The Protest

I.

           It was the greatest non-violent student protest since the early 1970s. All the newspapers and television stations covered the event. Even the Associated Press sent a reporter. It was a national news story. It all began when the Student Union, the governing body of the undergraduates cut funding for all the minority groups on campus.

            The Student Union proposed slashing the budget for the Black Students Association, the Chicano Student Association, and the Lesbian and Gay Student Association. I broke the story. I tried to get a comment from SA President Russ Nixon but he refused. “I never believe what I read in the Campus Sentinel,” he said.

            We wrote hard-hitting stories about the fraternity class cheating class selection scandal and the ex-convict student program where an ex-convict raped a student in the dorms and a serial killer attended classes. So someone met with me about the student budget.

            The usually sedate commuter school in the suburbs of Los Angeles had come alive. Large groups picketing and chanted “People united will never be defeated” at the student union. The student union still passed the budget.

            “What are you going to do about this?” asked Shirley Johnson, the BSA president.

            “I’m going to write another story,” I said.

            She pinched my arm so hard it hurt.

            “What are you doing?” I asked.

            “I thought you could do more,” she said.

            I approached Pete Jeffers, the SB vice president. “I need a quote from Nixon,” I said.

            “You are not going to get one,” he said. “He is tired of your lies.”

            “Well, how about you then?”   

            “We got out the votes,” Jeffers said. “There was nothing racists or bigoted in what we did. If they wanted their share of the pie they should have voted for their candidates.”

            “Okay,” I said. “Thanks.

            “I have nothing against what you have written,” Jeffers said.

            “I just try to get both sides of the story,” I said. “If Nixon does not comment, then his side of the story does not get told.”

            “As I said,” Jeffers said. “I have no problem with your stories.”

            “I think I’ve done a good job,” I said. “You know why?”

            “Because both sides are mad at me,” I said. “Have Nixon call me if he has anything to say.”

            “Only if we get to read your story in advance.”

            “No way.”

            “You will leave out some things that or said or twist things.”

            “I do my best,” I said. “To be fair.”

II.

            I still don’t know what happened. I never believe what I read in the Sentinel. I used to be friends with those guys. But they are nothing but a bunch of muckrakers. That is the problem with newspapers. They always have to report on the sensational, the negative. Why can’t they print more positive stories?

            The fraternities and sororities get a bad rap. We do more volunteer work in the community than these so-called minority groups. And we serve the entire community, not just black groups or Hispanic groups. You say that and people are going to call you racist.

            It took a lot of courage for us to stand up to those liberals at the Sentinels and those black, Hispanic, gay and lesbian students. I’m for equal rights for everyone: including white people. Bullshit on affirmative action. I’m for the best person getting the job.

            We have done more good since I took over as the student body president. Nobody ever reports that. Instead, they report on cuts in the budget for minority groups and the money we allocated for my fraternity. We did the hard work. We got out the votes so we were elected.

            We spend so much of our time working for all the students. Not just minority groups. Indeed, we do not have many minority members. But that is by choice. We do not prevent anyone from joining our groups.

           I’m tired of hearing about it. They have had 200-plus years to raise themselves by their bootstraps. All these minority groups complaining about their equal rights and injustice. Well, welcome to the club. When a white man discriminates against a minority it is “Oh, you are racist.” But when a minority discriminates against you it is called networking.

            And what about so-called white privilege. I don’t have a racist bone in my body. I have never met anyone racist. It is just a lot of people feeling sorry for themselves.

            We hold the leadership positions because we earned it. We have better grades, internships, and connections. When you read history, all the presidents, generals, and leaders are white men.

            More minorities fail in school. Those positions should have been given to a white person who would have succeeded. Statistics are objective. There is nothing racist about them. It has to do with natural selection.

III.

            It all down to racism and prejudice. The school is racist, the administration is racist and the newspaper is racist. It is oftentimes conscious racism but even when it is not conscious, it is oftentimes structural racism. The black man is always the last one to sit at the table.

            SAT and ACT scores are culturally biased. The teachers are biased. The very nature of the university is biased. Malcolm X had it right “by any means possible.” The white man is never going to give us anything without a fight. They brought us over as slaves and to this day maintain a system of inequality.

            We have inferior housing, inferior schools, and inferior jobs. They have even brainwashed us to think we are inferior people. If we started at an equal position, we would be equal. That would be true justice. Look at the black middle class, they certainly are not disadvantaged. We are not inferior by nature; most of us just have a longer race to run.

            And that newspaper reporter was an Asian guy. He acts white and thinks white. He thinks he is assimilated. But a guy like that never really is accepted. Just wait until he tries to date someone’s daughter. Then he will know his limitations.

           He believes in the American dream. The American dream for whom? His ancestors came here by choice. Our ancestors were carried here across the Middle Passage in slave ships.

            He should have condemned Nixon and Jeffers instead of sucking up to them. They are racist and he should have called them out. That whole thing about getting out the vote was bullshit.

            I had a dream that all the people at the paper were white students except for the black students who were kept hidden in the basement.

            We’ve come a long way since the founding of this country. And we still have a long way to go. We need to keep pushing for change.

            We have been kept down, spat upon but we are still rising. George Orwell said a reasonable man would never jeopardize himself for the sake of others. Therefore, all progress must be made through the unreasonable man. Nothing is for free in this country. It must be fought for.