University of South Carolina Urged to Cancel Harris 'Roast'

The NAACP has joined lawmakers and students urging the University of South Carolina to call off a Sept. 18 "roast" of Vice President Kamala Harris starring two leading far-right figures as "roastmasters." The event, advertised with what the Post and Courier calls a "vulgar misspelling" of Harris' name, will feature Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes and right-wing British commentator Milo Yiannopoulos. It was organized by the campus chapter of Uncensored America, which calls itself an organization "dedicated to fighting for freedom of speech."

• In a letter to university president Michael Amiridis, the NAACP said it was calling for the roast to be shut down "because of the blatant sexist and racist nature of the event, the advertisement for it, and the potential for violence on campus because of the proposed event," the Hill reports.

• The NAACP noted that violence erupted at a protest at the University of California, Berkeley when Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak at an event in 2017—and that the Proud Boys have been declared a terrorist group in McInnes' native Canada. "Inviting to USC the founder of a terrorist group, which has a history of violence, and a speaker, whose presence results in violence and property damage, would present a clear and immediate danger to the student body, campus personnel, and visitors."
• In an email to students last month, Amiridis said the event is not endorsed by the university, but the institution is "steadfast in safeguarding the First Amendment rights of our students, even when we may be offended by their choices and statements," WIS-TV reports. He added: "We do not know what the speakers plan to say during the event, but they have used vulgar language in promotional material, and they have said troubling and offensive things in the past. As a university, we denounce hate and bigotry."
• A petition urging the university to cancel the event or move it off campus has more than 23,000 signatures. Asked about the petition last week, when the number of signatures was a lot lower, Uncensored America told the Post and Courier: "Milo still holds the high score with 14,000 signatures for our Pray the Gay Away event."

(More Kamala Harris stories.)