On Tuesday, September 23, an HBCU took social media by storm after they were filmed kicking out a MAGA “activist” group who attempted to film content on their campus.
Conservative political “debaters” Cam Higby and David Khait trespassed onto the Tennessee State University Campus (TSU), deigning to provoke students at the historically Black school to debate their opinions in favor of eradicating DEI and advocating for mass deportation around the United States.
Instead, Black students signaled to any antagonistic groups that they were not to be messed with.
In an attempt to continue the late Charlie Kirk’s efforts with “The American Comeback Tour”, the “Fearless Debates” duo set up a table in the middle of campus, with signs reading “DEI Should be Illegal” and “Deport ALL Illegals NOW! Let’s Talk”.
Luckily, within 10 minutes, TSU officials reportedly escorted the two off campus because they didn’t have permission to be there. Meanwhile, during the entire walkout, they were accompanied by hundreds of university students booing them, yelling at them to get off their campus.
Some people simply kept screaming, but others may have taken things too far by beginning to throw things at the two men and attempting to shove them to the ground as they walked.
And naturally, Khait and Higby used videos of this to fan the flames even more. Somehow, to their supporters, the two debaters were made into victims. To them, THEY were the ones getting “attacked” when they were attempting to practice free speech. THEY were getting things thrown at them even when they had already agreed to leave.
But let’s make one thing clear. This was not an attempt at having civil discourse. This was a clear effort to incite a riot. They did not go through the proper channels to set up a stand on this campus. They did not communicate with any campus staff prior to their arrival. But because of their privilege, they believed it was completely within their power to walk straight onto campus and tell Black students that they didn’t belong.
And while these students at TSU did an amazing job of not entertaining any discussion with the conservative debaters who came to their campus, this became just another example of how anything Black individuals do that isn’t calm and collected can be used as fuel to judge their character and promote negative stereotypes of Black aggression.
Higby and Khait could have gone to multiple different institutions that would have, at least, had a student body with a considerable percentage of individuals who might agree with their beliefs. But instead, they decided to walk into a community that they know has been targeted by their colleagues, asking questions that blatantly undermine their right to exist in educational spaces.
Since Charlie Kirk’s death on September 10, several of the nation’s HBCUs have received credible threats of harm, leading many universities like Alabama State University and Southern University in Louisiana to cancel classes and order students to shelter in place.
Students were faced with death threats calling for them to be lynched or beaten. They were advised to walk home in groups in fear of someone being attacked in the street. And while some of these threats were labeled as “hoaxes”, it sent a considerable amount of fear and anger into the Black population who had NOTHING to do with Kirk’s death, and were somehow being held responsible for anything and everything that radical republicans hated about liberal America.
For the Black students of TSU, I can absolutely understand that the sudden, unannounced appearance of two right-wingers would feel like another attempt to antagonize the Black population in response to Kirk’s death, and I absolutely applaud them for their response. However, it seems like the ill reception that the “Fearless Debates” duo received was exactly what they wanted. From their videos of the event, they seemed to portray the students who surrounded them as intolerant of “respectful” debate and aggressive.
Clips of the pair being escorted off the campus went viral, with some praising HBCU students for standing on business and not entertaining their provocation, while others pointed out that images of students yelling and throwing things at the conservative duo would fan the flames of false ideologies of Black aggression for fans of the debaters. Some commenters even suggested that the students should have just debated the duo, which I fundamentally disagree with.
If Charlie Kirk’s presence on USC’s campus was any indicator, even acknowledging his presence was doing his opposers more harm than good. His audience seemed bigger, and he used any opportunity to debate students to either insult democrats, change topics mid-discussion, or spew false information and claim it as fact.
The truth of the matter is, these events aren’t debates; they’re public spectacles used for views. Higby and Khait don’t want to be persuaded of anything, so it’s a waste of everyone’s time to try. That being said, I will say that some students were still able to get good points across throughout the event that Kirk even conceded to, and I absolutely believe that kids at TSU would have done the same.
TSU students were smart to have not entertained the “Fearless Debates” team so as not to “feed the trolls”. However, these men ultimately wanted to agitate their way into a response from Black students, and I fear that these targeted events will only get worse if we continue to fuel the fire of hatred that they want to spread.
Regardless, TSU students set an amazing precedent. Yes, maybe students didn’t have to throw things at their conservative intruders, but I believe they had every right to protect themselves from any hurt or distress that Khait and Higby’s presences might have brought to the campus and, as we have seen, to Black students around the United States.
They proved that HBCU students didn’t owe MAGA supporters any of their time or attention, because sometimes, protecting your peace is enough.
Opinions are those of the author’s alone and do not reflect the views of the Annenberg Media newsroom or its leadership.