Friday, February 26, 1999
Don’t let college life mask societal ills
ADMISSIONS: Students must urge universities to reconsider
ethnicity
By Portia Pedro
As I was walking down Bruin Walk the other day, I heard yet
another student (myself) complain about the never ending
construction. While I know the constant tearing down and rebuilding
of our campus does merit some complaints, it still sent off some
strange alarms in my head. Have I become so engulfed in "college
life" that construction is the most profound social ill that
concerns me? Why is this?
In order to address this dilemma, I look to the many warped
messages that bombard us every day. In the interest of time we’ll
say it began with our acceptance into this fine institution.
We are told continuously about how special, gifted and talented
we are to have been selected as the few women and men given the
opportunity to come here, and we actually start to believe it. We
start to believe that education is a limited resource that is only
available for a select few. For many of us, this means that some
people do not deserve to be here because they aren’t smart enough
or aren’t willing to work hard enough. Coincidentally, the majority
of "those people" that don’t have the right to be here also tend to
be people of color.
But this is not merely a coincidence. We must be wary of the
idea that the number of people allowed to receive a higher
education should be limited to those who are worthy, because it
involves two major assumptions. One assumption is that educational
resources are limited and no change in the educational system can
alter this fact. The second assumption is that we can and have
established an objective way of measuring how "worthy" a person is
to receive an education.
Many people promoted anti-affirmative action policies as a means
to achieve a true meritocracy in admissions. A meritocracy is a
system that evaluates people for advancement solely on achievement
or ability. Some people think that taking gender, race and
ethnicity into account prevented the UC admissions from being
meritocratic.
Now, applicants are evaluated by their GPA, SAT score and
sometimes by their essays and extracurricular activities without
even considering the undeniable obstacles that people of color face
everyday. Many people have realized that these criteria alone are
not sufficient to evaluate a person’s "merit" and have come up with
some additional criteria.
One proposal is to take the student’s economic background into
account, but as racism affects people of color in all classes, this
is not efficient.
Looking at socioeconomic factors has also been proposed. As
ethnicity is a determinant of a person’s status and treatment in
society, however, even a socioeconomic evaluation must include
race.
For example: I didn’t grow up in poverty, I was raised by both
of my parents, and I went to a privileged college preparatory high
school; being a black woman, however, made my life different from a
"white" person in the same situation.
For instance, one of the many white supremacists I came across
in Old Town Pasadena didn’t hesitate to ask me if my family was
middle class before he called me a "nigger bitch" and told me I
wasn’t worth shit.
An anonymous coward didn’t take the time to ask about my
previous educational opportunities before sending me a letter that,
to put it mildly, included a racist death threat to step down from
a scholarship competition in which I was participating.
And the teacher I had a few years ago never asked me about my
GPA or SAT scores before telling me that I should focus on playing
sports and dancing with the rest of my people because that’s "all
you’ll really do good at anyway."
It was also just last summer when a skinhead at Knott’s Berry
Farm was so repulsed by my presence that he forgot to ask how many
Advanced Placement classes I had taken and decided to spit on me
instead.
These events are all true and if I made any inaccuracy in
recounting them, it is that I understated their effect on me.
Needless to say, being a woman of color has had a great impact on
my life due to social and institutionalized racism and sexism. This
is completely ignored when I, a human being, am compressed to a
GPA, SAT score and sometimes extra-curricular activities.
Surely, not every person of color has experienced these exact
occurrences and, conversely, not every "white" person’s life has
been completely free from all forms of hatred. These incidences,
however, whether subtle (as with the teacher) or overt (as with the
white supremacists) occur mainly in the lives of people of color.
Most people of color are subjected to this type of treatment at
many points in their lives. Thus, to ignore the impact made on
people’s lives because of their ethnicity, but to still take into
account the effect of cheerleading, or other such activities – all
done in the name of "meritocracy" and "fairness" – is not only
incredulous, but also an extreme insult.
With the aggressive implementation of Proposition 209, which
resulted in the end of affirmative action, the administration of
this university is literally slamming the door shut on students of
color. They have claimed that they are trying to avoid this, but it
seems that they continually refuse to try to make even the minimum
effort to reform admissions.
Even UCLA’s Alumni Association has agreed that admissions reform
is badly needed. The association formed a committee on the issue,
evaluated the current admissions standards, and submitted a
proposal that includes reforms that are all feasible within the
law. But the Academic Senate and the administration have completely
disregarded the Alumni Association’s suggestions, continuing their
legacy of all talk, no action.
For the past seven years the population of people of color in
the state of California and the city of Los Angeles is rising while
the numbers in this university have virtually dwindled (the number
of Pilipinos in the freshman class is approximately 190 out of
4,000 students (4.8 percent), the number of African American
freshmen is 170 (4 percent), while the number of Native Americans
is 28 (0.7 percent).
With the way things are going, the only way people of color will
be able to get on campus is by working here. This is completely
intolerable. As students, it is our responsibility to step out of
the safe-haven of apathy to hold the administration, specifically
the chancellor, as well as the Academic Senate, accountable to us.
This is, after all, a "public" university.
We must all look outside our campus comfort zone and eliminate
the feelings of excellence (elitism) that is obstructing our sight.
It is very easy to become caught up in the dilemmas of student
life, but that is not an excuse; it is an escape. We, as students,
are trying to avoid taking a stance by simplifying our worries to
parking, housing and the increasing construction.
In no way am I denying the importance of these issues, I merely
want us to remind ourselves that a very privileged few in society
are even given the option of dealing with the "problems" of being a
student at UCLA.
The true problem is one of social and institutionalized racism
and elitism. We must remember that having the privilege of going to
UCLA involves not only the responsibility of personal and
individual success, but also the responsibility of fighting to make
sure that the door is held open for others. We cannot just sit
around atop the hills of Westwood and hope that the situation fixes
itself.
We must take a stand.
The acceptance numbers for the class of 1999-2000 will be
released around Spring Break so it is urgent, now, that we elevate
the intensity of the campaign for affirmative action and repealing
SP-1 and SP-2.
Many concrete steps are already being taken to further this
issue and demand changes in the admissions policies. It is a
crucial time for us all to become more aware of the issue and get
more involved.
Anyone who has questions or is interested can contact the Asian
Pacific Coalition, Raza Women, Samahang Pilipino, African Student
Union, Undergraduate Students Association Council (student
government), or you can come to the Affirmative Action Coalition
meetings every Wednesday from 7-8:30 p.m. in the second floor
Kerckhoff Art Gallery.
Pedro is the Community Empowerment Coordinator of the African
Student Union.
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