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Connerly
leaves negative impact
Ward
Connerly's departure signals a turning point
for the UC system. It gives students the
opportunity to get the Regents and campus
administrations to reverse the devastating
damage that has resulted from Connerly's
crusade to resegregate higher education.
Connerly's
legacy? To tarnish both the reality and
image of the UC system, and to make California
a place in which public education is increasingly
segregated, separate and unequal and the
promise of Brown v. Board of Education is
ever more faint.
The
undeniable results of his policies are now
in. At UCB this year, black, Chicano, Latino,
and Native American students comprised only
2.9 percent, 6.8 percent, 2.5 percent, and
0.4 percent of the freshman class —
in a state where they are a majority of
public school students. Underrepresented
minorities are being pushed into UC system's
less prestigious schools, creating a two-tier
system in California.
In
2003, after a student-led movement that
culminated in a 50,000-person march for
affirmative action, the United State Supreme
Court ruled in Grutter v. Bollinger that
using race to diversify higher education
is a "compelling state interest."
We call on the Regents and campus administrations
to use every means available to institute
affirmative action programs — the
only meaningful desegregation measures ever
formulated to bring about real integration.
Admissions
decisions are being made in the next several
weeks. Students at UC Berkeley are waging
a fight right now to reverse the drop in
underrepresented minority admissions for
their fall incoming class. We call on students
to support and spread this fight throughout
the state.
To
win, students must circulate the petition
far and wide (all can sign it — the
petition can be found at BAMN.COM). The
petition is a way to broaden the movement.
Our
victory will set the stage for taking on
and defeating Prop 209. This spring semester
can be a turning point for the fight for
equality in California.
—
Ronald Cruz
and Yvette Felarca
Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action,
Integration, & Immigrant Rights and
Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary
(BAMN)
UC Berkeley ASUC senator
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