Former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke qualified for the Louisiana Senate debate on November 2, to the disappointment of many.
The debate is being held on Wednesday night in an empty auditorium at Dillard University, a historically black college in New Orleans. Students are not happy about the white supremacist coming to their campus and are protesting the event.
BuzzFeed's DC Bureau Chief, John Stanton shared videos and photos of the protests happening on the Dillard campus to his Twitter account, writing that several students have been arrested.
Stanton shared a video of students trying to enter the debate room, and quoted a student speaker who said the college's president Walter Kimbrough "is now a symbol of white supremacy."
Student protestors chanted "No Duke, no KKK, no fascist USA."
When Duke learned he would be eligible to participate in Wednesday's Senate debate, he expressed concern for his safety on the college's campus, according to the Advocate.
A freshman at Dillard, Richelle Peck, told the outlet, "There’s not much that has changed in America to where you can make a comment like that, and it's bypassed."
That a former KKK Grand Wizard can enter a Senate race in 2016, that he can attend a black college for a Senate debate, that his safety and comfort is more important than that of the student body, is telling. This country is not past race. White supremacy is not a "thing of the past."
The United States, in 2016, is not a post-racial utopia. For anyone to suggest otherwise is turning a blind eye to the reality of this country's history and deeply troubling continued relationship with anti-black racism.
Check out Stanton's coverage below.
Dillard students and community members protesting David Duke's appearance at Senate debate pic.twitter.com/3uIDsyaDz3 — john r stanton (@dcbigjohn) November 2, 2016
Dillard Students are trying to enter the debate hall where David Duke is appearing tonight pic.twitter.com/0jyOZ9e1Uc — john r stanton (@dcbigjohn) November 2, 2016
