The 50th anniversary of a landmark court case is prompting the
UCLA community to re-examine where it stands compared to the
discrimination, prejudice and racism of years past.
The Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka,
Kansas ““ in which the Court ordered the racial integration of
all public schools ““ is 50 years old this May and some groups
on campus have begun coordinating activities in anticipation of the
anniversary.
The 1954 ruling struck down Plessy v. Ferguson, an earlier Court
case which essentially legalized racial segregation as long as all
races had equal facilities. Chief Justice Earl Warren dismissed the
notion of the earlier ruling, declaring, “Separate
educational facilities are inherently unequal.”
Kicking off the road to the May 17 anniversary date, Shanta
Driver, national spokeswoman for By Any Means Necessary, came to
UCLA Tuesday night in a continuous attempt to re-ignite a civil
rights movement on campuses across the country. BAMN is a
pro-affirmative action national coalition.
In front of a handful of supporters, Driver discussed the
current lack of minority presence in higher education, and
emphasized how UCLA along with UC Berkeley play a
“disproportionately important role” when it comes to
the fight for racial equality.
“They are the flagship schools of the flagship system for
public education. They’ve been the pathfinders and
they’ve been the trendsetters,” Driver said.
Driver spoke to student leaders and other community members on a
variety of issues, including immigration legislation in California,
the possibility of a BAMN chapter at UCLA and the ongoing conflict
between MEChA and Bruin Republicans.
National BAMN organizer Adam Lerman traveled from Detroit to
join Driver on her tour. He further emphasized the importance of
revitalizing a civil rights movement in amid what he calls
California’s anti-immigrant legislation and the state’s
1996 ban on affirmative action, Proposition 209.
“So much is happening in California, we had to do a West
Coast-focused conference,” Lerman said. He added the
group’s conference at Berkeley last week was the first West
Coast visit for the campaign.
Alex Tucker, special projects coordinator for the Bunche Center
for African American Studies, said the center’s major event
planned for the anniversary is the Thurgood Marshall dinner and
lecture, currently scheduled for April 28 in Covel Commons.
The event will feature speakers commemorating the legacy of
Marshall, the first black Supreme Court justice, and celebrating
the anniversary of the Brown decision.
Tucker said while they were unable to book Marshall’s son
Thurgood Jr. for the event, he is hopeful other Marshall family
members in the Los Angeles area will be able to attend.
Na’shaun Neal, chairman of the African Student Union,
explained while his group has no current plans for events
specifically tailored to the anniversary, members are campaigning
against cuts to outreach and other programs. Neal believes both
issues are directly related to desegregation that is still present
today.
“It’s not just about a black person and a white
person being together, it’s about what’s happening at
all levels with regards to resources,” Neal said.
He said outreach cuts create an inability to get minorities into
schools, and that continued segregation and inequality in some K-12
schools don’t provide an opportunity to succeed and instead
create further segregation in higher education.
“You still have the discussion of equal opportunity and
access because we as a society have not addressed the inequality
that exists along racial lines,” Neal said.
Marlayna Washington, president of UCLA’s chapter of the
National Society of Black Engineers, agreed with the notions of
inequality, and said coming to UCLA after growing up in a racially
diverse neighborhood was a sobering experience.
“To come to UCLA was more like a culture shock. There
needs to be a bigger attempt at cultural awareness,”
Washington said.
Washington said if people from all cultures at UCLA could come
together in coming months and learn about one another, it would
provide a simple but strong base for a renewed movement to fight
racial inequality.