Friday, April 17, 1998
Protest harkens back to activist era
POLITICS: Rally against Prop. 209 brings back memories of late
1970s
By J. Jioni Palmer
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Carefully choreographed and highly secret, Wednesday’s African
Student Union-led march originated at the inverted fountain.
Organizers of the demonstration originally intended to encircle
Murphy Hall with a human chain. Once the ASU marchers reached
Murphy, however, participants of the Schoenberg rally merged with
them.
The convergence of the two groups created an uncontainable level
of energy, organizers said.
"The energy and the anger that people were feeling just resulted
in the take-over," said ASU Chairperson Chad Williams. "It was
really spontaneous," he said.
Senior administrative officials and other veteran observers
noted that Thursday’s actions were reminiscent of past student
protests.
"This protest is in the tradition of UCLA students to express
their concerns about what they perceive to be an unjust law and an
unjust result of that law," said Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs
Winston Doby.
Dr. Berky Nelson, director of the Center for Student
Programming, said that he had not seen student demonstrations like
Thursday’s in more than 30 years.
"This was the largest protest and most concentrated protest that
I’ve seen since the 60s," he said.
"I thought the students were mindful of other people’s rights,
but nevertheless made their voice known as to the depth of their
concern about what is happening."
Unlike other universities, UCLA’s student protests have
generally been non-violent, said Lyle Timmerman, executive officer
of Student and Campus Life.
"We have a very active tradition, but one that has not been
ugly. There has been lots of trouble at other universities," he
said.
This has, Timmerman said, fostered dialogue within the campus
community and eventually effected change.
"Our students tend to be more constructive," he said.
Former student activist and current Black Alumni Association
general counsel John Caldwell said that he had not "seen this
energy since the apartheid demonstrations at UCLA in 1985."
Bowing to immense student pressure, ASUCLA and the University of
California divested from South Africa in a effort to topple the
Apartheid regime.
"During that time, people were speaking to the world. This time
people are speaking to their own country," Caldwell added.
In an attempt to establish a historical precedent for the
current political climate and student response, Caldwell likened
the passage of Proposition 209 to racially restrictive post-slavery
Jim Crow laws. "Prop. 209 symbolizes the end to the second
Reconstruction. African Americans and Latinos will not go back
without a struggle," Caldwell said.
UC Police Chief Clarence Chapman expressed support for the goals
of the protest.
"As an African American man and a department head, I value the
presence of people who can relate to all segments of society,"
Chapman said. "I’d like to see more diversity in all segments of
the university, and that’s what this demonstration is about."