Students protesting the Bake Sale/ NOMMO
Students walking on Bruin Walk this past Friday would have seen a group of around thirty protestors — some were lying on the ground posing as if they were dead, and others held signs that read, “R.I.P. DIVERSITY” or “Brown, Oppressed, Outraged.”
What students may not have seen was the Affirmative Action Bake Sale that the protestors were responding to.
The bake sale hosted by Young Americans for Liberty (YAL), had been advertised as an event on Facebook earlier in the week, and had already generated a great amount of anger among students, both white and minority, who found the plan to vary prices according to race highly offensive and demeaning. The event was later removed from Facebook and it was unknown whether the event was still to take place.
To express their opposition to affirmative action, YAL students sold cookies at prices that varied depending on the race of the customer: “Asian Americans” had to pay the most at $2.50, followed by “Caucasians” at $2, “Latinos” priced at $1.50, “African Americans” at $1, and “Native Americans” paying the least at $0.50. (On the Facebook event “Native Americans” had initially been labeled “FREE”).
Bake Sale Prices based on race/ NOMMO
In response to accusations that the bake sale was racist, one organizer responded and agreed that it was racist, “It’s racist, that’s the point – it’s satire. The idea is for people to be outraged and say it’s racist. Affirmative action is exactly the same thing – racist.”
YAL fliers were given out to students to explain the reasoning behind the bake sale. “We want to show how taking race into account for anything is inherently discriminatory, including college admissions. Like charging different prices for baked goods, discriminating against students in the admissions based on the color of one’s skin is offensive, unfair and wrong,” the fliers read.
Next to the cookies was a photo of Martin Luther King Jr. and the words, “Martin Luther King fought unjust laws and won!!! A man should not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” One of the bake sale organizers and members of YAL, who did not want to be named, explained the sign. “Martin Luther King fought for civil rights for everybody, we believe that too. We are against blindly judging people based on race. […] However you turn it, affirmative action is racism.”
Words of MLK reinterpreted by YAL/ NOMMO
The same student defended the YAL’s views against charges of racism, saying that the YAL supports racial and ethnic diversity, but they do not believe that affirmative action is the right way to achieve it. He elaborated and said that admissions based upon students’ socioeconomic status is one of several alternatives to affirmative action, which would increase diversity that the YAL supports. Speaking on behalf of YAL, the student said, “We support the idea of looking at socio-economic status. Your education should not depend on your zip code.”
He also stated that the bake sale was “a response to Maryssa Hall’s call[ing] for affirmative action last week,” and the protests that were held on campus two weeks ago, where pro-affirmative action students demanded diversity.
The protests occurred while the Supreme Court dealt with the case Schuette v.Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, where it was to be decided whether Michigan could uphold a law banning race from being considered in its university admissions. For the students protesting, the court case echoed that of 1996 where it was decided that Prop. 209 would be approved in California. Since then, the Afrikan American population at UCLA has reportedly fallen by nearly 50 percent as a result.
When asked if the bake sale was the most effective way that the YAL could have expressed their opposition to affirmative action, Deepak Sahni, YAL’s media contact, said that it was an alternative to speaker events, which in the past they have found to be ineffective. He said that at speaking events “people already have their minds made up when they arrive,” and so, “no meaningful debate occurs. The whole point [of the bake sale] is satire, theatricality… to get people noticing. It’s a way to start people talking and coming to our meetings.” Gesturing toward the large group of students protesting against the bake sale, he said, “Clearly, we’ve achieved something.” Sahni went on to say that he believed that as a result of the bake sale, “people are going to come to our website and start taking notice of these issues. I think we’ve done a good job.”
Sahni also said that the cookies and their race-based prices were not meant to make students of color feel belittled, “We’re not actually trying to reduce people to a cookie,” and that the organizers were “shocked it’s brought so much anger.” He went on to explain that they felt such shock tactics were necessary to capture the attention of students, who would otherwise show no interest. “School is a very apathetic climate [so you] need to do something very shocking and provoking to grab people’s attention.”
Two years ago, a similar bake sale was held on campus at UC Berkeley by the UC Berkeley Republicans, causing offense and sparking protests, much the same as Friday’s bake sale did at UCLA. The Bruin Republicans themselves were not hosting Friday’s bake sale, but had a stall nearby where they were handing out general information about Prop. 209.
With Afrikan American students making up just 3.8% of UCLA’s student population, despite representing nearly 10% of L.A.’s population, there is undeniably a strong case for affirmative action to be recognized here in California.
Friday’s events also raises important questions regarding freedom of expression, at which the university draws a line regarding what is and is not acceptable. UCLA chose not to intervene or shut down the bake sale. In contrast, back in 2003, a similar anti-affirmative action bake sale at UC Irvine was shut down by university officials who found it to be discriminatory.
Whilst few would argue against students’ freedom of speech to openly express their views, the bake sale on Friday violated that right. Racist ideas were not essential to the YAL expressing their argument against affirmative action. Their case against affirmative action included some strong arguments; however, these were completely undermined – and largely ignored – because of the racially offensive approach they decided to take.
Protestor in opposition to the Bake Sale holds sign/ NOMMO
Author: Greta Tugwell
Nommo Staff