Demands for diversity must continue

Published: Monday, June 15, 1998

Monday, June 15, 1998

First and foremost I would like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for allowing me the chance to become sports editor of the Daily Bruin for the 1997-1998 academic year. When I was warned me of the time commitment, I thought to myself, "Oh, it can't be that bad." I can now say that I was one little naive puppy - precisely because the amount of work that one has to put in literally becomes more than a full-time job.

As an African American, I can attest to the fact that students of color are doing positive things here on campus. With the recent attacks on affirmative action programs, it is incumbent of me to fight and speak out against the racist and clearly discriminating forces that seek to close the doors to those who have very little power under the system in which we live. James Baldwin once said that if we know something (about any issue that can be potentially harmful to another) and we do nothing about it, then we are just as much responsible for perpetuating what the oppressor is implicating onto the oppressed.

My position as the Sports editor was a political one. Each day became a new day for me to educate my peers (many of whom were from very privileged backgrounds) about what it means to be an African American person in a position of power and as a student here on campus. Many of them were oblivious to the struggles that we, as African Americans, have to contend with on a daily basis (e.g. racism, discrimination, being stereotyped). Professionally, I not only created a well-balanced, well-covered and professional sports section, but I also provided my peers with a chance to see that I come from a history of greatness and that I am, in the words of the late Lorraine Hansberry, "Young, gifted and black."

When I leave UCLA, I want this university to realize how hard it is for African American students to successfully matriculate from here into the real world. Academically, the work is easy - but the racism and white privileges that are very much prevalent on this campus can become tiring and defeating. African Americans recognize that this institution of higher learning is really a game. It is a game where whites (because of their political and economic status) are afforded privileges that allow them (metaphorically) to cheat their way through what is supposed to be an equal opportunity learning environment. If those of you who are white are offended by the nature and tone of my prose, then I must say that you have truly begun to experience a mere fraction of what African Americans have had to endure all throughout our tenure at UCLA and in America.

My last and final wish for those who come after me is that you all fight for and demand diversity on this campus precisely because education does not just come from textbooks, but from learning and understanding those who come from different backgrounds and cultures.

UCLA is an institution where we are, in theory, encouraged to exchange scholarly discourses. If we do nothing on behalf of diversifying this campus, then we will continue to to regress as an institution and as a country.

Congratulations, Class of 1998, and welcome, Class of 2002.

Stanley Johnson Jr.