Students Protest Prop. 209

Latinas Unidas held a candlelight vigil last night against a proposed California amendment that would abolish affirmative action.

Approximately 50 students walked from the Graduate School of Education (GSE) to Harvard Yard and back to urge defeat of Proposition 209, which is on today's ballot in California.

"Everyone is watching Prop 209," said Jerrold W. Roy, a student at the GSE. "It will have a tremendous impact on other states across the country."

Students held picket signs--"David Duke supports 209. Do you?" and "Education is our right, Affirmative Action is our fight" were popular slogans--and chanted "They say diversity, we say hypocrisy."

Students said yesterday that the issue touches those outside of California.

"It won't be long before other decisions are made that affect the student body [at Harvard]," Roy said.

"We have to fight for every other state in America," said Cindy Sanchez, also a GSE student. "People who write these propositions tend to forget that we're human beings."

Sanchez said this is especially a danger for the University.

"Harvard has denied the fact that there's a big minority population at Harvard," Sanchez said. "It's not just black and white."

Felipe Agredano, a Divinity School student who led the invocation, said the proposition shows that racism persists in the United States.

"Why is our access to an education questioned? We keep on hearing about this American dream when we're living an American nightmare," Agredano said. "We don't want a piece of the pie. We want our own pie."

Others also cited racism as the impetus behind the proposition.

"In this unequal, unjust, bigoted society...our rights must be maintained," said Michelle Bradley, one of the participants in the rally. "California is just the tip of the iceberg."

Students at the vigil said Proposition 209 is a threat to opportunities in employment and education for minorities.

"[Proposition 209] denies the fact that sexism and racism exist," said Veronica Terriquez '97, the co-chair of Latinas Unidas. "The average Latina woman with a college degree earns the same salary as a white man without a college degree."