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Richard Spencer

White nationalist Richard Spencer鈥攚ho coined the phrase 鈥渁lt-right鈥濃�攊s planning on standing in the schoolhouse door.

In a defiant statement responding to an appearance this Tuesday, Spencer casually compared himself to African-American students who worked to desegregate colleges during the Civil Rights Movement in the 鈥渉istorically significant鈥� state of Alabama, and claimed his struggle was similar to theirs.聽

Moreover, with or without the school鈥檚 blessing, Spencer said聽he鈥檚 moving forward with his talk.

鈥淭he fact is, this situation is now much bigger than I am. This isn鈥檛 just about Richard Spencer. This isn鈥檛 just about the alt-right and some cowardly and naive bureaucrats in Auburn University,鈥� Spencer said. 鈥淭his is about whether we have free speech in this country or whether we don鈥檛.鈥�

Spencer鈥檚 Auburn speech is part of a university campus tour he announced in January on the website Radix, his white nationalist journal.

鈥淩ichard Spencer鈥攖he originator of the term 鈥楢lt Right鈥� and one of the most politically incorrect men alive鈥攊s coming to your college!鈥� the announcement read. 鈥淗e鈥檒l debate your favorite feminist professor . . . make the SJWs cry . . . and rustle the jimmies of the campus, if not the world.鈥�

The plan was designed to piggyback on tours of U.S. campuses other alt-right speakers had taken鈥攆igures such as Milo Yiannopoulos, the former Brietbart tech editor who was fired after an interview surfaced in which he casually dismissed pedophilia. In January, a聽Yiannopoulos speech devolved into chaos in Seattle, leaving one antifascist shot by a Trump supporter.

Spencer鈥檚 appearance, planned for an undisclosed time on Tuesday, comes just days after Trump supporters and counter protesters again clashed violently in Berkeley, California, the third time the city has seen violent confrontations in recent months. reported that 250 police officers were sent to the melee at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park in downtown Berkeley, where Trump supporters had gathered for a 鈥淧atriots Day鈥� rally. Twenty-one people were arrested.

Many, including Auburn university officials, are concerned that Spencer鈥檚 appearance at Auburn brings with it similar threats of violence and disorder.

鈥淲e strongly deplore his views, which run counter to those of this institution. While his event isn鈥檛 affiliated with the university, Auburn supports the constitutional right to free speech,鈥� the school said in a statement released last week. 鈥淲e encourage the campus community to respond to speech they find objectionable with their own views in civil discourse and to do so with respect and inclusion.鈥�

Already, the ingredients for disaster are present, though.

Counter protesters associated with an antifascist group called 鈥淎tlanta Antifa" have promised to confront alt-right extremists at Auburn, saying Spencer鈥檚 outdoor talk 鈥渨ill make it easier for opposition to get close.鈥� Meanwhile, prominent neo-Confederate extremists are encouraging followers to be ready to meet violence with violence.

鈥淏e ready to do battle, if necessary,鈥� Pat Hines, the South Carolina chairman of the neo-Confederate League of the South, said in a comment on Occidental Dissent, the white nationalist website run by Brad Griffin.聽

Spencer has done little to quell worries or calm supporters.

鈥淚f Auburn University thinks that I am going to back down because they cancelled on me, that I鈥檓 just going to simply, politely go away, then they don鈥檛 understand me at all,鈥� Spencer said in the video. 鈥淭hey should have done their research.鈥