PROFILE
FROM Kevin Harbour
Fifty Years after the Civil Rights Era: Racism on Campus The election of America's first black President led to predictions that the US was on its way to becoming "post-racial," led by the "millennial generation." But at colleges and universities, in blue states as well as red, complaints about racially charged incidents have increased by 55% since 2009. Limits on affirmative action have cut the number of students of color on campus, and those that make it say being admitted is not the same as being accepted. Does the very idea of becoming "post racial" diminish pride in one's ethnic and racial background?
Black and Outnumbered at UCLA A spoken word video made at UCLA has gone viral. With 12 black students behind him on the steps of a university building, third year student Sy Stokes provides facts and figures and recounts what it's like to be one of so few African Americans on a campus supposedly pledged to diversity. There are 25,000 undergraduates at UCLA. This year's freshman class includes just 75 African Americans. University officials declined to appear on our program, but a written statement says the video "eloquently and powerfully expresse[s] their frustration and disappointment."
Bias and Discrimination at UCLA Dr. Christian Head, a surgeon at UCLA's Medical Center, sued the university in April of last year, charging bias on the part of fellow faculty members. He complained that he was portrayed as a gorilla being sodomized during a graduation event. Last year he told KCRW, "I have never experienced a level of racism like this before in my life. It was meant to essentially strip me down…They wanted to dehumanize me, make me feel sub-human and the laughter... it was just unbelievable. I was the only African American present." At that time, UCLA denied the allegations and accused Dr. Head's supporters of "rushing to judgment." But Chancellor Gene Block set up an investigative panel headed by former State Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno. In July of this year, the University settled with Dr. Head for $4.5 million. Last week, the panel reported " a campus racial climate in near crisis ." Chancellor Block has issued a statement saying he takes the report seriously and promises to implement some recommendations.
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