So you might have heard that the UC Regents are meeting to discuss recent campus racial emergencies and how these relate to the atrocious lack of diversity accross the system. For more on that, click HERE.
UC Regent Live is providing excellent liveblog coverage of these proceedings. For more on that, click HERE and HERE.
I am Yin Wang, a graduate student of Literature. The past few weeks have had transformative impacts on me. Like everyone here, I was saddened at first hearing the racist events broke out in our university. Within only a few days, I found many among my friends and colleagues a deep, intimately shared rage and pain, which erupted not just for the events, but for the inertial bureaucratic machine and a large number of apathetic onlookers. I have never felt more connected with them, and people in the rallies that sharply dissect institutional injustices on race. For this meeting, I wish to make the call that the current coalition we are now making should extend to international students.
First of all, our shared feelings thus far have proved we are all involved in the struggle against white supremacy, which has dominated US history long enough. Experience with racism is known to be unavoidable to people of color and underrepresented minorities. It is as unavoidable as to first-generation immigrants and foreign residents, when they are at vulnerable positions, when they are not sheltered by privileges of class and skin color. This is a struggle against discriminations that non-white peoples in this country have endured for centuries.
International students need your support, now and always. In any society, marginalized groups are not only underrepresented at all times, but disrepresented and misrepresented at moments of crises. This has happened several times to African Americans and Chicanos, to Japanese Americans after World War II, and to Muslims after 911. No one can foretell who will be the next target when another crisis comes, but we know the “foreigners” are prone to be singled out in those times. Indeed, I wish to underscore the point that most foreign students live multiple senses of the word “alien.” They are removed from their immediate family, community, language and culture. Their right to stay is dependent on their commitment to work and study, but they are easily forgotten, oftentimes left out by most resources and organized activism. If the past few weeks have taught us that no one is alone in being turned to “aliens” at certain unexpected points, we also learn no one can afford to be alone in fighting such fights.
Racism today is operated not simply through skin color, but frequently through nationality. Stereotypes of nations are imposed upon people, usually by branding them as culpable individuals and attacking them on personal levels. Foreign students are not alone in being treated as permanent outsiders, and yet, once they are assaulted, it is most likely that such incidents will never become an issue. We should work together now to prevent such things happening, because they are wrong, and because they practically concern everyone who shares the danger of being excluded from the racialized US national body.
The coalition will be much stronger when it is extended to international students. It is the time to recognize the political presence of foreign students, who constitute more than 5% of the undergraduates, and more than 20% of the graduates. Adding them to the coalition will add the weight on pressuring the administration. For one thing, a racist image of UCSD will harm the university’s future recruitment of students and faculty, nationally and internationally. Since now out-of-state students and scholars are seen as a promising source of revenue and labor, we believe the high will truly hear us. For another, racist violence will continue to happen if the university does nothing at present. We have to stand united to tell the university that we do not allow it to happen to anybody, and the united powerful presence of us will effectively push the administration to do its work to save itself from complicated legal and even transnational implications.
This statement was first presented by myself at the Meeting for Asian Americans and Asian Pacific Islanders of UCSD in Support of BSU, March 8, 2010. For thoughts and discussions before penning the earlier version, my heartfelt thanks go to fellow graduate students Chien-ting Lin and Ling Han. For advices and comments graciously given in the process of revision, I am most indebted to Yu-Fang Cho, Shih-szu Hsu, and Su Yun Kim. I am grateful for the inspiration and encouragement from teachers at Department of Literature, UCSD, and warmest support from friends in California and Taiwan. All responsibility for this statement is mine. -Y.W.
Buffoons on college campuses are not heavyweight racists. The real villains — far more subtle — are those who believe in their own superiority.
bv: Gregory Rodriguez, 3.8.2010
News flash from UC San Diego: Party-animal frat boys sometimes engage in stupid, offensive and even racist stunts!
For weeks now, outrage over a fraternity party that encouraged guests to mimic and mock ghetto culture has embroiled the campus in La Jolla in old-school political theater. Then, in a separate incident, a noose was left in a university library (a student anonymously took responsibility and apologized). And finally, a pillowcase made to look like a KKK hood appeared atop a statue of Dr. Seuss.
In a diverse society, such incidents — which draw cleavages between groups — should be taken seriously. But such antics really don’t signify our race problem today, and no one should think that indignation, marches, sit-ins and “days of action” against buffoonery constitute an effective struggle against racism. It might be satisfying to draw lines against the clowns, but it diminishes the difficulty of the real challenge before us.Racism exists; it’s still a significant inhibitor of social and economic progress. And given the country’s majority-minority future,we simply can’t afford not to be preparing more minorities for positions of authority and leadership.
This isn’t the unsubtle, in-your-face racism of your imagination. The real bad guys aren’t the easy to caricature toothless hillbillies of television dramas or some overweight, tobacco-chewing Southern sheriff straight out of a half-century-old Life magazine. They don’t leave nooses as calling cards.
Somewhere along the line, the fight against genuinely entrenched racism — the kind that keeps millions from achieving their dreams — turned into a slapstick struggle against ill-behaved clowns like Michael Richards, John Mayer and foolish frat boys.
A few years ago, while I was in Mississippi, I met a prominent self-described white supremacist who didn’t need a Klan hood to do more than his part to oppress African Americans. During the height of segregation, he didn’t torch crosses in the dark of night; instead, he wore a suit and tie and put the economic squeeze on fellow whites who didn’t toe his racist line. In my presence, he never once cursed blacks or used the “N-word.” You can be a highly effective racist without all the obvious trappings.
Click HERE for the rest of the article.
by: Prof. Jorge Mariscal (UCSD-Literature)
Counterpunch, 3.12.10
On April 29, 1992, an all white jury acquitted three Los Angeles police officers accused in the videotaped beating of African American Rodney King. Within hours, riots were raging across southern California.
At the University of California, San Diego, Chicano and African American students held a protest on the usually placid La Jolla campus, one of the wealthiest and least racially diverse communities in the nation. In an unexpected and unplanned move, hundreds of students began to march eastward toward the I-5 freeway. Suddenly, they moved on to the freeway itself blocking the southbound lanes for several hours.
When interviewed later that day, UCSD students explained that while the King verdict might have been the trigger for their actions the real impetus was their years of frustration and isolation at the La Jolla campus. Many of them were student activists; most were students of color. One Chicano was president of the Associated Students. All of them represented organizations that had proposed reforms to the university that would make it more hospitable and inclusive of minority students. All of their proposals had fallen on deaf administrative ears. The injustice of the King verdict, the students said, was a distant reflection of the injustice the students experienced every day on campus.
For a seemingly idyllic campus hidden away from working class communities, twelve miles from the urban core of San Diego, UCSD had produced its fair share of radical student movements. The most famous began in 1969 when a coalition of African American and Chicana students proposed a Lumumba-Zapata College in an attempt to force the campus to address minority concerns. Angela Davis was the best-known actor in that chapter of UCSD’s history, but there were scores of others who learned their organizing skills in, of all places, La Jolla. Somehow, whenever the national mood was conducive to student mobilization, UCSD was in the vanguard.
