YAL rep. talking with counter-protestor/ NOMMO
On Friday, October 25, the Bruin Republicans and Young Americans for Liberty (BR/YAL) held a satirical bake sale as a counter-protest to the October 15th “Days of Defiance” rally, where students gathered in protest of prop 209—an ordinance that ended affirmative action in California. The bake sale’s prices were as follows:
Asian American: $2.50
Caucasian: $2.00
Hispanic/Latino: $1.50
African American: $1.00
Native American: $0.50
The bake sale was designed to parody the logic of affirmative action. Krista Lopez, political science major and member of the Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) said, “I believe that Affirmative Action is itself racist.” Lopez felt that their protest represented the views of many students on California’s UC campuses.
The bake sale did not go unnoticed or uncontested. Barely five yards away, dozens of students gathered around the bake sale’s table—and they were not there for cookies.
Students in support of affirmative action put on a satirical display of their own. Several students lay sprawled on the floor like dead carcasses, while many more stood around them holding signs stating, “The only good Indian is a dead one,” “No Dogs, Negros, or Mexicans,” and many more similar statements. For them, the bake sale was wrongheaded and indicative of ignorance regarding real problems in the UC system. One such person was Nisha Vida, a UCLA Law student and member of the Black Law School Association, who said, “I’m in a class of about 300 people, and there are no Afrikan Americans…so there are viewpoints in my class that are not represented. That’s a problem.”
Though the bake sale did instigate backlash, it also induced dialogue as students from both sides began to engage with one another directly. Many began venting their ideas and sharing personal anecdotes that they considered pertinent to the discussion.
“We want diversity…we believe that there are better ways to improve diversity than affirmative action,” said Lopez in an exchange with Nisha Vida, the Law student previously mentioned. When Vida demanded more explanation Lopez said, “We should focus more on k-12 education… and on getting kids in underrepresented communities more excited about education… then they will be more competitive for college.”
Vida responded, “So you’re just looking at the problem from a different perspective?”
Lopez said, “Exactly, we need to change the culture not the government.”
Though neither side gained new converts to their cause, there were signs of increased understanding. “I have no ills against this, I want to understand other people’s mindsets,” said Kameron Golden, an Afrikan American studies major at UCLA and supporter of Affirmative Action. “But we can’t go into a post racial society until people are not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
The Bake sale last approximately five hours. In that time there were little to no cookies sold; making the event a successful protest, but a substandard bake sale.
Author: Michael Holmes, Jr.
Nommo Staff