Thousands at UC-Berkeley rally for affirmative action Thousands at UC-Berkeley rally for affirmative action
Published Friday, March 9, 2001, in the San Jose Mercury News
BY DANA HULL Mercury News
Thousands of students rallied Thursday at the University of California-Berkeley to demand that the UC system reverse its ban on affirmative action. But before the noon rally even began, fights unrelated to the affirmative action debate broke out between rival high school students who had gathered for the event, and Telegraph Avenue became a whirlwind of flying fists and running students.
A number of teachers from Berkeley High School and Oakland Tech had taken their students to the Sproul Plaza rally on school-sanctioned field trips. Yet as some youths spoke passionately about the need for affirmative action before the large crowd, others ransacked a Telegraph Avenue shoe store, which prompted a number of merchants to close for the afternoon. ``Most people from our school don't even know why they are here,'' said Daniel Jose, 14, a freshman at Berkeley High School. ``It's just an excuse to get out of class.''
Though police made no arrests, the city of Berkeley quickly dispatched 60 officers equipped with riot gear to the scene. Meanwhile, during the rally, heated arguments exploded all over Sproul Plaza between students who support affirmative action and those who don't. In 1995, the University of California Board of Regents barred the use of affirmative action in university admissions, and the passage of Proposition 209 in 1996 effectively ended the policy in the state.
But in the wake of the ban, many highly qualified minority students who have been admitted to the university have chosen not to attend. Faculty members, including Pedro Noguera, have also left the university in protest. ``People of color are now the majority in the state of California,'' said Robert Allen, a visiting ethnic studies professor at UC-Berkeley.
``But many professors are feeling discouraged. There is a feeling that the university is not supporting a population that is changing.'' Some students who support the ban also arrived with placards that said ``Admission by Merit'' and ``Stop Racial Profiling.'' ``It's unpopular, but there is a silent majority here at Berkeley who do support the ban,'' said Kelso Barnett, 20, a junior.
``We feel affirmative action is a form of racial profiling, and that is racist in and of itself.'' But the anti-affirmative action contingent was far outnumbered by the supporters who attended the rally, which was organized by the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary.
William Bagley, a UC regent and affirmative-action supporter, could ask his colleagues to reverse the ban at their May or July meeting -- a symbolic move in light of Proposition 209. Gospel singing The rally ended with gospel singing and a promise that Sproul Plaza was witnessing the birth of a new civil rights movement. Hundreds of students, most of them high-schoolers, then marched around the city of Berkeley.
Participants such as Augustin Ramirez were not just angry about the heavy police presence, but the altercations that marred the protest. ``The police see us as a threat,'' said Ramirez, 18, an Oakland Tech senior who plans to attend California State University-Chico in the fall. ``But I'm angry about all of the fights that broke out, too.'' Ramirez says affirmative action is necessary to give Latinos more opportunities. He said that his biggest barrier to success is the lack of good teachers at his school.
But Ramirez said he enjoyed the rally, and that he has already registered to vote in case he gets the chance to reverse Proposition 209. ``Today was cool,'' said Ramirez. ``Sooner or later they are going to have to give back a lot of what they have taken away from us.'' Police view Capt. Bobby Miller of the Berkeley Police Department defended the police presence.
High school students have looted Telegraph Avenue stores on a few occasions in recent months, and merchants association representatives say they are sick of it. ``The idea of the rally itself was not bad,'' said Miller, as he gave an impromptu press conference in the middle of Telegraph Avenue. ``Unfortunately, this got out of hand.''
Contact Dana Hull at dhull@sjmercury.com or (510) 790-7311.
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