Flash forward eighteen years from the freeway takeover. The UCSD campus in 2010 was physically much different but its institutional character had not changed at all. There was a new engineering corridor, a new business school, and in general corporate influence was more visible than ever before. But the percentage of African American and Chicano undergraduates remained the same—1.3% and 9% respectively–and most students continued to find the campus climate as drab and sterile as it had been for almost five decades.
For many students of color, the climate was downright hostile. A relatively new feature of campus life was the growing presence of a Greek system of fraternities–some of them traced their origins to Reconstruction with founders who were disgruntled supporters of the Confederacy. Many of the frat boys associated themselves with a student newspaper called the Koala that published a steady stream of sexist, homophobic, and racist screed designed to provoke and intimidate. UCSD was a tinderbox waiting for a spark.
In the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the entire University of California system appeared to be entering the final throes of privatization. State support had dried up and so campuses would have to survive on the backs of their students by increasing fees, cutting services, 
and increasing the number of non-residents (the so-called Michigan model). The vision of an affordable college education for all, which San Diego Chicano and Black communities had always recognized as an illusion, was now receding from middle-class families of every color. The push to find revenue in the pockets of out-of-state students meant that at least some California residents would be displaced. Clark Kerr’s dream of accessible higher education seemed as faded as the photographs of him and President Kennedy at the 1962 Berkeley graduation ceremony.
Click HERE to read the rest of the article.
It’s hard to believe but the Koala has a faculty advisor. His name is Charles Fred Driscoll. He is a professor of Physics (click HERE for his faculty profile).
Prof. Driscoll doesn’t just “advise” the Koala. He loves this publication so much that he literally sponsored them by giving them a check of $120 to help them publish their latest issue (the Koala along with all other student media outlets were under a temporary funding freeze after Koala editor Kris Gregorian called the BSU and their allies a bunch of ungrateful “n*$$#rs” on live UCSD television).When the SD Union-Tribune asked Prof. Driscoll why he donated money to the Koala, he responded: “I try to encourage diverse thought and exploration among students…Plus it’s tax-deductible; ain’t capitalism a bitch?”
For those of you that haven’t seen the latest Koala, I won’t post a link to it because I don’t want to contribute more “views” their page. Instead I have posted an excerpt (see below) so that you can familiarize yourself with the kind of racially inflammatory speech that saturates this paper (esp. this latest issue which is the worst one I’ve seen in my many years here). Mind you that this was distributed to people in the midst of the racial emergency that offended so many in the last weeks. It was definitely aimed to provoke.
Prof. Driscoll: exactly how did the last issue of the Koala (that you partly paid for) encourage “diverse thought and exploration” among your students? We mean this as a sincere question. If you read this, we welcome your comments or corrections to this story. We want to hear from you. -J.F.
reposted from the Student Activism blog:
Former University of California Regent and longtime affirmative action opponent Ward Connerly has attracted some attention recently by saying he wants to review an agreement that UC San Diego reached with the campus’ Black Student Union on March 4.
UCSD has been hit by a string of bias incidents in recent weeks, and the UCSD administration and the BSU have been working to craft a response. Connerly has expressed concern that their agreement may violate provisions in the California state constitution that ban racial preferences in college admissions.
There’s nothing out of line about this. Proposition 209 is the law of the land, and it’s legitimate for a Prop 209 proponent to try to make sure it’s enforced. But in attempting to explain why UCSD has such a low African American enrollment rate, Connerly made a false and derogatory claim about black students.
Here’s what he said, in an interview with a Southern California paper: ”There just aren’t enough black kids who are academically prepared to go to UC San Diego.”
This isn’t an opinion, it’s a factual claim. It’s checkable. It’s verifiable. And it’s wrong.
Emily Alpert of the news site Voice of San Diego has looked at UCSD’s applications and admissions stats, and come up with a bunch of good info. Her data show clearly that it’s not a lack of academic preparation that keeps UCSD’s black student population so low.
For full post, click HERE.
For info on who Ward Connerly is and why this is a really big deal, scroll down or click HERE.
Here are some recent news articles that people might have not seen:
Why Black Students Are So Scarce at UCSD
At UC San Diego Alum Responds To Racial Tensions On The Campus
UC San Diego Satire Paper Chock-Full of Racial Epithets
A Bone to Pick
Last Wednesday night (March 3), our brothers and sisters at Cal State San Marcos were victims too of hate speech– graffiti denigrating African Americans, Chican@s, Arab Americans, and the LGBTQ commmunity was found in Markstein Hall. In response, students, faculty, and staff are rallying TODAY from noon to one in Kellogg Plaza. Please join in solidarity if you can.
More information on the event can be found on the Facebook event here.
Below, see the message from the campus president sent out to the community on March 4th:
Date: March 4, 2010
To: The Campus Community
From: President Karen S. Haynes
Subject: Hate Crimes On Campus Will Not Be Tolerated
The University Police Department has informed me that they received a call last night about 9:00 p.m. with a report of hate speech on campus. A bathroom stall in Markstein Hall was vandalized with graffiti targeting multiple groups. University police are investigating this incident as a hate crime.
I deplore and am saddened that an individual would commit such a senseless and hurtful act. I will not tolerate any attempts to intimidate or threaten our University community. Diversity and tolerance are among our highest values at CSUSM. We will do everything possible to uphold these values and to protect the learning environment and public safety of our University.
Staff are available to assist students in our Cross Cultural Center, Women’s Center, LGBTQ Pride Center, Student Health and Counseling Center, and the Dean of Students Office. Employees may seek assistance from the Employee Assistance Program through the Human Resources and Equal Opportunity Office.
University police are taking all necessary steps to bring the person responsible to justice. I ask that anyone with information regarding this crime contact University Police at 760-750-4567. Information may be provided anonymously through San Diego County Crime Stoppers by calling toll-free 888-580-8477, 24-hours a day, 7-days a week or by visiting: www.sdcrimestoppers.com. Attached is a police photograph of the graffiti.
I urge our campus community to speak in one voice and send a message that hate crime will not be tolerated at CSUSM.
[photo of the graffiti below, click to full size. Trigger warning]
Lots of things happened last week. Students didn’t do their homework for two weeks, battling the university on two fronts: (a) about the issue of diversity and a hostile campus climate, and (b) organizing to reverse fee hikes, budget cuts, and the privatization of the university.
March 4 was a big date for both fronts. That morning, the BSU signed an agreement with the university administration (see post below). Later that day, UCSD saw thousands of people protesting against the corruption and privatization of our university (for more on that, see the UCSD Coalition for Educational Justice).
Although we should all be celebrating the near-spontaneous upsurge of student and faculty movement we’ve seen this quarter, we all need to realize that this is fight is just getting started.
Here are some of the big things happening on campus this week. It’s critical that people stay informed (via this blog) and on top of this.
1) Ward Connerly is coming to town. Ward Connerly (crusader against affirmative action in CA and in the US) is coming to campus this week to contest the legality of the UCSD – BSU agreements. For more on this, see:
Connerly Questions Validity Of UCSD Agreement With Black Student Union
Connerly to review agreement between UCSD, Black Student Union
For info on who Ward Connerly is and why this is a really big deal, scroll down or click HERE.
