It’s meant to be racist, and it’s meant to be discriminatory. And the controversial “Increase Diversity Bake Sale” hosted by the Berkeley College Republicans is still on, the club’s president said, despite “grossly misguided comments” and threats aimed toward supporters of the University of California Berkeley student group. During the sale, scheduled for Tuesday, baked goods will be sold to white men for $2, Asian men for $1.50, Latino men for $1, black men for $0.75 and Native American men for $0.25. All women will get $0.25 off those prices. The bake sale is meant to draw attention to pending legislation that would allow California universities to consider race, gender, ethnicity and national origin during the admissions process. Student defends ‘race’ bake sale Bake sale prices based on race “We agree that the event is inherently racist, but that is the point,” BCR President Shawn Lewis wrote in response to upheaval over the bake sale. “It is no more racist than giving an individual an advantage in college admissions based solely on their race (or) gender.” Lewis said the bake sale was unanimously agreed upon by the club, whose leadership positions include Asian and Hispanic students and whose membership represent a “wide variety of ethnic backgrounds.” “More than half of the voices were female,” he added. Berkeley’s student government, the Associated Students of the University of California, held an emergency Senate meeting late Sunday to discuss the issue and passed a resolution that, in part, “condemns the use of discrimination whether it is in satire or in seriousness by any student group.” “I completely support the idea of BCR – or any students on campus – (having) political discussion,” ASUC President Vishalli Loomba said. "I think student members of BCR have a full right to express their feelings, but I don’t necessarily think this tactic is constructive. I strongly encourage them to engage in this dialogue in a more constructive manner, such as a forum or a town hall meeting.’ But the bake sale is intended to be a direct, “physical counterpoint” to an ASUC-sponsored phone bank – also scheduled for Tuesday – where students will be encouraged to call Gov. Jerry Brown’s office to support the legislation, Lewis said. The ASUC has endorsed SB 185. Lewis said supporters of the bake sale have received threats, including people who said they will “stop by the table only to knock it over” or “buy a cupcake just to throw it at (us).” “Some of the threats online have gotten more specific, but we’re hoping that’s just emotion,” he said. While the initial feedback to the planned sale was largely in heated opposition, responses have “plateaued” and include the support of self-described Democrats, Lewis said. Loomba, the student government president, said she is concerned about students potentially feeling ostracized due to the bake sale. “I have heard that from numerous students who have said this makes students feel unwelcome on campus,” she said. “For that reason alone, we should think about what events we have on campus.” Loomba described the situation as a “campus climate issue.” “UC Berkeley stands for a place where everyone – regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation – should feel inclusive,” she said. “I think they should be able to express their opinion, but keep that value in mind.” As for where the bake sale proceeds will go, Lewis said the College Republicans are considering several charities. But “because of all this controversy, we don’t want to advertise the organization,” he said. “We don’t want to cause them problems.” http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/26/us/california-racial-bake-sale/index.html One comment, Shouldn’t the white people pay $1.50 and Asians $2.00? Asian college enrollment is way higher than whites overall (and certainly at Berkeley). Technically, Asians would be the ones affected the most by the new law.
Arean10 would’ve loved dis sht.
So native american women get free stuff?
Storm in a cupcakè?
LPoulin133 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > So native american women get free stuff? The ones who are left over post their eradication. I have hardly come across any Native Americans in my life…like the Dodo.
this is heartwarming stuff…white people need to stand up and say they are mad and not going to take it anymore …time to demand equality! the unemployment, wealth and access to health care etc shows that whites are losing out
I don’t understand the flaring emotions on this one. The bake sale is not “racist” in the sense of trying to belittle ethnicity, but rather is attempting to question a similar process and hopefully stimulate debate or get people to think about the topic of admissions process on quotas. To that end, it’s been successful as that’s what we’re doing now. I don’t know, I encourage these creative level headed approaches and view them as a huge step forward in terms of using freedom of speech in pacifist, non-hateful ways to generate discussion. Maybe their viewpoint is wrong, but I applaud their method of going about presenting it, and personally find it much more suitable than hate filled screaming at protests. I wish there were more of this sort of thought put into presenting political issues for questioning.
The event is definitely racist, even by the organizers admission: “We agree that the event is inherently racist”. However, that’s what they are trying to say. They are using a racist bake sale to draw comparisons to affirmative action, which they believe is racist.
ohai Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The event is definitely racist, even by the > organizers admission: “We agree that the event is > inherently racist”. However, that’s what they are > trying to say. They are using a racist bake sale > to draw comparisons to affirmative action, which > they believe is racist. I agree, I guess I was trying to say what you just said.
If the non-whites are smart, they will buyout the inventory and re-sell it to the white guys for $1.99.
That, or white guys would pay $1.49, $0.99 or $0.49 for people of other races to stand in line and buy cup cakes for them.
I think that even though this bake sale is ‘racist’ a discussion would sound even more so. By doing this they are expressing their feelings without having to banter about affirmative action (which always reflects poorly upon the speaker). For this reason I support the cause I will buy my $2.00 cupcake. I don’t see how anyone could get mad at this because they aren’t saying any one group should get in school more than another. They are saying lets have the application do the talking. I think those kids should smoke some _____ (it is college - in California) and then go eat a lot of cupcakes…
Proponents of AA will argue that society has biases that prevent people of certain races from advancing. I’m not sure if this argument really relates to racism, unless you extend the argument to say that not having AA is racist, since this encourages race-specific social biases. Of course, even if race-specific social biases exist, this does not necessarily mean that race-specific AA is the best way to solve the problem.
ohai Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Proponents of AA will argue that society has > biases that prevent people of certain races from > advancing. I’m not sure if this argument really > relates to racism, unless you extend the argument > to say that not having AA is racist, since this > encourages race-specific social biases. Of course, > even if race-specific social biases exist, this > does not necessarily mean that race-specific AA is > the best way to solve the problem. See, here’s where I think it gets iffy, because you need to differentiate between cultural and racial biases. For instance, if I’m in an ivy league school, or hiring for a front office position, looking for someone with great quant skills, my department may have a disproportionately large number of Asian and Russian ferners, but that doesn’t indicate a racial bias so much as it simply reflects a cultural focus on schooling in scientific fields that exists in those cultures and make them a good fit for these positions.