In the 1960s and '70s, students were active in fighting authorities that, in the hearts and minds of those student protesters, were wrong. They fought hard for their beliefs.
In the 1990s, a debate is going on across the nation. It is about affirmative action and it is about the importance of diversity to the prosperity of the United States.
Many feel that more attention needs to be placed on individual merit and less on race and diversity issues. These people are winning the debate by going to the polls and voting against minorities. Proposition 187 is the poster child for this movement.
Governor Wilson has had his way. He can ignore students who disagree with his actions because he hasn't gotten a concise, loud message that students will organize to fight for their convictions.
On this campus there has been a constant call by a small group of students to support affirmative action. It has gone unheard.
Participation in last Thursday's statewide student walkout by SF State students was partial, to say the least. Is that making a statement? Is that sending a message to the California State University Board of Trustees? Nothing was accomplished.
If the time comes when trustees sit down to talk about affirmative action, as the Regents of the University of California did over the summer when they repealed affirmative action, students will not have made a strong case for either side of the issue. The trustees will do what they think is right without having a strong message from the student bodies they govern.
If there is a strong belief in affirmative action from more than a handful of students on this campus, let it be heard loud and clear. The debate won't just go away, but this campus could get lost in its own silence.
[ Golden Gater Online October 17, 1995 ]
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