Jared Taylor, a speaker who identifies as a white nationalist, has been invited by a student group to speak on the University of Alabama campus about diversity.
In a conversation with Talking Points Memo, Taylor said, “They’ve asked me to talk about whether diversity is a strength … I think you can imagine the position I will take on that question.”
Taylor, who is the publisher of the white nationalist publication American Renaissance, is scheduled to speak on April 19.
“I assume they have researched me and have some idea of who I am,” Taylor said.
Taylor has long been viewed for his radical ideas and thoughts.
In 2005, a piece by Taylor on American Renaissance stated, “Blacks and whites are different. When blacks are left entirely to their own devices, Western civilization — any kind of civilization — disappears.”
Students for America First, the group that invited Taylor to speak at the university, claims to be an “organization dedicated to the recognition & preservation of the American ideals of self-determination, individual liberty, and constitutionally-bound democratic government as absolute necessities for prosperity.”
Lincoln Egbert, America First’s vice president, provided Talking Points Memo with a statement saying that the group described Taylor as “a noted Right-wing intellectual and editor of American Renaissance.”
The statement reads, “SFAF neither endorses nor condemns Mr. Taylor’s work: our sole motivation in deciding to host him is to ensure that all social and political views, regardless of how offensive they may appear to the generic public are accounted for in the free marketplace of ideas that ought to exist on the university campus.”
In a statement issued by University of Alabama President Stuart Bell, Bell says, “This ideology is counter to our institutional values.”
“This speaker was invited by a registered student organization that followed appropriate policies and processes. The best way to demonstrate distaste for hateful dialogue is not to give it an audience,” said Bell.
Taylor’s visit to the University of Alabama comes amid growing protests across America to prevent white nationalists from speaking on college campuses. First amendment protections prevent public places, like state school campuses, from taking action against the speech or preventing the speech from occurring.
According to students at the University of Alabama, the faculty advisor for Students for America First was unaware that Jared Taylor had been invited to speak and has stepped down as the faculty advisor for the organization.
@RealKyleMorris is a Yellowhammer News contributor and host of the Conservative Savage radio program that airs noon-2 p.m. Saturdays on 101.1 WDYE
