Pawns in the Affirmative Action March

BAMN and liberal academia infiltrate middle schools

By Michael Klein
Posted on 03/06/05

Rallying to “reverse the drop” in minority student enrollment at UC Berkeley, bay area students and teachers participated in the BAMN-sponsored “Day of Action” on March 3rd to show their support for a revival of affirmative action and minority student outreach programs. Middle school and high school students and teachers accounted for the bulk of the participants as they occupied the steps of Sproul Hall during the rally.

Speakers attracted an audience by hurling sharp invectives at the “ignorance” of those who do not support stronger affirmative action policies. Barry Shapiro of the “Angry White Guys for Affirmative Action” explained his group’s reasons for anger at those complacent to the prospects of affirmative action. Shapiro reserves special hatred for those whites “who think they have the answer to the problems by saying their parents didn’t own slaves.” Qualifying the nature of the group’s anger, Shapiro commented that the Angry White Guys’ anger is “principled.” Randy Robinson, a student at UC Berkeley, glanced at the backdrop of sedentary and seemingly indifferent students and motivated them to rise to the occasion. He exclaimed, “This is your movement. How are you going to have a movement if you are sitting down?” At this, the students were convicted to rise and project their BAMN signs into the sight of onlookers.

For the students, this was a chance to escape the classroom and to take a field trip to spend the day rallying and marching, rather than studying and learning. Students from Oakland Technical High School attended the rally and many were ill-prepared when asked to describe their purposes in coming to the UC Berkeley campus. As one student explained, he was not sure if he was even signed up for the BAMN group prior to coming to the rally. One of his peers admitted, “We just wanted to get out of school,” while another chimed in, “There is this teacher we don’t like.” Generally, the students forming the body of demonstrators simply were excited to skip a day of class and rally under the direction and leadership of their teachers. Their teachers, in turn, enthusiastically allowed BAMN organizers to instruct students in the proper march.

Evan Hughes, a teacher at Oakland Technical High School, described the educator’s perspective for encouraging students to make a trip such as this. He explains, “I wanted to bring the students to this rally so that they can share their views in class and so that he might “educate them in marches.” When questioned about the presence of BAMN on the campus, Hughes explained that a BAMN group meets regularly on the high school campus and is often invited into classrooms to do presentations on their views of the state of inequality in education. The class also engages in presentations and discussions of their own regarding inequality in education. Hughes claims of his students that “by being active and involved, they are learning.”

Following the rally on Sproul, students were escorted by their teachers and several BAMN coordinators to prepare for the march through Sather Gate. As the students marched, they chanted, “What do we want- an education. When do we want it- now!” Joining the students were their teachers and several elder supporters of the movement. One onlooker responded to the chants by advising that the students could get an education if they were in class. Following the march, the students took some time to relax, eat lunch, and enjoy each other’s company on Sproul. According to some students at Oakland Technical High School the march was “fun,” although some complained of the hot weather and their aching feet. One student beamed and said, “We’re about to get on the news!”

At about this time, several of the students accosted the ROTC recruitment table and questioned the war in Iraq. One student asked if the ROTC recruiters were trying to get students to go to war, but then admitted of the air force that “it’s fun to fly planes.” One elder passerby exhibited utter vulgarity in front of the ROTC table in order to display his disapproval of the military. Pointing at the cadets working the table, he raised his voice and said, “You can suck wind buddy!”

Despite the apparent enthusiasm of the young students for BAMN’ s campaign for the revitalization of affirmative action, many held in higher regard the enthusiasm for getting out of class. As BAMN solicited the help of the teachers’ union in this demonstration, it reveals who is in control of the public school system and who is influencing the youth. As Evan Hughes says, he uses ample class time to give BAMN an opportunity to present their views to the students. He wants them educated in marching. The students become the wayward soldiers for this cause, adhering to the examples their teachers set. By taking students out of class and engaging them in a politically charged rally in favor of education, some would see it as the essence of hypocrisy.

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