations of cultures, colors, and creeds represented in this country. Maybe if we do that, the next time someone like Spencer comes to Auburn there will be nobody there to support him. Maybe these small acts can push white nationalists into the lowest realm of political irrelevancy where they belong. As Dani said, “The only way that people can grow is by becoming uncomfortable and questioning themselves. Have a conversation with me. Try to feel what I feel or at least try to see the world through my eyes… If you’re as tired of inequality and inequity as I am, this is how you can help get rid of it.”