2) Christopher Edley, the Dean of the UC Berkeley Law School, is also coming to campus this week. He’ll be sitting with the Chancellor and with students to iron out the details of this accord. For more on this, click HERE. Could this be in response to Ward Connerly’s planned visit?
Stay tuned for more developments about these things. – J.F.
Who is Ward Connerly and why should you care that he’s coming to UCSD this Week?
As you can see from the Week 10 Faceoff post above Ward Connerly is coming to UCSD to impugn the constitutionality of the accords between Chancellor Fox and the UCSD BSU. For those of you that don’t know him: here’s a quick rundown of how Mr. Connerly rose to prominence, courtesy of UCSD History Professor Takashi Fujitani (thanks Professor!!):
Connerly got his start in government by working in redevelopment and state housing, but got his push into big money circles by becoming something of a protégé of Pete Wilson. Wilson hired him in 1969 to be the chief consultant for the Housing Committee of the State Assembly (1969). This experience and the connections that he surely made at the time allowed him to start his own firm, Connerly & Associates, whose business centers on real estate. The money he made in the business that Wilson’s connections facilitated, allowed him to then pay back his benefactor by contributing a load of money to Wilson’s gubernatorial campaign. Wilson then repaid Connerly by appointing him as a UC Regent in 1993. This set the stage for Connerly’s drive to destroy the few meager tools we had under affirmative action at first the university level. I’m sure we all remember Regental Resolutions SP-1 and SP-2, which served as the testing ground and then springboard for the 209 campaign. But the story does not stop here because Connerly then went on to profit in obscene ways by accepting contributions from conservative foundations and corporate interests as a spokesperson and activist against affirmative action. Based on IRS records the Huffington Post reported back in 2008 that Connerly had personally made $7.6 million from 1997 to 2006 through his two tax-exempt, “non-profit” organizations, The American Civil Rights Institute and The American Civil Rights Coalition. Connerly’s profiteering out of the ruins of education and social justice came in the way of an enormous salary and fess for speaking and interviews that he paid himself.
“There just aren’t enough black kids who are academically prepared to go to UC San Diego”
This is Mr. Connerly’s most recent explanation for why Black students are underrepresented here at UCSD (for more, go HERE). In response to this comment, Prof. Jorge Marsical (Literature) wrote us in an email:
…this statement by Ward Connerly disqualifies him from saying anything else about our business. Every year there are hundreds of academically qualified Black students admitted to UCSD, more than at UCLA or Berkeley. As you all know, the problem is that over 80% of these academically prepared Black students choose NOT to come to UCSD. Why? Scholarship money and other factors but especially a shitty climate as we’re witnessed the last two weeks…
On Ward Connerly’s blackness
For sure, if Connerly jumps into this fight, critics of the BSU’s campaign here at UCSD are going to point to his black body as something that somehow gives his anti-affirmative action stance more weight. Much like the J. Jones fellow we got to know in the past few weeks, Black people are sometimes complicit in doing or supporting things that reproduce the structural marginalization of historically oppressed people of color in this country. A similar thing happens in the colonial world, where colonial subjects sometimes become agents of their people’s oppression partly because they have been thoroughly indoctrinated by colonial ideologies and partly because they’ve realized that they can get some personal gain out of it.
This illustrates how contrary to the way many people commenting on this blog think, this is not a white people versus black people thing. This is about people who understand the undeniable reality of structural racism and stuctural priviledges and are compelled to do something about these things versus those who for whatever reason either don’t get it or choose to ignore it. Mr. Connerly (and J. Jomes) are two examples of how people on either side of this struggle come in different bodies with different racial identities. The same goes for the thousands of white folks who have supported the campaign of the BSU and their allies (just look at any of the pictures from the Feb. 24 events; there are many kinds of bodies there).
On Ward Connerly’s love for the color green
Below is some more detailed information on who Ward Connerly is and on his track record when it comes to matters of race (courtesy of BAMN).
HIS FINANCIAL CONNECTIONS
WHAT HE HAS DONE
***
To sum up, Ward Connerly has a proven record of undermining the small gains in educational access made by communities of color. He is not the defender of ‘civil rights’ as he claims to be, but rather continues to work in the interest of those in privilege. UCSD, what will we do in response to his campus visit? – T.T. and J.F.
[Reposted from here]
March 6, 2010
To all our supporters:
First, let us express a sincere thank you to all of those who have had our back over the last two weeks. Together, we are working to transform UCSD into the kind of public university it was intended to be—accessible and welcoming to students from all communities; a resource for our people and all the people of California.
Some have said that we have exploited the crisis on campus in order to “get things for ourselves.” Please know that the demands we made were intended to benefit all students, of every color and background. We more than most were deeply affected by the string of racist incidents. The structural changes we propose will help to create a university where such incidents can never again have the powerful impact we have witnessed for two long weeks.
This is not a Black thing; it is not even a Black-Brown thing. The 19 demands are designed to create a campus climate, support services, and curriculum that will enhance the educational experience of all students. How can it be that at one of the most prestigious universities in the world, a student can announce that she did not know that a hangman’s noose was “an issue”? How can graduates of UCSD claim to understand the world if they are ignorant of their own country’s history and if they have never had an African American or Native American classmate?
On Thursday, March 4, BSU signed an agreement with Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. In that agreement, the administration offered to take up each of our 19 demands and convert them into “common goals.”
We are cautiously optimistic.
We are optimistic because we know that this is an historic moment. For decades, UCSD has been told that for many students the campus is not the utopia it pretends to be. Now is the time for the change to begin.
We are cautious because we understand that promises on a piece of paper, even one signed by the Chancellor, may not become reality or may become a misshapen distortion of what was intended. Promises can disappear never to be seen again into a bureaucracy that knows only its old ways.
This week a delegation from the Office of the UC President will arrive on campus to discuss implementation of the agreement. Forces from off campus are moving to disrupt the progress that has been made but we will not be distracted.
And so we ask that you remain vigilant and we ask for your continued support. What will UCSD look like in 20 or 30 years? None of us knows. But what we do know is that our generation has the responsibility to push the process of democratic educational change forward.
Real pain! Real action!
How long? Not long!
Real pain! Real action!
–
Black Student Union at UC San Diego
Last week I received an email from a female UCSD alumna (class of ’79) who had recently sent a letter to various student leaders, Greek presidents and the Chancellor about the recent racial emergency at her Alma Mater. Apparently she had CCd this letter to Kris Gregorian, the editor of the Koala. Below is the response that she received from him.
Original email sent to the Greek Council and the Koala by an anonymous alumna:
I am one of the charter members of Sigma Kappa Sorority and an alumna of the Class of 1979, Third College presently know as Thurgood Marshall. I am ashamed to have even brought the Greek system to UCSD after all of these recent racial tensions. We fought so hard back in the 1970′s to pave the way for equality for all, regardless of religion, race and gender. And to what avail? So that this present generation of spoiled students could destroy the strong foundation we built for you? Get your heads out the sand and stand up and fight for what is right.
