Students to rally around landmark case
By Aviva Altmann
May 16, 2004 9:00 p.m.
Students will gather in Bruin Plaza today at noon to commemorate
the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme
Court decision, the termination of “separate but equal”
and a step toward desegregating public schools.
The African Student Union has been working throughout spring
quarter planning the rally which will start in Bruin Plaza with
four to five faculty and student speakers, and will conclude with a
march to Murphy Hall where a press conference will be held.
About 50 students are expected to participate, though organizers
predict that more will probably show up.
Anica McKesey, current president of the Undergraduate Students
Association Council, says this is “a very important rally in
terms of legitimizing the case that occurred 50 years ago. We do
not need to be segregated.”
In addition to honoring the Brown v. Board decision, the rally
will address the record-low number of accepted black students for
the incoming class of 2004-2005, as well as issues surrounding the
future cut of outreach programs.
Among the 8,500 students admitted for fall 2004, 199 are black,
and 156 of these students were not admitted on athletic
scholarships. These are the lowest numbers since the university
began keeping records of ethnic and gender admissions in the early
1970’s, said Leilani Downing, staff member of ASU and
co-planner of the rally.
“I get very angry,” Downing said. “Less than
200 out of 8,500. You can’t tell me that there aren’t
any more qualified black students.”
McKesey agrees that the admission process does not reflect
careful consideration of minority issues.
“Inequality still exists among admissions,” McKesey
said. She believes there is a direct correlation between the Brown
v. Board decision and the admission numbers.
Proposition 209, which was passed in 1996 and prohibits the
state from hiring or admitting students based on race, gender or
country of origin, has changed the demographics of the University
of California population, Downing said.
Since the passage of Proposition 209, Na’Shaun Neal,
president of ASU, said the UC system focuses too much on SAT scores
and GPAs, factors which he believes to be unfair because
“there is an unequal K-12 education system.” Not
accounting for this situation in admissions causes inequality in
the demographics of student population, Neal said.
Proponents of Proposition 209 argue this measure promotes hiring
workers and admitting students solely based on merit and
achievement.
Affirmative action, the practice that was eliminated as a result
of passage of Proposition 209, is not about filling quotas, Downing
said. “It is consideration for the historical discrimination
that minorities have suffered.”
Neal said side effects of denying minority admissions lead to
dramatic repercussions. The Latina/o population on campus has
become “almost non-existent,” Neal said.
With the pending cut of outreach programs, minority student
groups such as ASU fear the ensuing decrease in minority
admissions.
“If they are not able to receive degrees, how will they
get jobs?” Neal said. “This will effect the statewide
population of employment.”
“You can’t deny that institutionally, racism
exists,” Downing said, as she juxtaposed the large number of
blacks in the national prison systems with the black population in
higher education systems.
“UCLA is a hostile environment for black due to its denial
of the fact that racism exists,” Downing said.
“How can a public institution say that they are educating
all students?” Neal said. “As far as we can see, only
an elite group is being educated, perpetuating our nation’s
inequality.”
By hosting a rally with the purpose of reminding students that
separate is not equal, ASU hopes to raise consciousness of
inequities suffered on campus.
“Though segregation has been officially banned,
desegregation hasn’t been effectively implemented,”
Mckesey said.
