Calif. students protest racism
Defend affirmative action
By Gloria La Riva
Berkeley, Calif.
Hundreds of university students took to the
streets of Berkeley April 2 after a stunning admission by the
University of California system that the number of students of
color admitted for the 1998 school year has plummeted compared
to last year.
This is the direct result of Proposition 209, passed in
1996, which banned statewide affirmative-action policies.
The action began with a rousing rally at the university's
Sproul Plaza by African American, Latino, Native, Filipino,
Chinese and white youths. They vowed to struggle against the
resegregation of the state's UC system until affirmative action
is restored.
The Students of Color Solidarity Council on the campus
organized the rally and march, which ended with a two-hour
blockade of Bancroft and Telegraph avenues in front of the
school.
The students denounced the racist results of the new
admissions policies: Over 800 students of color-with
grade-point averages of 4.0 and at least 1200 on their SAT
scores-were denied admission, even though ethnic-minority
students are greatly under-represented in the universities.
In fall 1997, 562 African American students were admitted to
UCB; in fall 1998, only 191 will be-a 64.3 percent drop.
In 1997, 1,045 Chicano students were admitted; in 1998, only
434-a 56.3 percent drop.
In 1997, 69 Native students were admitted; in 1998, only
27-down 58.9 percent.
Taken together, African American, Native, Latino and Chicano
enrollment at UCB for 1997 was 23.1 percent. In the coming
school year, it will be only 10.4 percent.
The University of California at Berkeley is considered the
most prestigious part of the 10-campus system in terms of
academics.
The students of color warn that the new admissions policy is
designed to resegregate the university, forcing students of
color to attend other campuses.
The Students of Color Solidarity Council plans to intensify
its struggle with more public mobilizations and a new statewide
proposition for November 1998, called the Equal Educational
Opportunity Initiative.
The EEOI, authored by law students at UCB's Boalt Law
School, would reinstate affirmative action.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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