Affirmative Action March Draws Students Nationwide

Eleanor Konzman

Hours after marching down Washington's Georgia Avenue to the U. S. Supreme Court and setting up camp in front of the court steps, students lined up April 1 to enter the courthouse for the opening hearing of the cases challenging the University of Michigan's race-conscious admissions policies.

Jamila Francis, a junior fashion merchandise major at Howard University, said it was important for her to participate.

"I could have stayed at home, but I didn't think it would be right for me to be at home chillin' when the future of affirmative action is at stake," Francis said.

Called "Black Tuesday: A March to Save Affirmative Action," the day drew student leaders from across the nation to show their support for affirmative action.

According to Howard University Student Association President Cornell Williamson, the idea of having nationwide student representation grew out of discussions with student leaders from other historically black colleges and universities at a conference in Tennessee for the Children's Defense Fund.

"It was from all of them that all this idea came about," Williamson said. "It's obvious that this is important. Some students traveled more than 24 hours with no hotels just to come here to Howard University to be a part of this."

At a rally Monday night, March 31, Andrea Van-Dorn, Howard University Black Tuesday organizer, said to an almost-capacity Burr Gymnasium crowd of students, "I'm tired of hearing that we have an apathetic generation. Coming out here tonight shows that were are not an apathetic generation; that we do believe in something."

Several student group leaders and several Howard University Law School alumni shared words of encouragement.

"Affirmative action is necessary because 25 years can't remedy over 400 years of slavery and discrimination," Van-Dorn said.

After the student-led rally Monday, thousands took to the streets armed with placards and a renewed spirit.

"Equality in education" quickly became one of the protest chants of the students, who were sporting buttons and carrying posters with such slogans as, "The rules may be colorblind but the people aren't," and "Defend Affirmative Action and Integration; Fight for Equality."

As a member of the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), James Drake, a fourth-year rhetoric and African American studies major at the University of California-Berkeley, came to D.C. more than a week before

the rally. Drake said his personal experiences with admissions to the University of California system inspired him to help mobilize students to rally in support of affirmative action.

Drake graduated from high school in 1999 and was denied admissions to every school in the University of California school system. Instead, Drake spent two years at California State University, eventually transferring to UC Berkeley.

"The schools in California don't reflect the way the state is made up. In California, there's really no majority race, but when you look at the colleges and universities you'd think otherwise," Drake said.

After the day's proceedings were adjourned, the intensity of the discussions on affirmative action was not lost as supporters left the court steps to march to the Lincoln Memorial, chanting "They Say Jim Crow, We Say Hell No!"

That evening, the Congressional Black Caucus facilitated a town hall meeting at Howard University's Crampton Auditorium. A panel of caucus leaders, including chair Elijah Cummings, D-Md., D.C. delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and Rep. Kendrick B. Meek, D-Fla., took questions from students on a range of subjects, including congressional support of affirmative action.

"Personally, I don't believe that we're going to win the case by protesting at the hearings at the Supreme Court, so what legislative actions are going to be proposed?" Van-Dorn asked the panelists. Norton responded by stressing the importance of having students as registered voters and establishing a movement to get more congressional representation for D. C. within what she labeled the new civil rights movement. "I'm glad you asked that question. The next step is to get you all voting," Norton said.

Charlene Carter is a student at Howard university who writes for The District Chronicles. She can be reached at [email protected].