Everyone has someone they regret dating. That person rarely comes up in conversation. People don’t eagerly bring up your ex for no apparent reason.
Unless you dated someone who is just undeniably insane, then friends might mention them. Friends love to bring up the ex who lights your preferred Hawaiian pizza on fire. I’m sure my ex’s friends love to bring up that I always referred to my headphones by their full name, “Beats By Dre headphones” rather than whatever boring normal people call them. Ear buds? Air Buds?
U.Va. has its own crazy ex. He was always weird. He was a little too into Shakespeare. He insisted on explaining “what Nietzsche really meant about Jewish people … ” at every party. Now he’s full on shopping for crazy pants at the big and tall racist store. He’s driving all over town, lighting crosses and collecting Third Reich tchotchkes. I am referring to esteemed alumnus, Richard Spencer.
How has the University not publically renounced Richard Spencer? Are we worried about losing the money and support of the racist block? His views are ridiculous!
In an interview with NPR, Spencer stated that he had no problem with the slogan “Make America White Again.” But, you know, only whiteness through peaceful means. He would of course never condone any sort of ethnic cleansing … oh wait. What’s that? He did? Crap.
In an interview with Vice, Spencer described his dream society as, “an ethno-state … a gathering point for all Europeans … based on very different ideals than, say, the Declaration of Independence." Those ideals he’s planning to reject are probably Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, because no one is going to be happy if Spencer has anything to say about it.
In the wake of Trump’s election, Spencer proclaimed that America was the rightful inheritance and property of white Americans, right around the same time he quoted Nazi propaganda in the original German. No super villain has ever spoken German … oh … right.
Side note: anyone who knows how to convert my Hyundai into a Panzer, gimme a call. Thinking ahead on my urban camouflage.
People are remembering that the University and Spencer dated and we are now being associated with a pioneer at the forefront of race-based douche-baggery. Spencer’s bio on his policy center’s website, his New Yorker profile, a Washington Post article and his Wikipedia page all advertise his degree from the University. The Southern Poverty Law Center even calls Spencer, “a suit-and-tie version of the white supremacists of old,” that “acquired that academic tone while obtaining a bachelor’s degree from at the University of Virginia.” His Klan rallies are so much more organized after taking that English writing class in business prep.
Several alumni have publically admonished all that he stands for, going so far as to set up a donation page for the very causes Spencer diametrically opposes. That’s like if every single one of my siblings said they opposed my views with every fiber of their being, even though that’s impossible, I’m infallible. But if kids are screaming about their sibling, mom and dad should at least listen.
Spencer’s own parents are publicly distancing themselves from his activities and his beliefs. The people who raised him for the first 18 years of his life don’t want to take any credit for what he believes. The University was only responsible for him for four! I’m no parent, but if I dated a closet racist for years, I would feel free to pretend our relationship never happened.
Let’s take it a step further! Rather than the lukewarm, sanitized response we expect from the administration, let’s demand bold action. Retract Spencer’s degree. Bigotry is dishonorable and how we treat our alumni should reflect that fact. In a year where our community has experienced multiple counts of hate crimes, at a school built with slave labor, in a state that literally waged a war to keep men and women enslaved, this is the least the administration could do for students in the minority. I don’t think it’s possible for us to expect less of our school. This is a “u up?” text message at 3:00 am. This is the bare minimum.
The University doesn’t get to proudly stake its claim over Katie Couric and Tina Fey as representatives of the University and downplay the alumni connection for a monster like Spencer. If a friend of mine dated Heidi Klum and Joseph Stalin, I would be sure to remind people about Stalin every time they brought up Heidi. They’re both accomplished people, but one did a lot more genocide than the other.
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