S.F. Black students rally against campus racism

Scan page 4

SOCIALIST ACTION DECEMBER 1988 Acts of racism are becoming regular occurrences at colleges around the United States. San Francisco State University has been no exception to this trend.

On Sept. 21, Anifa Porter, a Black student at SFSU, was in her dorm room reading Malcolm X. Her white roommate walked in and, offended by Porter's reading material, called her a "nigger." A small fight broke out between the two students, and the dispute was taken to the Housing Office.

Amazingly, the office decided to sanction Porter for the incident. She was placed on administrative probation. Essentially, Anifa Porter had been penalized for being Black and studying her own history.

The Housing Office slowly began to realize the outrageous nature of this decision and Malcolm X Forum Kwame Somburu tried to make a tactical retreat. On Oct. 20, the office changed its decision. According to Assistant Director of Housing Mike Kleinberg, both students are "equally guilty and both should receive equal punishment." Both students were placed on administrative probation for the rest of the fall semester.

Imagine yourself reading a play of Shakespeare in the privacy of your own home. A visiting neighbor, not a Shakespeare fan, starts to verbally assault you. Would you be considered "equally guilty" for provoking your neighbor? Probably not!

"Black Friday"

Anifa Porter's victimization triggered a response from Black students at SFSU. The Black Student Caucus, along with other student organizations, called a demonstration on Oct. 25. Over 200 students rallied in front of the Student Union and marched around On Nov. 21, Socialist Action member Kwame Somburu spoke to 21 people at San Francisco State University on "Malcolm X and the Fight Against Racism Today." Black students made up half the audience, and $40 worth of literature by Malcolm X was sold.

Somburu suggested that Black students work with faculty and staff unions on campus to organize a speak-out against recent racist incidents there.

Somburu was one of the first to join the Organization of Afro-American Unity, founded by Malcolm X in 1964. He is co-author of the Socialist Action pamphlet, "Malcolm X: Fighter for Black Liberation." campus protesting the dorm incident and demanding more faculty of color. The demonstration was reported on the front page of the San Francisco Examiner.

Friday, Oct. 28, was declared "Black Friday" by Black student organizations. Antiracist educational activities were held on campus, and everyone was asked to wear black.

The demonstration brought the issue of racism to the attention of the whole campus, and some found the truth hard to bear. On Nov. 3, the Golden Gater, SFU's campus newspaper, devoted its entire letters page to letters denouncing the demonstration and the Black Student Caucus.

The letters accused the Black students of being racist and intimidating. One letter said, "I couldn't help but draw a parallel between the black protestors marching on campus and the neo-nazi skin heads that parade around my neighborhood ... as they chant white power slogans and complain about how they are discriminated against."

While this letter was the most offensive, all of the letters faulted the Black students for organizing to defend their rights. The fact is that racism and discrimination against Blacks are not figments of insecure imaginations. Anifa Porter's case is just one example of Blacks being treated as second-class citizens in the United States.

Independent movements

Racism takes many forms, ranging from job discrimination to physical violence, and Blacks have every right to wage a fight against racism in all of its forms. Independent movements, such as the one Black students are trying to build at SFSU, are the only force that proved effective in beating back the effects of racism in the past.

White students should support and help build the anti-racist movement. In this way they will strengthen the student movement as a whole.

The campus demonstration did more than just bring the issue of racism into the light. On Nov. 9, SFSU President Robert Corrigan established a commission to "investigate matters of racism" in faculty hiring. Corrigan reported that oppressed nationalities constitute 49 percent of the college's general population, but make up only 15 percent of the full-time faculty.

This is an important concession from the administration. To make sure this issue goes from the "commission" stage to the real world, ana to free • Anita Porter from administrative probation, the students at SFSU will have to keep up the fight.

Ironically, SFSU was the scene of the country's longest student strike in 1968, which demanded an end to racism on campus and a Black Studies Department. Twenty years later, there is still a lot of work to do. col A Socialist Action pamphlet by Kwame Somburu et al. ($1.25)