The struggle for racial justice, which seeks to redress the abysmal lack of diversity among the student body and the often cold or hostile environment that students of color face on campus, is gaining power at UM. A Racial Justice Speak-Out, hosted by the United Coalition for Racial Justice which will be happening at Shapiro library on February 18th, starting at 8pm. The Black Student Union have presented demands for real action on the part of the University to increase enrollment and integration of students of color. Along these same lines, BAMN is circulating a petition open to any member of the UM community who wants the University, the Michigan state legislature, and the Supreme Court to take real, concrete action to address racial discrimination and inequality at UM and in higher education in general. Signing and sharing the petition is a great first step in joining the movement for justice.
Petition against Racism: Defend Affirmative Action, Minority Political Rights, and Immigrant Rights
3. We pledge to stand on the truth and defend the right of minority and anti-racist students to speak the plain truth about racism and take action to combat it. The shrinking numbers of minority students on our campus, and Prop. 2’s legal sanctioning of the age-old segregationist ideology that turns the fight for equality (and the Fourteenth Amendment) upside-down, has created an increasingly hostile and isolating environment for minority students, for immigrant and international students, and for women on this campus.
4. We stand proudly on the long-standing tradition of student struggle for integration and equality that has defined this University. On October 15th, University of Michigan students joined the national march in Washington D.C. to defend affirmative action, minority political rights and immigrant rights as the U.S. Supreme Court heard BAMN’s case to overturn Prop. 2 (Schuette v. BAMN).
“This case is about the protection of the political rights and educational futures of black, Latina/o and other minority residents under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment during the period of the greatest demographic change that the nation has ever faced… America will soon become a majority-minority nation. There is no way to build a united, inclusive new America if the core values, the core political rights that have bound us together, even in their imperfect application, do not apply to us all. We are in a new phase of struggle for human equality, dignity and equal rights in America. The millions of immigrants, mostly Latina/o, who started their great march in 2006, are just beginning their fight to make America everyone’s nation.” – excerpt from BAMN’s legal brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Schuette v. BAMN
We will continue to build the new, integrated student-led civil rights/immigrant rights movement and keep marching until we win.
Demand the establishment of a University of Michigan campus-based Dream Scholarship for undocumented students, full and equal access to all financial aid and scholarships, and passage of the Federal DREAM Act.
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