East Bay students, teachers protest race-neutral admissions policies

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://www.dailycal.org/2012/10/23/east-bay-students-teachers-protest-race-neutral-admissions-policies/

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

A group of about 350 students and teachers from UC Berkeley and middle and high schools in the East Bay denounced the university’s race-neutral admissions policies at a rally on campus Tuesday afternoon.

Organized by the activist group BAMN, the rally on Sproul Plaza featured teachers and students from the campus and other schools in Oakland and Berkeley who urged the university to adopt race-conscious admissions policies to increase the diversity of the student body.

Protesters carried signs that read “Affirmative Action” and “Education is a right.” They chanted, “Si se puede — yes we can,” and, “Educate — don’t segregate,” among other chants, while marching from the plaza to California Hall and back.

“I look around this (campus), and this does not resemble my community,” said Steven Wong, a senior at Skyline High School in Oakland, at the rally. “This must change.”

Wong was also at the BAMN-organized occupation of the campus registrar’s office in April during which protesters called for the campus to double minority-student enrollment. Since then, the group has continued protesting the university’s race-conscious admissions policies through various rallies and events on Sproul Plaza. Tuesday’s rally is the most recent in a series of protests.

The university is restricted from considering race in its admissions decisions by Proposition 209, which was passed by voters in 1996.

“There are fewer black and Latino students at Berkeley than at private schools like Harvard and Stanford,” said Yvette Felarca, a BAMN organizer. “There are thousands of gifted and talented black and Latino students in California who are fully capable of getting accepted to Berkeley … UC Berkeley should double the number of black and Latino students.”

Four UCPD officers monitored Tuesday’s rally.

[bsd058 296]

Is it fair to consider race in the admissions process? It seems so arbitrary. It's not anyone's choice to be the colour they are. It doesn't make them a better or worse student.

On the other hand maybe it would keep the university honest. So they have a fair representation of each ethnic group to show they aren't discriminating?

I'd like to know the logic behind this.

Edited October 24, 2012 by bsd058

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Is it fair to consider race in the admissions process? It seems so arbitrary. It's not anyone's choice to be the colour they are. It doesn't make them a better student.

On the other hand maybe it would keep the university honest. So they have a fair representative of each ethnic group to show they aren't discriminating?

Admitting someone due to skin color is racist.

[^_^ 5,021]

Is it fair to consider race in the admissions process? It seems so arbitrary. It's not anyone's choice to be the colour they are. It doesn't make them a better or worse student.

On the other hand maybe it would keep the university honest. So they have a fair representation of each ethnic group to show they aren't discriminating?

I'd like to know the logic behind this.

It was put in place to correct historic imbalances.

I do believe it should be modified today, to account for the fact that systematic state sanctioned discrimination is now a thing of the past. The fault lines today are more class-based so I'd like to see a new era of affirmative action that is geared towards those who come from regions and families stuck at the bottom with little hope of upward mobility.

Edited October 24, 2012 by ^_^

[Darnell 8,478]

what happened? UC Berkeley not subscribe to Affirmative Action Enrollment stuff?

On a lighter note -

IF you had the SAT scores, and some extra-curricular activities,

and could prove yer parents have the $$

then yer a shoe-in ..

IIRC, Historically, students in the Oakland area rarely were admitted, because of 'that bar' ..

They just couldn't jump over it.

[Danno 1,228]

When you give one seat out to a student due to race you take one seat away from a more deserving student for the same reason.

The Left swears race is meaningless... a social construct... yet they are the ones who cling to is so much.

[bsd058 296]

Admitting someone due to skin color is racist.

I'm not sure "admitting someone due to their skin color" is the actual issue, though.

Edited October 24, 2012 by bsd058

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

I'm not sure "admitting someone due to their skin color" is the actual issue, though.

Did you take time to read the title of that article?

[bsd058 296]

Did you take time to read the title of that article?

Yes I did. The reason I'm not sure if the issue has been missed is because it is possible the statistics might prove that there is covert (not obvious) discrimination and that possibly the students are trying to state that the policies should change because there isn't a fair representation of applicants in the student population.

Sometimes stats (I do not mean mere numbers; rather probability models) can be used as evidence for discrimination.

Sometimes the whole story isn't told. I agree that it's not fair to allow someone in just because they are a certain color. The question is, is it happening anyway and we're just not told about it? That's what makes me wonder if there are deeper motives for the protests not being written about in the article.

Edited October 24, 2012 by bsd058

[decocker 7,198]

[quote name=' timestamp='1351110575' post='5777602]

It was put in place to correct historic imbalances.

I do believe it should be modified today, to account for the fact that systematic state sanctioned discrimination is now a thing of the past. The fault lines today are more class-based so I'd like to see a new era of affirmative action that is geared towards those who come from regions and families stuck at the bottom with little hope of upward mobility.

[JensJrny2Ray 367]

After reading that article, the thoughts that come to mind are: there are many gifted people of any race that are able to make the cut, so why then is the population of the community not represented at the school?

Just because schools are told they cannot admit someone based on their race (affirmative action), does not mean that racism doesn't exist anymore. However, perhaps the issue is an issue of economic factors relative to race?

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

After reading that article, the thoughts that come to mind are: there are many gifted people of any race that are able to make the cut, so why then is the population of the community not represented at the school?

Just because schools are told they cannot admit someone based on their race (affirmative action), does not mean that racism doesn't exist anymore. However, perhaps the issue is an issue of economic factors relative to race?

Money might have something to do with it. College education doesn't come cheap these days.

[bsd058 296]

After reading that article, the thoughts that come to mind are: there are many gifted people of any race that are able to make the cut, so why then is the population of the community not represented at the school?

Just because schools are told they cannot admit someone based on their race (affirmative action), does not mean that racism doesn't exist anymore. However, perhaps the issue is an issue of economic factors relative to race?

Yes. This is what I'm talking about. Someone gets it. A Canadian (or at least getting married to a Canadian?) no less! lol.

Edited October 24, 2012 by bsd058

[Danno 1,228]

Why are we conversing as though discrimination can not be reasonably proven?

It is ridiculous to act on an assumption... to discriminate again a better performing student simply because you have a hunch... that the upper levels of Education are ripe with discrimination.... so ripe that we see the same thing across the country.

Applicants are broken down into a point system, send the Justice DEPT. in to see if it is being conducted on a color blind system.

To just assume that all groups are equally interested or capable to engage in any activity is a pretty lame starting point and one that does not work in many other area life.

[JensJrny2Ray 367]

Why are we conversing as though discrimination can not be reasonably proven?

It is ridiculous to act on an assumption... to discriminate again a better performing student simply because you have a hunch... that the upper levels of Education are ripe with discrimination.... so ripe that we see the same thing across the country.

Applicants are broken down into a point system, send the Justice DEPT. in to see if it is being conducted on a color blind system.

To just assume that all groups are equally interested or capable to engage in any activity is a pretty lame starting point and one that does not work in many other area life.

What is a good starting point then? I think it's reasonable to assume that all groups are interested and capable..and if they aren't, why is that? The article the OP posted just had me thinking that what indeed is the reason that the student population does not resemble the community? Discrimination can be proven of course, but there are many subtle forms of discrimination too.