Former Auburn and NBA basketball player Charles Barkley has a new gig hosting a TV show "American Race" in which he explores topics of race, religion, sexuality and immigration.
In new promo videos, Barkley is shown interviewing white nationalist Richard Spencer.
The four-hour TV documentary will air Thursday and Friday night with two episodes each night on TNT at 8 and 9 p.m. CT.
Barkley, a black man who played basketball at Auburn in the early 1980s, now serves as a basketball analyst for TNT.
Barkley's tense interview with Spencer comes after the prominent white nationalist leader spoke at Auburn in April against the wishes of the University. He faced hundreds of raucous protesters outside of Auburn's Foy Hall.
In the new TV documentary, Barkley travels the U.S. discussing race and policing in Baltimore, Maryland; what it's like being Muslim in Texas; and being an immigrant in Atlanta.
Barkley talks white supremacy in his interview with Spencer, who said in his Auburn speech that believes white people are superior and should form their own nation-state through peaceful ethnic cleansing.
Spencer also bashed Auburn and SEC sports for their use of black athletes, calling it "sick" and saying that he would "ban football" if he had the chance.
"We lose ourselves in our godd-mn football teams," Spencer said. "I get it, we like to win. I get it you like to see a wonderful athletic event, and I get it how you feel when that person from another state, who has nothing in common with you, who you would probably never allow into your house, crosses the touchdown line."
Though the promos don't show a discussion of Spencer's view of SEC's athletics, Barkley's place as an award-winning black athlete at Auburn could set up a tense encounter.
"There is something truly sick, I have to say, ... at a school like Auburn with a history of strong white identity, about bringing in people whom they have nothing in common with," Spencer said.
Spencer also accused black athletes of sexually harassing white women on campus.
"We lose ourselves in this false identity of something like football, this billion-dollar circus," Spencer said. "If I could wave a magic wand, I would absolutely ban football."
Spencer's words saw a confrontational reaction and boos from students who asked for facts.
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Chip Brownlee, senior in journalism and political science, is the editor-in-chief of The Auburn Plainsman.
