Affirmative Action for Who

A few posts ago I briefly mentioned the story of UC-San Diego. UC-San Diego caught the nation's eye when the university found itself in the midst of heighten racial tension. In the article medical students protest for the creation of a more inclusive environment. Often times, I reflect on my work as a multicultural educator and social justice advocate and wonder: Do we have to wait for chaos to erupt on a campus before proactively seeking ways to be more inclusive? This question, and several others, haunt me as I delve deeper in the field and area of social advocacy.

Affirmative Action was created to aid disadvantaged communities, however there are countless of US universities who have yet to establish a rooted Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity office. At my current institution, faculty, staff, and students who experience bias and/or hate incidents do not have access to a system where they can report these incidents, hence leaving them feeling unsafe in their new 'home'. Recently, I received a phone call from a university staff member looking for a place to report a bias incident. Being unaware myself about my university's services, I had not other place to direct him to but human resources with the hope that his concern would not just be written and then ignored. Unfortunately, many campuses, and businesses for that matter, ignore most cases because let's face it, they have 'better' things to deal with.

So, in the case of UCSD, their resolution to their situation was to hire an individual to head "Diversity Initiatives". UCSD's current situation clearly represents the way many multicultural centers and AAEO offices are created. They are created out of reactions. We live in a reactive society, and I understand that, however in my field, we have to be proactive, and be the few in many to be proactive.  I sometimes wonder how it would feel to just give up, go to my corner, and work to the betterment of my own life? I don't think I want to know. I firmly believe we all enter this world to create a better world for others, selfless service right? What kind of society would we be living in if we all operated from that philosophy? (another blog). Anyhow, of a director for Diversity Initiatives, UCSD did the unspeakable, they fired the director nine months. Nine months? The article clearly articulates my own emotions to their actions. Freire speaks about the need for the 'oppressor' and the 'oppressed' to work together. Until we form relationships of allyship will we be free from each other.  I vividly remember sitting in a finance class and the professor talking about mutual funds and stocks, and a whole lot of finance gibberish. I dropped the class. It was not her fault, it was not the subject's fault, I blamed my parents for not teaching me about finance. But then again, it wasn't their fault either. It was society's fault. In my circle of identities (Latina, female, working class) society hindered me from accessing said information. Latinos are not supposed to be wealthy or have stocks, all we are worth is working in the fields. Women don't have high paying jobs, ya'll  are better off at home and educating about home economics. Working class individuals just don't need to mess with finances, we'll put you on welfare and say you had it good. Like mom once said, "Ten, y di que te fue bien".

Mrs. Baiz-Torres probably followed all protocol when working to developing Diversity Initiatives, however she spoke up to much. One can also tie this to gender roles and the notion that women should not speak up, or race in the sense that Latinos do not have a voice (hence the concept Silent Voices). I am sure if UCSD had an affirmative action office in place or even equal employment opportunity, the university might have handled this situation better. They would have had a team of multicultural competent individuals aiming for a better working environment for all. After all, affirmative action is about creating equal opportunities for all and protecting the historically disenfranchised communities in the US.