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ucla students demand
affirmative action
"UC Regents, I see racists" was one of the fiery chants of protesting students at UCLA on March 14. The protest was largely by students of color who are reacting to the institutional racism that exists from graduate school all the way down to grade school in California.
Affirmative action is an historic victory of the civil rights movement. Across the country, affirmative action laws were passed to enforce racial representation in social institutions. But in 1998, the University of California board of regents banned affirmative action in admitting new students. Enrollment of Blacks and Hispanics has plummeted since then.
The value of affirmative action was expressed by many of the activists at the March 14 event, such as Ryan Smith of the African Student Union, who said he was demonstrating not just because of his personal frustrations: "I fight today for people who fought for equal access before us and for their future generations."
The mood of the protest was not to achieve simple crumbs and concessions but to take a stand until affirmative action is reimplemented. Some estimate that about 1000 students were present at the protest-others put the number closer to 1800.
The protesters met at Westwood Plaza and marched across the campus. They then returned to the plaza, where students and community leaders spoke on the effects of a white-dominated campus.
The protest had a second surprise when the protesters marched to Royce Hall and 300 militant students took over the building, where a debate among Los Angeles candidates for mayor was scheduled to take place. The students did not compromise with the threatening police and held their ground.
Because of the social pressure that was created, the university chancellor and other administrators were hesitant to order the police to make mass arrests. The students, after several hours, exited the building without the police making one arrest.
The Affirmative Action Coalition at UCLA plans to keep protesting in strength to pressure the UC regents to restore affirmative action policies. Protests have also taken place on the UC Berkeley campus.
The activist students generally distrust those politicians that are supposed to be their representatives and realize that only through large actions can they have their voices heard. But the danger remains that student leaders might decide to put their energy into collaborating with some of the "good" regents. In that case, affirmative action will never be achieved but will become simply a policy that "must take time to pass." This is what we often hear from the two-faced Democrats who attempt to represent us in these types of struggles.
A major coalition of students must be built that remains politically independent from the parties and the establishment that initiated the racist attack against affirmative action. It is necessary to obtain the backing of working-class communities and organized labor for the struggle.
Such a coalition can become a political force powerful enough to turn the universities from institutions of professionals seeking the betterment of their salary to institutions that serve the interest and needs of the social groups that are subjected to racism, impoverishment, and brutal exploitation. The universities can become a major factor for the betterment of these social conditions.
The article above was written by Javier Armas, and first appeared in the April 2001 issue of Socialist Action newspaper.
