Rally looks to ‘mobilize people against Prop. 209’
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 22, 1996 9:00 p.m.
Wednesday, October 23, 1996
RALLY:
Affirmative Action Coalition, USAC join to organize marchBy Ryan
Ozimek
Daily Bruin Contributor
In one of a series of steps to prevent the passage of
Proposition 209, the Undergraduate Students Association Council
will join the Affirmative Action Coalition in what is being called
a mass action to originate in Westwood Plaza at 10 a.m. today.
Organizers began planning for the protest as soon as Proposition
209, known to proponents as the California Civil Rights Initiative,
was made public last fall.
Numerous on-campus student organizations, including the Asian
Pacific Coalition, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o Association and
the African Student Union, will join together in what organizers
believe will be a protest larger than last year’s march to save
affirmative action.
"We’ve begun the process of outreaching to students about the
rally and if things go as planned, it should be bigger than last
year’s protest," said Mercedes Ibarra, a third-year political
science/English student and SAGE/UAW representative.
The first hour of the demonstration will be held in Westwood
Plaza, where students from the Affirmative Action Coalition will
deliver speeches revolving around issues involved in Proposition
209. Aztec and African dancers will also entertain students.
After the first hour’s activities, organizers will lead
protesters through campus and into Westwood, although officials
would not reveal the exact destination of the demonstration.
Organizers believe that because the focus of this year’s mass
action is on a highly publicized issue, more students will want to
become involved.
"The regents’ decision of last summer wasn’t as publicly
well-known as Proposition 209 is this year," Ibarra said.
Officials said that one of the main focuses of the demonstration
is to show the public what the protesters feel are the injustices
that will occur if Proposition 209 passes.
"Students not only at UCLA but across the state are organizing
mass actions in order to create a sense of urgency among the public
and to mobilize people against Proposition 209," undergraduate
student President John Du said.
Ibarra said that if Proposition 209 passes, the diversity of
UCLA would be lost, along with many of the programs that compliment
it.
"We need to have the students be aware that the proposition’s
wording is deceptive and misleading, and will turn back the tide 30
years," Ibarra said. "Programs such as Academic Advancement and
student retention (under the current affirmative action laws) would
be considered illegal."
Many of the student groups also agree that it is necessary to
join in the mass action against the proposition.
"The Chicana/o and Latina/o communities will be most directly
effected by the proposition if it passes," said fifth-year
psychology and Chicano studies student and MEChA Internal Vice
Chair Hugo Maldonado.
While some students may question the use of a mass action to
spread the word about Proposition 209, Du commented that such a
rally was necessary.
"The reason why we need to have a mass demonstration is not to
be rebels without a cause or irrational students, but because
(protests) are the most effective … way to capture the attention
of people and open their eyes to the injustices that Proposition
209 would inflict upon women and people of color," he added.
Other officials involved in the mass action agreed that the
protest is vital to keeping Proposition 209 from passing.
"We didn’t establish any of the civil rights gains by sitting
around," Maldonado said. "It took the commitment and dedication of
many individuals to establish these programs that have helped our
community move forward.
"Students of this generation have a responsibility to fight to
maintain and further develop these programs for our younger
brothers and sisters and ourselves," he said.
Although organizers realize that many students will have classes
during the protest, Ibarra believes that students need to fight the
threat to affirmative action regardless.
"A lot of us are fighting for the rights of our communities,"
Ibarra said. "Our diversity are being threatened and it’s time for
us to stand up to the legislators in Sacramento."
