University must protect against ethnic fraud



February 20, 1996

University must protect against ethnic fraudRace-based
admissions inaccurately affect American Indian representation on
campus

By Joe Nelson

American Indians/Alaska Natives make up less than 1 percent of
the UCLA population. There are 200 to 300 self-identified American
Indians enrolled at UCLA each quarter. There are not 200 American
Indians here. Most of these self-identified American Indians became
American Indians exclusively for the application process.

When they were accepted, they blended back into the larger UCLA
population and left any American Indian identity behind them. The
actual number of American Indians on this campus is hard to define
because of the fraudulent use of the ethnicity box in the
application process.

The number of people that have the nerve to claim to be
something they are not amazes me. Our American Indian community on
campus continually faces an uphill battle just to exist.

There are many disturbing factors that have led to our poor
representation. This issue of ethnic fraud for admission is
unsettling, but the administrators’ blatant disregard for our
struggle is even more upsetting. They have spoken in favor of
affirmative action and diversity, but actions speak louder than
words.

UCLA is not serving the American Indian population, even though
Los Angeles has the largest concentration of American Indians in
the country.

During the 1994-95 academic school year, UCLA’s Early Academic
Outreach Program served 10,961 students. A mere 40 of these were
American Indian. This program’s primary objective is to "increase
the number of ‘historically under-represented’ students." I would
like someone to explain to me why American Indians comprise only
0.4 percent of this program. If there is an argument to be found
for an early outreach effort, the number of American Indian
students on this campus provides it.

As the director of Retention of American Indians Now!, I have
found that you can count the number of UCLA undergraduates that
truly identify as American Indian on your fingers. The math is
simple; the problem is real. The administration is fully aware and
does not care.

Our requests for more early outreach started before the regents’
July 20 decision to eliminate affirmative action. The responses we
received have all been very negative and usually insulting. I do
not care to hear about any more great-great-Cherokee-grandmothers.
We have to question the intentions of this institution when it
tells the media that it supports diversity and affirmative action,
and yet, behind closed doors, I have been told that "institutional
support isn’t going to happen."

The treatment we receive at UCLA is not much different from the
treatment we have always received as American Indians. The U.S.
government has practiced policies of genocide against the American
Indian. These termination policies have been very detrimental to
our people, and continue today.

No other people must carry around a card to prove who they are.
Registration of your blood quantum is the most ridiculous practice.
It only serves to extinguish the American Indian. We are each
sovereign nations with treaties with the U.S. government.

American Indian recognition must first come from the American
Indian. But as long as the U.S. government defines who we are, the
university should not allow opportunists to become American Indians
at will.

The UC Regents have given the "spirit of diversity" about as
much respect as the U.S. government has given the original people
of this country. The administrators here have listened to our
concerns with sympathy, but sympathy is meaningless until action is
put behind it.

Termination is in action here on this campus. Soon, the American
Indian Student Association may not exist. If the trend continues,
the American Indian legacy may continue as the Native American Club
– Indians need not apply.

The level of sympathy out there for the American Indian is
something to be recognized and appreciated. But the level of
concern for a people, a way of life and a culture is horrific. And
the number of Cherokee grandmothers is astonishing – just about
everybody has one. Unfortunately, very few care about her.

This wave of American Indian popularity has its benefits.
Hopefully, our treatment will begin to reflect it. Unfortunately, I
would not put money on it. Years ago, we were heathen savages that
needed to find someone else’s God so that we could be saved. And
eventually, we would assimilate into Western society.

In practice, that theory did not come together. So, the
termination era began. Relocation, removal and the Dawes Act have
been attempts to solve the American Indian problem. Now, the
regents and the deaf ears of this university are attempting to
continue the termination of the American Indian.

The disrespect that we receive now is not justified by the white
man’s god. It is sometimes justified because everybody has a Native
American in their family tree. But most of the time, the disrespect
that we receive is not rationalized at all. Our sheer lack of
representation at UCLA is very painful. There are not enough
American Indians here to fill the chancellor’s office, much less
any classroom.

Some of the administrators may truly care about diversity and
affirmative action, but American Indians here have only run into
administrators with forked tongues.

The affirmative action issue is complex and does not have an
easy answer in sight. As an American Indian, I believe the current
system is not one worth fighting for. A verification process for
American Indian applicants is necessary. Until then, the system is
more of an injustice to us.

The socioeconomic background consideration will favor most of
the American Indian population. There are not many college grads,
BMWs and gold cards on the reservation.

We must do more than voice the spirit of diversity. We must
envision it and act upon it. Race-based admissions alone will not
serve justice to our people. The empowerment of our people must
begin before UCLA. UCLA can truly respect diversity and the
American Indian by outreaching to our people.

We cannot take the word of any regent, chancellor or
administrator until it is supported by an action. Until then, we
must press on to inform, educate and unite. We are privileged to be
here. But we cannot forget the struggle of our ancestors that has
allowed us to get here.

An elder recently told me, "Remember: We are the ancestors of
those yet unborn." We must continue the struggle for respect to
ensure the future of our people.

Nelson is Tlingit/Eyak, president of the American Indian Student
Association and director of Retention of American Indians Now!.

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© 1996 ASUCLA Communications Board

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