OT: Affirmative action bake sale at Berkeley
Emmett Fitz-Hume
BERKELEY, Calif. — Students at a California university used cookies instead
of protest signs on Wednesday to demonstrate against college affirmative action
policies.
A conservative group at the University of California held a bake sale with
sweets priced according to the buyer's race or ethnicity. Whites paid more for
their cookies than did Latinos, American Indians and other minorities.
But only about 30 cookies, bought in bulk from a big-box store, were sold.
"We weren't expecting to find 100 people coming out and agreeing with us," said
Kelly Coyne, a member of Berkeley College Republicans, the group holding the
sale. "What we wanted to do is to really inject this issue of debate on the
campus and it has. People are talking about affirmative action."
For the same chocolate chip cookie, whites were being charged $1.50, Asians
$1.25, Latinos (Hispanics not from Mexico) $1.00, Chicanos (Hispanics from
Mexico) 75 cents, American Indians 50 cents, and blacks 25 cents.
Berkeley and the entire UC campus network stopped considering race and gender
in 1997. Enrollment of blacks and Hispanics dropped sharply after that move but
have increased in recent years, although that trend can be seen less so at the
top campuses of Berkeley and UCLA.
UC recently switched to a system known as comprehensive review admissions,
which takes into account factors such as hardship or poverty but not race.
UC students at the Berkeley campus had mixed feelings about the College
Republicans' political bake sale.
Sal Daxamusan paid 25 cents for his cookie. His parents are Indian, but his
grandmother was from Ethiopia. The college junior said the sale pointed out
absurdities in the system.
"I think the goal of affirmative action is a noble one," Daxamusan said. But "I
think it's the wrong way to do it."
Junior Mike Richardson, who is originally from Somalia, seemed a bit put off by
the sales pitch — "Twenty-five cents — it's a real deal" — and thought
the sale trivialized serious issues and didn't offer viable alternatives.
"This might not be the best system, but it's the only system we have right
now," he said.
The race card wasn't the only one played at Wednesday's sale.
Some students passing by the sale wanted to know why there was no price set for
"legacy admits," the legal practice of giving preference to students whose
parents went to UC.
Dave Galich, president of Berkeley College Republicans, responded by saying
they were only dealing with one politically-charged issue at a time.
Race-based bake sales have been held by conservative students around the
country, including UCLA, the University of Richmond and the University of
Michigan, which is embroiled in a Supreme Court battle over its own affirmative
action policies.
Conservative students at UC Los Angeles held a bake sale Feb. 3. Bake sale
vendors were assigned the names of "Uncle Tom," "The White Oppressor" and
"Self-Hating Hispanic Race Traitor." Another student was assigned the position
of "Admissions Officer" and given the responsibility of assigning the cost of
the baked goods by determining the buyer’s race and gender.
"Unfortunately, this activity is consistent with the Republican right’s
tactics to engage in race based political discourse," California Democratic
Party Chairman Art Torres said, citing recent controversies around comments
made by U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C. "It is a
shame Republican students at UCLA have chosen to mimic the extreme views of
their Republican leaders."
President of the Democratic Law Students Association, Juan Carlos-Orellana said
"this event serves only to show that ignorance persists and that all political
leaders must continue to work for equal opportunities for all Americans."
The Democratic Party has largely supported affirmative action policies due to
its voter base.
"Once again we see hard-working students of color subjected to racist
Republican rhetoric for simply seeking a good education and equal opportunity,"
Torres said in blasting the sales.
On the other side of the issue, UC Regent Ward Connerly laughed when he hard
about the Berkeley sale.
Conner led the fight to drop race in admissions at UC and also chaired the
campaign for a 1996 ballot measure dismantling most public affirmative action
programs in California.
"I think that it highlights the absurdity of preferences on the basis of race
or gender or ethnicity," he said. "I commend them for piercing through the
clutter and getting to the heart of what is really wrong with preferences."