At this point of our history, NO ONE should be made fun of or demeaned for who they are. Focus on making the world a better place, that’s what we did and we’re proud of it.
xxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxx
Class of 1979
Kris Gregorian’s Response:
xxxx,
I’m sure you were a hot piece of ass back in the day, but are you really so daft as to not notice that you just made fun of US for who WE ARE?
Man, I’m glad UCSD has come a long way since the olden days of silly rhetoric. Were you too busy sucking cocks to recognize that we live in an entirely different world where the kind of OMG IT’S RACISM metrics don’t apply? [editor's emphasis]. I guess you don’t.
All the best,
Kris Gregorian
Editor-in-Queef
The MOTHERFUCKING Koalap.s. You’ll be glad to know I’ve personally put my penis in numerous SigKaps and they’re definitely the tightest at UCSD. Good job! You must be proud.
Gregorian and his friends defend what he does by claiming that the Koala is a satirical paper that makes fun of everyone (the whole “we don’t really mean it, this is just a joke, lighten up… we’re not really racist mysoginist assholes in our private lives… we’re just pretending to be that way in the paper” defense). The email you just read contradicts this for it shows that Gregorian is even more offensive in serious, private emails. This is not a joke. This is the way he is. Keep this in mind: here, he is a addressing a woman who he’s never met and who is as old as his mother. Also, don’t forget that Gregorian is a 25 year old adult. These are not youthful indiscretions. This is his fully matured personality speaking here.
We welcome your comments on this post. I am sure Mr. Gregorian will be reading them carefully. -J.F.
Students and administration agree on actions to create a campus that respects differences and ensures diversitsy.
By Judy Piercey
The University of California, San Diego reports success in defining common goals at today’s meeting between senior administrators, faculty and students, led by Black Student Union co-chairs David Ritcherson and Fnann Keflezighi to address diversity issues to improve the campus climate. The adopted recommendations aim to move the university past hurtful incidents and improve the campus climate by enhancing diversity on the campus, in the curriculum and throughout the UC San Diego community.
“We’re pleased to see such a great exchange of ideas today. We now have a signed agreement to move forward,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. “We applaud our student leaders, the campus and the San Diego community for their engagement, passion and leadership on finding solutions to these issues. Although there is much work ahead of us, our ongoing partnership will build a healthier campus climate that supports everyone in a meaningful way.”
A joint statement noted: “The UC San Diego administration and students have engaged in a productive wide-ranging conversation about how our common goals can be reached. The conversations of this week show that there is a commitment from all participants to work together for the benefit of the entire campus.”
The administration and students collectively determined measurable steps and concrete milestones to ensure that UC San Diego moves forward in working with students, faculty and staff on complex and vital issues. Suggestions that resulted from meetings during the past week include enhancing programs the campus already has in place to target first-generation and low-income students, attract and retain qualified and diverse faculty, and ensure that the university provides a curriculum that reflects the cultural richness of the state and region.
The campus community will put into action the following recommendations, among others:
For the rest of this article (with full recommendations), click HERE.
On Thursday, March 4, as many of us gathered outside the Chancellor’s complex to wait for the end of negotiations between the Black Student Union and the UCSD administration, various members of the UCSD community came forward to state their solidarity with the demands of BSU. Throughout this entire ordeal, it has been clear that this campus struggle is not simply a “black-white” issue, but one that involves all marginalized communities here at UCSD. Below, watch just a few of the statements that were made that morning, via the UCSD Coalition for Educational Justice’s YouTube account at JusticeUCSD – T.T.
Along with the many events for educational justice planned on UCSD’s campus, throughout California, and throughout the US tomorrow, the Black Student Union reminds everyone to show their solidarity tomorrow as BSU goes into the final round of negotiations with the UCSD administration. At 9:30AM on March 4, please gather at the Chancellor’s complex to join the rally. The campus-wide events for educational justice begin at 11:30AM.
Also, a reminder: for live updates on March 4, follow JusticeUCSD on Twitter!
This statement was issued by the Literature Dept. on February 28, 2010.
—
Literature Department Statement
The Literature Department supports the recent proposals by UCSD faculty of African descent and the UCSD Black Student Union. We are their allies in calling for UCSD to address racial inequities as it restructures the university during the budget crisis.
We urge a full systematic analysis of the recent racist acts at UCSD, which are reflective of a university system that has not yet created the conditions for racial equity. Fifteen years after Proposition 209, the repeated instances of racism by UCSD students, and also the administration’s inability to address them effectively, testify to the need for the university to renew its commitments to public access and inclusion for students, faculty, and staff from historically underrepresented communities. As we work to preserve higher education as a public good, we must also secure resources to support curriculum, research, and scholarship on the critical study of race and racism, as well as greater outreach and changes to admissions, resource allocation, and college requirements so the university can create an academic culture that prepares a diverse public to participate in and contribute to a multiracial society.
In the days ahead, the Department encourages instructors to address the crisis with their students. Moreover, the Department will do its best to accommodate those students whose academic work has been disrupted by the recent racist incidents, and urges the University to make every effort to assure the safety and security of students, staff, and faculty at UCSD.
To the UCSD community:
As future physicians dedicated to public service and medical students at the School of Medicine, we are deeply distressed and outraged over the recent escalating racist events perpetrated by UCSD students targeting the African-American community. These types of incidents are not isolated; they have taken place all across colleges in California and the nation. These events have occurred as a result of years of marginalization against underrepresented students across the entire UC system, and it is time that we stop condoning this behavior and the climate that fosters it. The UCSD administration’s continued failure to enact recommendations made from their own task forces has resulted in embarrassingly low numbers of underrepresented students enrolling at UCSD. Increasing diversity has not been a priority at UCSD and as a result the student body has become more homogeneous, less exposed to other cultures, and less educated about the rich histories and struggles of underrepresented communities in California. It is precisely this lack of interaction with other students of color that has failed to challenge racial stereotypes and has promoted the bigotry behind the recent events. Because of the failure to correct the lack of diversity and appreciation for all communities, underrepresented groups have long felt unaccepted at UCSD. Now, the current situation has escalated into an unwelcoming and hostile environment.
We therefore stand in solidarity with the demands of the Black Student Union.
We expect that the UCSD administration will take these demands seriously and enact urgent permanent change.
In solidarity,
Medical Student Diversity Coalition
UCSD School of Medicine
The UCSD Music Department has taken note of the recent string of racially charged events on and around campus with revulsion and deep concern. We support the “Faculty Statement on Racism and Campus Climate at UCSD,” the various statements of other departments, and the actions of the Black Student Union. Numerous discussions have taken place within Music amongst faculty and students, and we are in the process of examining our own policies. A short statement from the perspective of the Music Department follows.
As a public institution, our responsibility is to teach and practice critical engagement with the complex fabric of American culture. A pervasive obliviousness and insularity within our community seems to us the background to the horrendously insensitive and hurtful actions of the last weeks; but recent events have escalated from stupidity to outright bigotry.
A public university has a mission to address historical inequality. While efforts to diversify our campus have obviously been made, the statistics on student and faculty demographics remain embarrassing. We need to acknowledge our failures, and be accountable for addressing them, both collectively and individually. We must all take individual responsibility for educating ourselves about racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, and other forms of structural inequality.
