Given the attempt by Art Torres and the California Democratic
Party to mislead UCLA students about our bake sale on Feb. 3, the
Bruin Republicans feel there should be a settling of accounts.
First, any attempt to link us with outside Republican leaders is
false. Torres would know this if he’d actually come to any of
our meetings. Funny, though ““ I haven’t seen him or any
of his Democratic underlings in attendance.
Second, the Bruin Republicans think very little of politicians
like Trent Lott. The fact that he resigned his post in disgrace is
full proof Republicans don’t agree with his views.
Republicans in general are a straightforward bunch ““ if we
stood behind Lott, even if it wasn’t “PC,” he
would still be senate leader. But Republicans, especially Bruin
Republicans, don’t agree with his views, which is why
he’s gone.
The Bruin Republicans do agree, however, with the non-PC views
of Ward Connerly. Segregation in things like African grad, MEChA
grad and Queer grad is segregation, but it is not necessarily
racist. That is the view Connerly expressed, and one which we
wholly endorsed. As to whether the Bruin Republicans practice
segregation or even approve of ethnicity-based self-segregation:
No!
Torres’ press release is based on a deliberate misreading
of our original press release. It carried a lighthearted tone and
emphasized that the roles being played by Bruin Republicans are
just that ““ roles. Torres knows very well that if a black
Republican ever speaks out against affirmative action, he will be
called an “Uncle Tom,” something a brave, racial
reconciliator like Ward Connerly knows quite well.
And Torres didn’t know something else: the
“Self-Hating, Latino Race Traitor” was actually played
by a registered Democrat of mixed race (Vietnamese and Mexican) who
feels affirmative action is nonetheless wrong. He’s a
Democrat, Torres, but he tells me your racial paranoia does not
represent him. The “Race Traitor” is one example of the
real Bruin Republicans ““ finding common ground with people of
all political persuasions to fight harmful social programs like
affirmative action.
As for the Democratic Law Students Association, I’d like
to ask Juan-Carlos Orellana where his undergraduate counterparts
are. Oh right, the Bruin Democrats are basically dead on this
campus while we are 250 strong. Even UCLA students are getting
tired of Democratic politics. It’s not surprising Torres had
to dig into the graduate students’ level to find a club to
mouth his lies.
The tone of the press release is the most absurd part.
Throughout, Torres and the Democrats are playing the victim. But
does Torres know what kind of money the African Student Union or
MEChA got from student government this year versus the Bruin
Republicans? Or for that matter, the four years that I have been
here at UCLA and been a member?
Across all four years, the Bruin Republicans have never seen a
dime from the student government. This year, we have been refused
funding in defiance of the UC Office of the President guidelines
responding to the Supreme Court’s Rosenberger decision.
But ASU and MEChA, to name just a few racially separatist
organizations, have been awash in tens of thousands in mandatory
student fees, paying for their culture nights, their general
meetings, and most outrageous of all, simply for serving as an
officer of the organization.
So I’d like to ask Torres who the victim is. Is it the
Bruin Republicans, who’ve never received any mandatory
student government fees ““ or an organization actually able to
pay their officers?
Given the distortions in Torres’ press release, we wish to
publicly correct him ““ and to publicize the fact that we have
challenged Torres to a debate on affirmative action at a time and
place of his choosing anywhere on the UCLA campus from now until
the end of the year. If Torres has any guts, he will stand up to
defend his words. But don’t count on it.