Confronting White Nationalism and the Limits of the Campus Left at Arizona State University

Beneath the veneer of liberal civility at Arizona State University (ASU), located in Tempe, lies a long history of the campus welcoming white supremacists and fascists, excused by a hand-wave towards public university inclusivity. Such was the case when the Phoenix Anarchist Federation and the wider community received word that the College Republicans United (CRU), the even more grotesque sibling of the ASU College Republicans, had invited Jared Taylor to speak on campus. {snip}

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In hopes of nipping the event in the bud, we moved to organize a phone zap, targeted at ASU president Michael Crow and the venue originally hosting the event. Despite the student body and broader community taking to the phones and emails en-masse, ASU’s response was predictable. Regardless of the threat it posed towards marginalized students and the widespread opposition to its continuation, the event would not be cancelled. Michael Crow himself stated via email, “Jared Taylor is one of many people today who exploit public forums of all types to engage in intentionally destructive and divisive rhetoric solely for the [s​​​​​​​ic] self-serving and attention getting purposes,” but that ASU was not able to refuse him a platform, due to restrictions placed upon them by state laws regulating the actions of public universities.

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With ASU’s refusal to listen to marginalized students and community members, it became clear that we could not rely on the so-called authorities to hold to their stated principles and that we would need to fight in our own defense against the fascist ideologues. We began spreading the word of the counter rally and reaching out to a broad selection of ASU student groups, in the hopes of building a broad opposition against the fascists.  {snip}

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The attendees were escorted by police and ASU security into the hall more than thirty minutes before the event, while more security established barricades around the entry, with a line of wannabe brownshirts standing guard. The rally commenced with a series of chants and speeches, a mixed bag of liberal and militant. To the attendee who called out that 2020 and Black Lives Matter was a “warning for fascists” and that the time for idle songs and chants was over, we wish the rest of the event had carried that energy, as despite a few moments of heightened tension most of the event remained docile. {snip}

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