Issues of culture, ethnicity, and institutional power lie at the foundation of the study of music, and we have a responsibility to engage them. The Music Department currently offers immersive courses in diverse practices of music-making; an undergraduate major in musics of the African diaspora; and numerous lecture courses examining American popular traditions and world musics. There is still more that we can do. Music can be a powerful catalyst for outreach, and we recognize the urgent need to reach younger students in the San Diego community, before assumptions about inequality or destructive stereotypes are irreversibly ingrained. We must intensify our support of these efforts, but we need institutional backing for the sustainability of these programs.
The current fiscal crisis raises the stakes. We are now reaping the results of years of not-so-benign neglect when it comes to enrolling and graduating students from historically underrepresented demographics. Any serious effort to remedy this neglect will require money and resources. The budget crisis makes this highly challenging, but cannot excuse us from responsibilities that cut to the core of our mission as a public institution. Moves to aggressively raise fees and target out-of-state enrollment will further reduce access for underrepresented students. The future of our university depends on decisions made in the immediate future, and we are committed to assuming responsibility for whatever role we can take in this process.
The graduate students of the Anthropology Department stand in solidarity with the Black Student Union, their allies, and all those who have been affected by and/or are protesting against the recent racist incidents on and off campus. We condemn all racist and sexist acts with the understanding that such events are not isolated but are situated within a broader context of institutionalized inequality. UCSD administration, faculty, staff, and students must address these conditions. The BSU list of demands offers a constructive model for dismantling the institutional forces that limit the representation of and support for historically marginalized and disempowered groups in our university. We must hold the administration accountable for addressing the demands in a concrete and timely manner.
At this critical moment when substantial hikes in UC fees and tuition and the increasing privatization of the university system threaten to further restrict the representation of underprivileged groups in our campus community, we recognize the urgent need for structural change that can increase retention, yield, and access. Further, the BSU’s focus on increasing spaces that encourage students to interrogate issues of race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality is crucial given proposed funding cuts to departments and programs that threaten to reduce the availability of such spaces. In the midst of this crisis, we strongly support measures designed to preserve and encourage critical thinking.
As we monitor the administration’s actions, we are compelled to reflect on the ways that we as students, faculty, and staff may also be implicated in institutional and interpersonal racism and have a responsibility to enact substantive change. The graduate students from the department of anthropology acknowledge that current events have incited a sense of fear and mistrust within the university. We reach out with empathy to all those affected and remain committed to addressing injustice as members of the campus community and as anthropologists. We would like to thank the organizers for their tireless work and dedication.
This letter was sent today to Chancellor Fox from community members in the Scripps Oceanography Institute.
–
The February 2010 acts of individual members of the UCSD community involving the racially offensive “Compton cookout”, the use of the “N” word on the student-run TV station by the Koala, and the display of the noose at Geisel Library are divisive and abhorrent. These individuals’ ignorance, gross insensitivity, and hatefulness have no place at UCSD.
Intellectual communities, like social communities, are enriched and stimulated by diversity. As we strive for the best intellectual environment at our institution, we recognize that we must fight for the inclusion and protection of underrepresented groups. We embrace these groups and value their contributions to our community. We will absolutely not accept threats and hate towards them. Furthermore, as members of the SIO community, we recognize that in our position of privilege, it is unethical to fail to defend minority groups that are abused by members of the majority. We will not stand for it. Not in our community.
Too often, SIO is cloaked in apathy owing in part to its physical separation from both the main UCSD campus and less privileged areas of San Diego. Today, however, we take action. We come together to support diversity and justice. We are committed to those who feel emotionally burdened by recent events and who struggle to fulfill their duties both to research and to our hurting community. We are also committed to the underrepresented groups that already reside at our institution, and we are fighting to retain them in an atmosphere that is welcoming to all individuals.
Thanks and Peace,
Proud Advocates for a Diverse and Inclusive UCSD and SIO
Breaking News: Swastikas painted on UC Davis Campus
from Associated Press
UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza says the latest swastikas are being investigated as vandalism, not hate crimes, because they did not target individuals.
—
12:00pm: Administrators and UCSD police were on library walk to monitor the distribution of the Koala. A “free speech” rally was scheduled to occur on library walk from 12-2pm. BSU has decided to not engage these counter-protests.
Updates? Email stopracismucsd@gmail.com
—
News around the internet:
*Please Distribute Widely*
Dear Friends,
In an attempt at a meaningful contribution honoring the actions that are taking place on campus as of recently, we are interested in creating an archive that focuses on the (dis)organized responses from students, faculty, staff chronicling campus climate over the last few weeks since the “Compton Cookout.”
Here is how you can participate:
WHAT: We invite you to share photos, videos, emails, letters, testimonials, songs, fliers, buttons, journal entries and all other materials that have documented the recent event.
WHEN: Please donate these materials between 10am-3pm
WHERE: to the booth entitled “Archive of Knowledge” outside the Student Health Center (adjacent to Library Walk) on MARCH 4, 2010.
As graduate students enrolled in Ethnic Studies 257B: Social Theory, we believe in the importance of recording and archiving acts of history-making and ask for your participation in the making of history through the contribution of ephemera to this collection. Come and hand in your physical donations and also make a 30-second video testimony or response (or not).
In Solidarity,
ETHN 257B
a letter from Elizabeth Sine, a PhD student in History at UCSD
–
Dear Allies, those I know and those I don’t (ie., whomever may read this):
Before and above all else, I want to thank the BSU, MEChA, and
everyone else who helped to ignite the movement taking place on our
campus, and who have helped to open up some real maneuvering room
within this university for all of us who want to transform it and to
make it a fully public institution. I write today not only in
celebration of the struggle we are currently engaged in, today, these
past few weeks, and—for many of us, in varying ways—for a long time
before that, but also with an eye toward the long haul we have ahead.
Like many have already noted, the diversity of coalitions and people
who have come together to support this movement, and to support the
demands laid out by the BSU, is remarkable. The effort to challenge
the racialized hierarchy that holds this institution together, and to
combat the ongoing process of the university’s privatization, has
brought together so many people, across lines of racial and cultural
difference, and across the ranks assigned to us by the university
system—undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, staff. I
want to address the question of how we might continue to build and
engage in meaningful dialogue and common struggle across lines of
difference, with particular attention to varying forms of privilege and
underprivilege attached to those differences. More specifically, I
want to raise some issues and questions for students committed to the
struggle for greater diversity in the university who are operating from
positions of privilege—white privilege or otherwise.
I think most who read this will recognize the institutional nature of
the racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia that the student movement aligns itself against. I think many recognize the uneven and
hierarchical nature of the distribution of power in our university
system, as well as the extent to which the ongoing corporatization of
UCSD in particular, and public education in general, threatens to
intensify already-existing inequalities and modes of oppression (with
a particularly menacing threat to underrepresented groups within our
community). And I think that it’s important to acknowledge, and to
become comfortable thinking and talking about, the implications of the
university’s hierarchical structure for internal relations within our
movement—what it means to engage in struggle, in a coalition as
diverse as ours, against an institution that has been designed to
privilege some at the expense of others.
