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Indybay Feature

UC Berkeley Republicans to hold racist, sexist 'bake sale'

by Black Bear Chronicles
The Berkeley College Republicans are under fire for their Facebook plans to hold a bake sale mocking people of color and women. The BCR claims the "pricing structure" of the bake sale - charging whites $2, Asians $1.75, Latinos $1, Blacks $0.75, Indigenous $0.25, and discount for women - was satire of current state legislation relating to Affirmative Action.
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The Berkeley College Republicans plan to hold an "INCREASE DIVERSITY" Bake Sale on Tuesday, September 27 at Upper Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley.

The original Facebook event compares higher education to baked goods and says that the pricing structure would "ensure the fairest distribution, and make sure that there are a DIVERSE population of RACES of students getting BCR's delicious baked goods."

"If you don't come," the event invitation said, "you're a racist!"

Organizers claim the concept is "satire" and the event is in opposition to planned phone banking in favor of Senate Bills 185 and 387. SB 185 would allow public universities and colleges to consider race in their outreach and retention programs, according the the bill's author Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina). But critics, like the website Stormfront, have deemed the bill as "anti-white."

After hundreds of comments and heavy criticism, organizers of the "bake sale" deleted the original description.

"Gov. Jerry Brown has SB 185 on his desk which would authorize California public universities to consider race, gender, ethnicity, and national/geographic origin in the admissions process. The Berkeley College Republicans firmly believe measuring any admit's merit based on race is intrinsically racist," the Facebook invite now reads. "Our bake sale will be at the same time and location of a phone bank which will be making calls to urge Gov. Brown to sign the bill. The purpose of the event is to offer another view to this policy of considering race in university admissions. The pricing structure of the baked goods is meant to be satirical, while urging students to think more critically about the implications of this policy."

Shawn Lewis, president of the UC Berkeley College Republicans organization, insists the change was not to cover up his organization's racially charged invite, but to clarify the satirical intent. "The reason the description was changed was to clarify the message of the event. Obviously the satirical nature of the event was not recieved [sic], so we felt it necessary to instead just put exactly what the point was."

The event is already sparking comparisons to the controversial "Compton Cookout" held at UC San Diego in February 2010. That event mocking Black History Month was also organized on Facebook. In March 2010, Black UC Berkeley students held the "Black Out 2010," a demonstration blocking Sather Gate (the third since 2001).

In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 209. The controversial ballot initiative altered the California constitution and eliminated the use of affirmative action in the state, including in higher education. Since then, the number of African American, and Latino students in the UC system has dwindled. As of Fall 2010, UC Berkeley has a Black undergraduate student population of 3.4 percent, according to the most recently published statistical data. California has a Black population of over six percent.

Caliber Magazine has reported that "ASUC Senator Justin Sayarath stated his disapproval with the event and deemed it offensive in nature. 'It trivializes and mocks the struggles that students in our very own Cal community face every single day,' Sayarath says. ASUC senators plan to meet later today to discuss this issue.

"Many critics, including ASUC senate members, claim the event’s nature is harmful for campus climate. However, Lewis believes there is a meaningful purpose to the event. 'The event is meant to arouse emotions and encourage students to think more critically about the deeper consequences of considering race in the admissions process,' Lewis says."

The event organizers are listed as: Francisco Antonio Loayza IV, Sam Manzer, Mia Lincoln, Becca Brown, Joy Chen, Derek Zhou, Andy Nevis, Shawn Lewis, Grace Diana. Grace "Meador" (Diana) was listed as the event's original sole creator.


The following is from a Facebook invitation from the Berkeley College Republicans.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=180017028739215

INCREASE DIVERSITY Bake Sale

Most students feel that their voices aren't heard in the baked goods distribution process controversy. They also believe that our UC's and CSU's need to be more diverse. YOU have the OPPORTUNITY to increase DIVERSITY and student VOICES by buying some PASTRIES and helping redistribute wealthe for SOCIAL JUSTICE through BAKED GOODS on Sproul Plaza (9/27/11).

Berkeley College Republicans will be SELLING BAKED GOODS from 10 Am - 2PM across from the Affirmative Action Phonebank on Upper Sproul, and just like the CA Senate Bills 185 and 387 the phonebank supports, we will be considering RACE, GENDER, ETHNICITY, NATIONAL/GEOGRAPHIC ORIGIN and other relevant factors to ensure the EQUITABLE distribution of BAKED GOODS to our DIVERSE! student body.

