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Black Collegian News & Views Black
College Students Demonstrate as High Court Considers Race Cases
By Drew Costley
Black College Wire
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Credit: By Any Means Necessary
Protest in front of the Supreme Court on Dec. 4 drew students
from around the nation. |
Two protesters held a sign that stood out among the sea of picket
signs bearing catchy phrases and rhymes.
"No mas tratamiento de segunda clase!" this sign read. That
translates to, "We will no longer accept second-class treatment." Its
presence showed the ethnic diversity of the crowd led by Howard
University students at the Supreme Court on Dec. 4 to support the
continued use of race as a factor in maintaining racially diverse
schools.
A group of more than 200 Howard students, led by the Howard
University Student Association, gathered in front of the Supreme Court
at 5:45 a.m. to lead the protest involving two high-profile court cases
regarding education.
The protesters, organized with the help of the civil rights
organization By Any Means Necessary and many different Howard student
organizations, grew to several hundred by 10 a.m. and included student
organizations from colleges and universities across the nation, and
labor groups, civil rights groups and teacher unions.
"Howard University led the protest," Shanta Driver, founder of By Any
Means Necessary, told the racially and ethnically diverse crowd. "I
commend them for helping out with this effort."
The court heard arguments in Community Schools v. Seattle School
District Number One and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of
Education. The cases were heard beginning at 9 a.m., but the group
of Howard students had already been rallying for more than three hours.
At around 10:35 a.m., protesters spilled into the street, prompting
Metropolitan Police officers to direct them back into the designated
protest area on the sidewalk in front of the court. At noon, the
protesters left the court steps and walked to the Lincoln Memorial, a
focal point of the 1963 March on Washington. There, they rallied for
several more hours.
Stephen Nichols, vice president of HUSA, led early rallying efforts
and said Howard would be seen around the world protesting for civil
rights.
"I’m so glad that when people turn on CNN, they will see students who
started at Howard University and marched their way here," Nichols said
to the energetic crowd. "We are not the complacent students that the
media makes us out to be."
Student organizations from universities and colleges that included
Harvard University, the University of California at Berkeley, the
University of Louisville, Fayetteville State University, Lincoln
University, Morehouse College and Spelman College were represented.
Students from Lincoln wore T-shirts bearing a picture of Lincoln alumnus
Thurgood Marshall, who argued the plaintiffs’ side in the 1954 Supreme
Court case Brown v. Board of Education that ruled desegregation
in public schools to be unconstitutional.
Tony Anderson, a junior political philosophy major and the associate
vice president of the Student Government Association at Morehouse, came
with a group representing every school in the Atlanta University system
except Morris Brown College.
"I’m here on the steps of the Supreme Court," Anderson said. "We were
here before the sun came up around all the people who look like me. It’s
worth the 12-hour trip just to be right here at 7 o’clock in the
morning."
Although many of the day’s speakers emphasized unity in the fight for
equality, Rosie Washington said the court decisions would directly
affect African Americans over any other ethnic group.
"The implications of the cases affects us directly the most," said
Washington, a 20 year-old from the University of Louisville.
Nichols said that by helping to organize several student
organizations from around the world, Howard students are showing that
they are leaders for the global community.
"This isn’t just for African Americans," said Nichols, who led the
crowd in a rendition of the black national anthem, "Lift Every Voice and
Sing," and a call and response in which he asked, "Have we overcome?"
The crowd responded, "We have and we will."
He added, "Today is for the women, Hispanics, Asians and a lot of
other minorities because we are no longer the minority. We are the
majority. We came here today to galvanize people from around the world
under one cause."
Other speakers included Gregory Carr, a professor in the department
of African-American studies, and Arnita Hayden, the organizer of the
Howard University Undergraduate Student Assembly’s part in the march.
"Somebody in this crowd will be sitting on one of those seats one
day, even if we cannot see the change today," Carr said, pointing to the
court behind him. "And make sure that this building represents the
justice that this building is supposed to represent."
Hayden said the country is already relapsing into segregation and
that a favorable court decision for the plaintiffs would add to the
relapse.
"This a slap in the face that the Supreme Court would even hear this
case," Hayden said. "From this day forward we will not get slapped in
the face and just stand by and feel the pain."
Stephanie Brown, the youth and college director for the NAACP, said
she was proud to see so many come out to tell America that a moral
re-evaluation was needed.
"We are here today," Brown said, "to tell America, you need to check
your soul."
Drew Costley, a student at Howard University,
writes for the Hilltop.
Posted Dec. 5, 2006 |