Indeed, it is vital for all of us to understand that the problems of
racism and inequality are collective, and that every person here has
an important role to play in the struggle against the denial of human
dignity and for institutional change. At the same time, the
institutions of privilege and inequality that exist on this campus and
in our society mean that we all approach this struggle from different
vantage points and from a playing field that has never been even.
And so, trust to exist among us and for the full strength or our
collective action to be realized, I think we have to take fully into
account the varying forms of privilege that come attached to our to
our socioeconomic status, our racial and ethnic identifications, our
gender and sexual practices, and whatever other factors affect our
social position and relationship to each other. In fact, I would go
even further to say that those among us whom this university has been
designed to benefit bear a responsibility to think critically about,
and to disinvest from, our own social advantages (beginning with a
recognition that those advantages are not a pure result of our own
hard work).
Surely, there are many among us who have been thinking about working
through these issues for a long time. But I think it’s worth putting
on the table for serious reflection and discussion in this critical
moment in which new forms of solidarity are taking shape and when
there is so much at stake. We have to be comfortable acknowledging
the ways in which some one who is racialized as white (such as myself)
cannot ever really understand the experience of racial oppression,
even as we participate in the struggle against it. And so, for such
individuals, the struggle against institutional racism must begin with
a disinvestment from whiteness, from the advantages of middle-class
upbringing—from whatever other advantages have been tied to the social positions we were born into.
So, what does this mean in practice? What does it take to disinvest
from privilege—from white privilege, or class privilege, male
privilege, or the privileges attached to normative sexual practices
and identities? Of course, there is no simple or singular answer to
these questions. But there may be a couple of starting points to
build on.
To begin with, as I’ve already been suggesting, I think it will be
difficult to move forward without making transparent the ways in which
various forms of privilege operate across lines of difference within
our coalition. Whether this occurs on the level of personal
reflection, in the realm of political thinking, in our informal
discussions with each other, I think it’s important that the issue is
brought out into the open.
Secondly, we must bring into a practice a politics of listening. It
is way too easy, especially given the individualism promoted by our
social institutions, to become absorbed in the way this struggle looks
from a particular and personalized vantage point. The danger of this
kind of individualist tendency is that it threatens our solidarity by
blinding us to the ways in which multiple struggles are intersecting
and overlapping in this movement, even as they all ultimately
challenge inequality and corporatization in the university. Listening
and taking seriously each other’s needs and concerns will not only
help to strengthen our solidarity and our movement but will help us to
avoid reproducing the kinds of hierarchies that we are struggling to
transform.
The disparities of power that shape relations across race, class,
gender, and sexuality do not have to persist. But I believe that they
can’t be dismantled without our open acknowledgment of them, our
critical and careful reflection on them, and a deliberate effort to
extricate ourselves from them and to bring into practice a different
kind of social relations that prioritizes the dignity of every one
here, in ways that UCSD’s administrative power structure has not.
Laying bare and discussing openly the hierarchies of privilege that
shape our university—and the social, political, and economic
institutions that dominates it—will be uncomfortable for some, but I
can guarantee it’s a lot less uncomfortable than enduring first-hand
the kind of isolation, marginalization, and oppression that many
students on our campus have been experiencing for a long time. And it
is necessary to move forward together toward taking back our
university.
In solidarity,
Elizabeth Sine
Graduate Student
U.S. History
And I undersign myself.
Thank you for this work, Elizabeth.
Cutler Edwards
Graduate Student
U.S. History
—
Other resources for white allies from around the web:
And for people of color who want to support white allies:
As department chairs at UCSD, we condemn the recent racist acts on our campus, and we stand ready to assist the University in creating and enacting institutional policies that will make UCSD more accessible to and hospitable for all members of our community. We view the recent events as signs that UCSD must do more in order to achieve racial and cultural equity. We urge the administration to renew its commitments to ensure that racial and cultural equity and diversity are integral to any campus plans to restructure the university during the budget crisis.
Douglass Barlett (Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
Sam Buss (Mathematics)
Bob Continetti (Chemistry and Biochemistry)
Yen Le Espiritu (Ethnic Studies)
Clark Gibson (Political Science)
Dan Hallin (Communication)
Grant Kester (Visual Arts)
Joshua Kohn (Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution)
Marta Kutas (Cognitive Science)
Dick Madsen (Sociology)
Brian Maple (Physics)
John Marino (History)
Joel Robbins (Anthropology)
Nina Zhiri (Literature)
Please see below for a statement of solidarity from UC Berkeley’s APIEL NOW! (Asian Pacific Islander Education and Languages NOW!). A timely bit of reading before attending the dialogue this evening on Asian American/Pacific Islander responses to the racial crisis, from 7-9pm at the Cross-Cultural Center.
—-
March 1, 2010
In solidarity and struggle,
Asian Pacific Islander Education and Languages NOW!
UC Berkeley
The UCSD faculty coalition for educational justice supports the proposals by UCSD faculty of African descent and the UCSD Black Student Union. We are their allies in calling for UCSD to address racial inequities as the university is restructured during the budget crisis.
We urge a systematic analysis that understands the recent eruptions at UCSD not as isolated or exceptional; these expressions are commensurate with a university system that has not created the conditions for racial equity. Fifteen years after the University of California banned affirmative action, it is not only the repeated instances of campus racism, but the university administration’s inability to act effectively to address them, which testifies to the need for the university to renew its commitments to public access and diversity education. As we work to preserve higher education as a public good, we must also secure resources to support curriculum, research, and scholarship on history of race and the critical study of racism, as well as greater outreach and changes to admissions, resource allocation, and college requirements – if the university is to create an academic culture that prepares a diverse public to participate in and contribute to a multiracial society.
1. Breaking News: Ku Klux Klan-like hood found on the statue of Theodore Geisel at the UCSD Library
The head librarian at UCSD has just confirmed rumors that yet another racially-tinged incident has occurred at the Geisel Library. Last night, at about 11:15pm students reported to Libraries staff that someone had put a Ku Klux Klan-like hood on the statue of Dr. Seuss [Theodore Geisel] on the forum level of the Geisel Library. Campus police–who were called and are investigating the incident—promptly removed the hood.
We don’t have pictures of this incident yet but we’ll post them as soon as we get them. -J.F.
[Note: due to the absurdity of the image of Dr. Seuss (Thedore Geisel) wearing a KKK hood, some people are wondering whether this is some sort of risqué artist's statement, given Dr. Seuss' history of drawing racist propaganda in his early years. For more on that, click HERE. Also, today is Dr. Seuss' birthday, which makes it more likely that it's intended to make a point about the man and what he symbolizes for UCSD. However, as one Professor just noted to me, "it seems anyone in tune enough to know the history of Theodore Geisel or of San Diego as "Klan Diego" would know enough to leave a sign, or something to more clearly articulate the politics behind the act"].
Update 8:30PM from the San Diego Union-Tribune: “KKK-style pillowcase found at UCSD; noose sent to city attorney”
2. For Your Teaching Toolkits:
3. Other Statements and Articles from around the internet
Finally: we have three new articles in the Guardian:
Tune in tomorrow for more updates. -J.F.