To ensure the fairest distribution, and make sure that there are a DIVERSE population of RACCES of students getting BCR's delicioius baked goods, the pricing structure will be as follows:

White/ Caucasian: $2.00
Asian/ Asian American: $1.50
Latino/ Hispanic: $1.00
Black/ African American: $0.75
Native American: $0.25
$0.25 OFF FOR ALL WOMEN!

Hope to see you all there! If you don't come, you're a racist!

§2010 Student Demographics at UC Berkeley
by Black Bear Chronicles
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2010 Student Demographics at UC Berkeley
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Comments (Hide Comments)
by freedom fighter
What would you expect form a bunch of asshole republicans? But if they are, people of color could take advantage of the republican "generosity".

Or, all people, white and people of color, could simply seize the baked goods and distribute them for free. Class warfare and wealth redistribution begins at the local level.
The attitudes of these kids were formed by their parents as they are too young to have developed opinions based on their very limited life experience. Clearly, the racism and sexism in this society is proudly promoted by the ruling and upper middle class that can afford to send their children to very expensive UC. You will notice that there is no affirmative action for the workingclass, and we are of all colors and both genders. The excuse these kids and their fascist parents will certainly give is that 1996 is 15 years ago, already out of memory for college students. However, racism and sexism still exists, everywhere. The lynching in Georgia this week, killing any black man as vengeance for the killing of a white cop, is certainly a reminder that racism is pervasive. The lack of full equality for women in pay and educational opportunities is also obvious. With the destruction of our public school system by Democrats and Republicans together, there is simply no opportunity for advancement for the entire workingclass. Democratic Governor Jerry Brown refuses to tax the rich, those who make over $200,00 a year, and especially the 750,000 millionaire households in California, with the progressive income tax. Only Peace & Freedom Party and the Green Party advocate taxing the rich and making education free from preschool (age 3) through and including university. See
http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/
and
http://www.cagreens.org/
by Sandie M
The fact that these ignorant people are resorting to such juvenile tactics is proof of how low the rethugs and tbags will go. Their lineage is rooted in racism and the hate, fear and ignorance they put forth is a double edged sword for they are so busy wallowing in their ignorance and inbreeding, they do not realize those very things are burying their party. Their ranks grow smaller as time passes. Let the idiots have their bake sale. No one will buy that crap other than their own fellow nutjobs. May they all choke on it.
by Elizabeth Edwards
This was said to represent the human equity by race, gender and ethnicity. It leads us to question, are females inferior to their males no matter what the race? On the contrary, a recently published work titled ‘Are Women the Superior Gender? ‘Simple Facts Science Has Revealed’, sheds light on the myth of the inferiority of the female than any work has ever done before. To learn more please visit http://www.thegreaterbooks.com.
by Hanne
yeah - and the state ended affirmative action more than a dozen years ago. So while they are digging up this history (in an attempt to communicate that any students from underrepresented probably have worse skill levels than most east asian- and euro-americans?), I guess that gives other people the right to discuss the history of banks directing ethnicities into certain neighborhoods via lending practices, biased hiring practices leading the older generation into different career fields which is passed down to the current generation within families etc.
by Marc
Judging by the names listed under the statement by the campus GOP some of these reactionary punks are Latino and Asian . So it isn't just a matter of White racism .
As a matter of fact two of the most upcoming Republicans are Indian-American , the head of the SF Republican party and the Gov. of Louisiana .
Actually, a large part (a majority?) of the population of India is Indo-European, and therefore 'white' by some people's reckoning. In any case, the racial-ethnic stratification in India is at least as severe as it is in the U.S., with Hindus dominating Muslims and upper-caste Hindus dominating Dalits and other lower-caste ones.

S.F. Republican Party Chair Harmeet Kaur Dhillon is a Sikh. I'm not sure what the position of Sikhs is in the Indian hierarchy, but I believe they are generally economically, if not politically, well off. Maybe somebody else can clarify that.

By the way, Ms. Dhillon apparently believes that she has more right to live in California than do the Mexican relatives of the people who lived here before (and after) the Anglo conquest of the area in 1847. That is because the white-supremacist capitalist rulers of the United Snakes have granted her legal status, which status apparently carries moral weight with reactionaries.
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