I'm a minority. Asian, to be exact. I'm also female. And I go to Berkeley. Got in fair and square.
There was a protest and subsequent counter-protest on campus today against and for affirmative action (respectively). If you haven't heard, California's governor, Jerry Brown, will be making a decision on whether or not to veto Senate Bill 185 (SB 185), which, if passed, will allow racial background, economic background, social-geographical background, among others, to be allowed into consideration (just like extracurriculars) in the admissions processes at UC and Cal State campuses. As a protest against this bill, a club called the Berkeley College Republicans decided to prove a point by holding a satirical bake sale, and advertising it in an equally satirical way. They said they will be holding said bake sale across from an Associated Student Union sponsored call-center booth that would be helping students call the governor's office to urge him to sign the bill. BCR advertised that they would be selling their baked goods like the way affirmative action would work: $2 for whites, $1.50 for Asians, $1.00 for Latinos, $0.75 for Blacks, and $0.50 for Native Americans. All women will get a $0.25 discount. Now, I didn't have any issue with what was written. To me, when I read it, it was just a bunch of angry, unsatisfied kids, lashing out at people around them since they aren't good enough and aren't hard working enough to try and be better. But many other took this to offense. Even the Associated Student Union (acronym is ASUC) unanimously condemned it as did the chancellor of the school, BCR decided to go ahead with the event. Many people, of all ethnicities, found that such a comparison was trivializing legitimate struggles of many minorities. While a good amount of people remained level-headed and argued their case, other conversations got heated and turned ugly.
As a result, a counter-protest was organized. The counter protest wasn't so much against BCR, but moreso against prejudices and rallied for SB 185. I guess my roommate happened to walk by the plaza this was happening in while it was in full swing. When I got back to the apartment, she immediately asked me about it wondering what it was. At least a couple hundred kids had gone out in support of the counter-rally, dressed in black, and laid down on the very plaza BCR was holding their bake sale. I explained the situation, to which she replied, "What a waste of time, and space. They're just annoying. It's not going to matter, nothing's going to happen except maybe a bunch of kids getting some sunburns." I didn't like that she, just like BCR, trivialized the initiative the protestors took, and considered it a waste of time. After all, all that protesting did bring Berkeley, briefly, to the top of Google news, and brought news reporters from all over flocking to our campus. That's hardly "nothing." My roommate then went on to say how affirmative action is just bad since it's using race and that's not putting people on equal footing. I, again, tried to nonchalantly explain to her that affirmative action, or SB 185, was not purely based on race. Even if race was taken out of the equation, those same races would be treated the same way. I explained that this is so much more than just an issue on race. Proponents and opponents of SB 185 don't see that. It's not just race. If anything, it's looking at an economic issue, a social issue, a historical issue; it takes geographical location into consideration too. It's such a complex issue and 9 out of 10 people (both for and against) just don't seem to see that. They only see race.
But she just waved me off and said whatever. I don't think I can ever understand her apathy.
So why did I type that first line of this blog? Go ahead, you can scroll back up and read it again if you forgot. If not, that's fine too. I said it because I agree with SB 185. I think it should be signed into affect. And if people have so much issue with race, then get rid of the race part, but still consider the rest. I mentioned all those things about me because I would benefit from SB 185 in some ways, and I wouldn't in others. It may even be bad for me in other cases. But the point is, I'm already in. I'm already at the school, no thanks to affirmative action and the like. I have absolutely no stake in this argument. Nor do the kids that are for and against it. At least, not on a personal level. If anything, I'd be against SB 185 because if I could do it, well then you can too! But that's not the point. We're all in one of the best universities in the world already. It shouldn't "matter" to us anymore. Yet people still fight for their beliefs, because of what they believe their fellow human beings should get. And I love that. I love that these kids, despite what all the media and many adults say about them, they keep on proving them wrong. We, as a generation, keep going. Because contrary to what Mr. So-and-so may say or what someone like my roommate does, we do listen, we do act, and we do care. And there's nothing anybody can say or do about it.
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