An essay by Jamila Demby.
This morning when I woke up I found a message from a friend in my email that informed me that someone left a noose in the UCSD library last night. I was shocked, but only to a certain degree. I guess I should probably describe my feelings as more disheartened than shocked. Unfortunately, the noose has made an eventual appearance in a lot of heated racial situations across the country. Under similar circumstances, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it appeared in the chilled out state of Hawaii. Racism and its history runs deep.
I’ve been reading up on the aftermath of the “Compton Cookout” party some students of UCSD decided to throw in “honor” of Black History Month. I’ve been reading news articles, blogs, blog commentaries, and I have been watching videos of protests and speeches. One of the speakers at the teach-in walk out rally made a point that is so valid it’s been with me for the past view days. She noted that some people who don’t understand why the party is hurtful have been saying statements like “it’s not a big deal” and asking questions like, “can’t you just take a joke?” The speaker (I’ve got to get her name, I believe she is a professor from SDSU) stated that “it is a privilege to be able to ask that question”. She is right. It is a privilege to make such statements and ask such questions because you, yourself, are in a state of privilege. The privilege is not being subjected to the daily possible forms of racism and discrimination.
I read a great quote in my very dry human development book recently. “It would hardly be fish who discovered the existence of water”, some chic or dude named Kluckhohn, 1949. The author of the book clarifies, “Like the fish that is unaware of water until it has left the water, people often take their own community’s ways of doing things for granted”. This quote helps me further understand why a lot of the majority have major difficulties understanding the challenges of being a minority.
I’ve been very frustrated and at times angry when I stupidly read the ignorant comments people make about the party itself and the protests that have taken place since. I read it’s no big deal. I read that the BSU demands and protests are not productive. I read that minorities are playing the victims. I read ignorance. To me ignorance can come in two folds. There’s ignorance that comes from simply not knowing. Then there is ignorance that comes from not knowing wrapped in hate and sometimes vengenance. It kills me. I want to explain to gain understanding. I want to fix it. I am frustrated because I can’t.
To those of you that do not understand why feelings are hurt by the mockery of a party. To those of you that think it’s better not to make a bigger deal or raise racial tensions more so by peacefully protesting. To those of you that do not understand that this is real pain that does deserve real action. Please do me this favor. Please trust me. Trust someone that is a minority and has experienced racism either overtly and/or covertly. If you want to ask questions about our experiences, please do so with respect….not just to gather “evidence” to prove your counter point. I am incredibly greatful that my close friends who are not black or even a minority get racism at its greatest and more importantly at its most invisible state. If any of my friends do not get something, they do me the greatest favor by asking with respect with the pure motive to gain understanding and empathy and trusting my perspective. I couldn’t be more grateful.
Our U.S. has have left us a huge mess to clean up. While most of the overt racism has gone down as compared to our past (i.e. nooses, hangins, racial slurs) I find it’s the covert racism that white people cannot see. The covert racism is deep in the water in which you swim but are not aware. Here are some examples that I have experienced:
- “oooh you’re so articulate”
- “I didn’t know your parents were married. I assumed your mom was always a single mom”
- someone assuming I got into 3 different UC’s b/c of affirmative action without knowing my above 4.0 gpa, being the ASB VP, and track and cross country awards
- Being asked where am I from multiple times after switching my hair from a more Euro-centric style to a more natural style and getting disappointed looks when I say Merced/Maryland (most people are hoping for Jamaica or some other country despite not having an accent. Trust me. I never had this question before I changed my hair)
- Being told by a white friend to say hi to my mammy instead of mother or mom. She was clueless.
- Getting a shocked reaction from someone I was talking to that I warmed the bench in high school basketball. He said, “but I thought all black people can play basketball”. I stopped talking to him.
- Expected to hit on the only black guy in the bar just b/c he’s black. Are you attracted to every person in your race?
- Hearing white people change their dialect once they see me. I’ve had Orange County guys go from saying “dude” and “like” to “what’s up girl” and “I’m pretty fly for a white guy”. Some bullshit.
Overt Racism I Have Experienced:
- being called the N-word by Darren Bruce in junior high (took a swing at him)
- being called the N-word and a spade by some punks while walking to my car in OB
- a little girl in pre-school checked her hand after touching me to see if the black rubbed off on her
- being told that people can only see my eyes and teeth in the dark or in dark pictures (I hate the hell out of that “joke”)
- being referred to as the N-word ending in an “a” by a white co-worker b/c she thought she was down. She claimed her “one” black friend didn’t mind. So why wouldn’t the whole race mind, right?
- being told by two white school mates in junior high that they assumed that I would roll my neck and have an attitude. They seemed relieved that I didn’t. I was annoyed.
- My grade school classmates in Maryland would say every girl black character in any movie we would watch in class was me.
- They also stared at me while we studied slavery in class.
- Two of my white high school classmates and I got into a heated debate about race. They had the audacity to demand to know why there wasn’t a white college (like there are HBCU’s) and why isn’t there a white history month. I told these girls there is a white history month….Jan, March, April, etc. Then I asked them what are we going to do during it? Have a review session?!
This list could go on, but I am on a time constraint. My point in listing my racist experiences is to show you why you should trust me and trust other minorities that have real pain from experiencing real racism and discrimination. I am one story of millions. Please do not be dismissive on something you have the privilege of not experiencing. That dismissiveness on your end leads to built frustration and sometimes anger on mine.
Minorities. We’re not being paranoid. We’re not exaggerating. We’re not playing the victim card. We’re tired. We’re frustrated. We want true social equality and to live in an environment where both overt and covert racism does not stack up in our lives such as my list above. And I think most importantly we want recognition and understanding. Recognizing there is a problem, understanding our experiences and perspectives rooted in those experiences, and last but not least effective change. Thank you for reading.
To view entire video interview, or to download it as an mp3 podcast, click HERE. You can also download the podcast in video or audio form via Itunes.
Here is a compliation of news stories and blog posts about UCSD’s current racial emergency. J.F.
News (for additional news scroll below)
Governor Condemns ‘Intolerable Acts of Racism’ at UCSD
Students storm UC San Diego chancellor’s office (editor’s note: “storm” is an exaggeration. The students peacefully and respectfully occupied...)
NY Times: California Campus Sees Uneasy Race Relations
UCSD Suspends Student Linked To Noose Found On Campus (includes news video)
Race Relations At UCSD (includes news video interview)
SD Union-Tribune Profiles Kris Gregorian, the Koala Editor
KPBS TV Coverage of Recent Events
Blog Posts
Thoughts on the Short Lived Occupation of the UCSD Chancellor’s office
Free Speech, Racist Speech, and UCSD
UCSD is Sending Wrong Message by Not Expelling This Student on the Spot
Chancellor Block (UCLA) responds regarding the UCSD incidents
In solidarity with the UCSD folks, students sat in at Murphy Hall at UCLA waiting to meet with the chancellor there and issue him the following demands: 1) Closure of UCSD until there is a full investigation of events surrounding Compton Cook Out and the noose left hanging for 3 days in Library, 2) Expulsion of offending students and dismantling of The Koala newspaper, and 3) Diversity needs be met by March 4th.
