On Friday night, protesters in Charlottesville gathered with a bunch of tiki torches at a rally to "Unite the Right", supposedly to unify the sect of people who consider themselves alt-right, or white nationalists. I could give a summary of this event (which you probably already know about), but these videos basically sum up the reason behind the event, why it's being talked about and it's reaction:

That second one delves into our President's reaction to the protest, which has been universally panned, and to which I won't delve much into, other than repeating what has already been echoed. Contrary to what Trump has said, I don't think it's a hot take to say that white nationalists are universally shitty people. If you are so incredibly ignorant as to believe that our race (white people I mean, me being a white male) is superior to those of different background or heritage, that white people are actually treated worse than minorities then you cannot be helped. And if your justification for your white nationalist, racist, Nazist actions is that America "needs to return to it's roots", I encourage you to re-enroll in the second grade. I understand that I'm a liberal, and that I'm obviously going to look at this a certain way, but it is so damn easy to criticize Nazis, and our President couldn't even do that. It is such a clear sin that people are literally disowning their sons in the media, yet our President can't condemn Neo-Nazis, who by the way, are big fans of his:

Anyways, plenty of people are much more well-equipped to write about both the protests and Trump's response to it, so I'll shift to a local figure in Nicholas J. Fuentes. Fuentes had just completed his freshman year at BU, and is a noted conservative, first becoming well-known through this video published before election night:

Not gonna lie, when I saw this, my first reaction was that I was pretty surprised that this kid, a freshman here in a ultra-liberal city in Boston and at a university in BU that is even more-so anti Trump at least in part due to our large international population, had the balls to admit he was voting for Trump. As a liberal, I obviously disagreed with him, but I found him to be educated and articulate, and frankly, respected him. Some of my best friends whether it be in Boston at BU or back home in Texas are hardcore conservatives, many of whom voted for Trump, so while I disagreed with his views, I respected them.

After that, I hadn't heard anything about Fuentes, other than rumors and stories about his presence at rallies and the occasional meme. That was until Fuentes this week announced that he will no longer attend BU, citing death threats and not feeling safe in Boston and at BU, particularly following his attendance at the rally in Charlottesville last weekend and assorted posts about it. He says he wishes to move south, and more specifically attend Auburn University, a school that will better fit his interests and beliefs.

First off, Nick, nobody deserves death threats, and as much as I disagree with your beliefs and rhetorics, nobody deserves to fear for their life. And frankly, I'll be the first to join you in crapping on BU. I agree that there are plenty of problems with our university (in your case, now former university) ranging from the high tuition to the entitled student body to grade deflation to the administration not really giving a fuck about it's students. Multiculturalism isn't one of these things. One of the things people like you do in order to defend yourself and your controversial actions and opinions is to cite freedom of speech and the Constitution, yet clearly you don't even have a correct understanding of that:

Fuentes has come out and said that he doesn't support violence and that he isn't racist. First off, you can't say that you aren't racist, then turn around and say that immigrants and minorities aren't entitled to the same things that white Americans are. It literally takes a mere Google search to prove you wrong there:

The thing that baffles me the most about Fuentes' argument was a quote he said in regards to the hate he got while at BU, to which he said he was stunned about "the level of hate people have been able to express and been able to feel at someone they have never met, never saw, never had a conversation with." As fellow BU Terrier Bryn Rubin cleverly noted in a post on Facebook, what you described just now, threatening and rallying against people you have never met, is exactly what was going on at the rally you attended, and is the genesis for hate groups and events like the KKK, like Nazism, like the Holocaust, and so on. These groups regularly do exactly what you just condemned: hate on people who they haven't met, haven't seen and haven't had a conversation with. To criticize people for giving you hate in response to your beliefs, then go and say what you and those rallying in Charlottesville this past weekend is ok is just plain ignorant. MLK, a BU alum and someone who had to deal with hate much worse than anything you will ever have to deal with in your time on this Earth, put it best: "Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity".

So while I don't have a problem with Fuentes' decision to vote for Trump, nor to his outspoken political and social views that are polar opposites to those around him, I do have a problem with the sheer ignorance it takes to call multiculturalism cancer (despite coming from a Hispanic background mind you), to telling people they should cut off their balls, to be so open and in-our-face about your beliefs only to turn around and cry when you have to deal with the subsequent repercussions. If white nationalists and Nazis have the right to protest the livelihood of minorities (which by the way, they shouldn't), and you have the right to express your beliefs, no matter what they may be, then people have every right to express their disagreement in said beliefs, no matter what race they are, no matter where they're from. One man to another, I hope Fuentes finds happiness at Auburn, because to openly wish ill will, hate or violence on another man is totally unproductive, but as a representative of the BU population, Nick, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

(Oh and on the odd chance you read this and get angry: HEY, FREE SPEECH MAN.)