Turning Point USA blasted for Affirmative Action bake sale

A branch of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is being slammed for a stunt he performed on the first day of Black History Month. Clemson University’s TPUSA branch held what it called an “Affirmative Action Bake Sale,” where the price of cookies varied for different races.

TPUSA is an organization that strives to persuade students to become conservative. It was founded by college dropout Charlie Kirk.

The Clemson event, which was first reported by local news outlets, took place on campus Wednesday at lunchtime.

A photo of the “Affirmative Action Bake Sale” sign posted on the table shows a series of prices listed in descending order by race: Asian, White, Hispanic, Black, and Native American. Asian students would pay the most, while Native American students’ price was listed as free.

Clemson students and members of the public were horrified by the stunt.

A Twitter user meant“That’s disgusting.”

Other pointed out that Clemson was built on the site of a plantation.

Many noted the importance of scheduling the event for the first day of Black History Month.

In a statement posted to Instagram Thursday, TPUSA Clemson said it doesn’t actually sell cookies. It is claimed that the bake sale was intended to take a stand against affirmative action and “to draw attention to the racial disparity that higher education institutions exhibit, particularly in the college admissions process”.

However, the branch told WYFF that they don’t really know if Clemson is using affirmative action on his admissions. It said it is targeting the admissions process at universities such as Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.

Some cheered her on, but comments on TPUSA Clemson’s Instagram posts about the “Affirmative Action Bake Sale” were overwhelmingly negative.

One person commented: “Grow up and learn how to treat your fellow students with respect and decency. All you do is stir the pot and shake people up. Why not just base your platform on kindness and compassion?

“Funny how it’s mostly the privileged whites who fund their way into their kids’ schools and have the upper hand in society, but you’re all trying to say that minorities slide right in? SIDE EYE,” wrote another.

In its statement, TPUSA Clemson insisted it had no “bad intentions towards anyone” in planning this event.

“We have not in any way indicated that Clemson’s employees have not worked hard to be here,” it added.

This is not the first time a TPUSA branch has hosted one of these events. In 2017, the University of New Mexico branch of the group held an Affirmative Action Bake Sale. This event sparked a similar backlash.

Clemson University has not commented on the matter at this time. It is unclear whether she knew about the bake sale in advance.

Still, some blame the school for TPUSA’s actions.

“SMH,” a Twitter user commented. “I’m definitely selling my season tickets.”

We crawl the web so you don’t have to.

Sign up for the Daily Dot newsletter to get the best and worst of the web delivered to your inbox every day.