***
Also, it seems that UCSD is not the only campus in racial turmoil. Here’s a note and a photo from one of my colleagues: “attached image is of an event at UC Riverside, which further speaks to the current situation.”
Things are also blowing up at UC Davis.
UC Davis LGBT Resource Center Vandalized
&
Vandal Carves Swastika on Door of UC Davis Jewish Student
For more pictures of this despicable act of hate, click HERE.
***
UPDATE: College racial emergency goes national – cotton balls scattered in front of Missouri University’s black culture center. Click HERE for more info.
Below is a PDF copy of the document that the Black Student Union issued to the UC San Diego administration. There is no better document stressing the need for structural change at UCSD than this one.
The BSU asked the administration to these demands by Friday afternoon. Chancellor Fox responded with some limited offers but the students are presenting their own counteroffer tomorrow morning (BTW there will be a rally in front of the Chancellor’s complex at 9am). The BSU has given Fox until March 4 to complete this negotiation process. That is also (not coincidentally) our National Day of Action for Education. For details about what’s happening at UCSD on that day, click HERE.
Please share widely. -J.F.
To: Faculty Colleagues, UCSD Administration and UC Regents
As faculty of African descent here at the University of California, San Diego, we write to express our disgust at the racist and misogynist events of last week. We hope that the students understand that we stand alongside them. We thank those colleagues who have contacted us individually and collectively to express their anger at the attitudes and behavior of the members of Pi Kappa Alpha and the Koala. We ask that the entire faculty join us in a demonstration of common outrage, and assist us in moving forward by signaling agreement with the ideas expressed in this statement.
As the undergraduate students have explained, both the “Compton Cookout” and the racist drivel broadcast on SR-TV are indicative of a broader campus climate of hostility and neglect. We believe that UC San Diego must act strongly, both to sanction appropriately those responsible for these events and, equally importantly, to augment our intellectual and personal commitment to confronting the problems of outreach, yield, and retention in respect to underrepresented communities in general—and African American students in particular—on our campus. We are proud of the many efforts made by dedicated faculty, students and staff across the campus aimed at fostering a more hospitable environment, improving yield, and producing curricular innovation. We share their fear of the devastating long-term effects that will result if this university acquires a national or international reputation for intolerance and bigotry.
We stand today at a crossroads. Addressing the academic and student affairs needs of historically underrepresented groups remains one of this institution’s most glaring areas of unfulfilled promise. In the previous decade, the university has convened a number of committees charged with improving admissions and undergraduate yield, faculty equity and diversity, and the larger climate and reputation of UCSD. We do not wish to see further duplication. We have had task forces: now we need resources. We understand that the university faces a profound financial crisis. Nevertheless, we believe that this crisis cannot become the rationale for any slackening of efforts in regard to racial and ethnic diversity, increased educational access, or the creation of a campus climate that accurately reflects the UCSD mission of the fullest possible access to education, research, and public service.
We ask our colleagues from across the campus to add their voices to ours by signing on to this letter.
Sincerely,
The undersigned
To sign the online petition attached to this statemrent, click HERE.
Note: to sign the online petition attached to this statment, click HERE
We the undersigned, UC community members (alumni, faculty, students and staff) of Asian descent, stand in solidarity with all who are protesting the racist incidents at UCSD and, more importantly, the systemic forces that support such incidents. It is unacceptable for UC campuses to view the recruitment and support of black and especially African-American students as anything other than a top priority. UCSD should never have allowed its black student population to languish at 1.6% of the total student population and ought to have paid much better attention to students’ needs. The UC systemwide must take immediate and material action to improve the campus environments. We write as community members of Asian descent because we think it is particularly important for black students to know that they are supported by the group that is demographically the largest of the U.S. ethnic minority groups represented on UC campuses. We have common values and needs, and possess a history of African-American/Asian-American collaboration to draw upon, although this history is little publicized in the mainstream media. For example, African-Americans criticized anti-Chinese immigrant persecution in the late nineteenth century, and the Asian-American “yellow power” movement of the 1960′s worked in solidarity with African-American movements toward common goals. We call upon these traditions, together with a sense of urgency that is only commensurate to a society that has effectively abandoned the pursuit of social justice, and pledge to stand with black students in their time of need.
28 February 2010
Dear Sisters and Brothers of BSU and MEChA:
We, Kamalayan Kollective, a political, people-centered, feminist organization here at UCSD, stand in solidarity with you in your brave efforts to create a just and lasting institutional change at our university. Your recent mobilizations on our campus in response to the explicit acts of racism and the administration’s failure to address adequately your demands prove the intelligence and resilience of students of color and our unwavering commitment to actualized social and educational justice. We do not merely applaud your efforts, rather, we raise our fists and march with you, for we, as Filipina/o students, have, always have had, and always will have your back.
As a decolonizing people, we hold dear and work diligently on the premise that we have inherited a revolutionary legacy of working across community identities. During the 1950’s, the Filipino farm workers struggled alongside our Chicana/o sisters and brothers in the United Farm Workers Movement; Filipina/o activists linked arms with our sisters and brothers of color in order to push for civil rights, in order to push for the demands of Black, Brown, Yellow and Red Power movements. At the turn of the century, Black soldiers during the Philippine-American War defected from the U.S. Army in order to fight for Philippine independence. The Latina/o community and the Filipina/o community have come together on multiple occasions to resist the anti-immigrant character of our campus and this country. In all acts of self-determination, we undoubtedly have had your back and you undoubtedly have had ours.
More pertinently, on this campus, we, as Filipina/o students, who make up a mere 4% of the undergraduate population, who continue to experience the effects of institutional neglect, resist the cultures of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia. We are pained to witness our sisters and brothers in the local San Diego Filipina/o American community shut out of this institution, and instead exploited for cheap labor and tracked into the military and into prisons. Through these conditions, we emerge as leaders behind significant campus projects and community campaigns such as SIORC, SPACES, the Justice for Janitors Campaign, and campaigns for Affirmative Action. We initiate long-term and short-term projects to eradicate the ills of imperialism, racism, misogyny, classism, sexism, and homophobia on this campus. We have developed (with minimal to no help from the University) our own spaces such as Pinay Speaks, Pinayism Class (2005, 2007, 2010) and several other Directed Group Studies courses in order to confront the toxicity of this campus and to acknowledge that real pain and real oppression also exists along the horizontal axes of social category. We draw upon this legacy as radical Filipina/o organizers in the United States in order to identify ourselves not as allies to your Movement, but as comrades and comadres in the same struggle.
We, Kamalayan Kollective, are here to have your back. As underserved students directly affected and traumatized by the campus climate, we are taking a stand in representing the voice of the Filipina/o students who are in solidarity with you. We continue to believe in the necessity of real and immediate action. Sisters and brothers, in these times of struggle, we need you to have our back as much as you need us to have yours. Together, we do more than stand, we fight! MAKIBAKA! HUWAG MATAKOT!
Real Pain, Real Action, Isang Bagsak, Isang Mahal,
Kamalayan Kollective
Thank you Dolissa! -J.F.
