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ARTICLES POSTED MAY 1999 The Value of Ethnic Studies Relevance Grows With Changes In Our Society, (posted 5/18/99) by Carlos Munoz Jr. STUDENTS at the University of California, Berkeley, participated in a heroic struggle that ended last Friday -- a struggle to support the Department of Ethnic Studies where I teach. It was inspired by the "Third World Student Strike" of 1969 that created my department and was carried out in the best tradition of the philosophy of nonviolence as practiced by Mahatma Ghandi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez. Ours was the first ethnic studies department in the nation. Our faculty has contributed to creating a new academic discipline, one which has had a dramatic impact on the study of race, ethnicity, cultural diversity, gender and sexuality in our society. Our collective scholarship has influenced the traditional disciplines of humanities and social science. Ethnic studies have contributed to a body of knowledge central to the critical understanding of our society's multicultural and multiracial realities. UCB's Ethnic Studies faculty has anchored the University of California's commitment to diversity and enabled it to fulfill it's mandate as a public institution to serve all of the people of California. Finally, we started the national dialogue on race long before President Clinton ever thought of proclaiming it. Contrary to popular misconceptions, our students represent the diverse population of our society. Ethnic studies have always had support and participation from white students and faculty. Indeed, white students were prominent in this recent struggle in support of our department. One of my own students, Allison Harrington, a proud Irish American woman, was one of the six students who went on the hunger strike during the struggle. For the past 30 years, we have prepared our students to become leaders in dealing with the multiracial complexities of our society. Many of our undergraduates have gone on to graduate and professional schools and now are working in a variety of professional fields at local, state, national and international levels. People of color make up 52 percent of the California population and 30 percent nationwide. Nationally, people of color are expected to make up 46 percent of the population by 2050. The protest lasted for longer than three weeks and generated national and international support. It resulted in the arrest of more than 120 individuals, the majority of whom were UCB students but also including students from Stanford and San Francisco State universities. Six of the protesting students went on an eight-day hunger strike to dramatize the seriousness of the issue. An agreement was finally reached between UCB Chancellor Robert Berdahl and a negotiating team of students and faculty that guaranteed my department some of the resources needed to continue our academic mission. The agreement included:
This is why our students were compelled to act and why six of them courageously risked their health and life in their hunger strike. They won a significant victory for my department, the university and the people of California. Carlos Munoz Jr. is a professor of ethnic studies at UC Berkeley. He is the recipient of the 1999 National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies "Scholar of the Year Award." On the Power Of Nonviolence, (posted 5/17/99) FROM UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE L. Ling-Chi Wang told us he has spent 10 years trying to save ethnic studies at the University of California at Berkeley, yet for 10 years the chairman of the department has been ignored by the administration. When six students went on a hunger strike late last month to protest the slow death of the department, all of a sudden the chancellor wanted to talk. Crippling budget cuts would have reduced the ethnic studies department to little more than a shell-similar to what has already happened on many campuses coast to coast. After having lived through Propositions 187, 209 and 227 (anti-immigration, anti-affirmative action and anti-bilingual education ballot measures), students felt they'd had enough. "We were finally fighting for something, as opposed to fighting against something," said Jennie Luna, one of the student organizers. In pressing their demands, the students utilized the power of nonviolence taught them by the examples of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, co-founders of the United Farm Worker's union. Their demands essentially consisted of getting the administration to fully fund the department and to ensure that it becomes the best ethnic studies department in the nation. The administration offered an agreement, but the students rejected it. Not pleased, the administration decided to have the students arrested at 3 a.m. Wang, who observed the almost 100 arrests in front of the administration building, said commandos in black riot gear surrounded the encampment. "It was very ugly, very brutal and very chilling." After being released, the students went right back. So did the police, this time at 4 a.m. the next day, using an assortment of intimidating tactics, such as shining bright lights on the sleeping students. The students camped out for several more days, and after a total of three weeks of protests, eight days of hunger strikes and several mass arrests, the students emerged victorious. The ethnic studies department won full support from the university. When Cesar Chavez died in 1993, many said an era had also died with him. Like a seed that falls to the earth, his death has seemingly sowed a new generation of warrior peacemakers who are willing to sacrifice their bodies for something they believe in. Luis Alarcon, one of the hunger strikers, said that he and the other students would not have done it for any department, with the exception of African-American studies. "It's the only one that offers classes that directly affect me." Alarcon said that children of all ages, including his three daughters, "got to see students of color fighting for what they deserve-a good education." More important, they got to see students of all colors rally behind the protesters, he said. Genevieve Gonzales, one of the organizers, said: "We went out on strike because we had to. We also did it because we wanted to, on behalf of those who will come after us. After the elimination of affirmative action (at the University of California) several years ago, ethnic studies is all we have." Cynthia Gomez, one of the hunger strikers, said they didn't know how long it would take, but that they were willing to fast as long as it was necessary to win. When all the students were arrested, "We knew then that we were going to win. That was the breaking point." The success of the strike was no accident, said Maria Brenes, who was arrested several times. Many of the participants have been organizing high school and college students to fight for their educational rights for five years, she related. "The movement didn't start on April 14." Brenes and many of the organizers are grounded spiritually and politically in indigenous politics, being part of an intercontinental movement that seeks to reclaim their rights and dignity. "We proved that students can have power. When we decided to use our bodies, the institution couldn't touch us. People were drawn to that power." Luna, who was arrested and physically mistreated on April 14, said that the older students made sure that first-year students were present at every step of the way. "It was more than political action. It was spiritual. They saw that the hunger strike was a prayer." Incidentally, any student who was arrested more than twice still faces disciplinary hearings. After having witnessed the tragedy at Columbine High School, it seems as if U.C. Berkeley has it all wrong: These students deserve commendations. COPYRIGHT 1999 UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE We greatly encourage that we all honor the courage and determination of the students by supporting them. Seven students are still facing disciplinary hearings. Readers should express their opinions to: Office of the Chancellor, Chancellor Robert Berdahl, 200 California Hall, University of CA, Berkeley, CA 94720, (510) 642-7464, joycedev@uclink4.berkeley.edu You can also contact: Office of Student Conduct: Barbara Davis, 326 Sproul Hall #2432, Berkeley, CA 94720 (510) 643-9069 *** Gonzales & Rodriguez can be reached at 505-242-7282 or XColumn@aol.com Farmworkers March For Respect and Dignity At Oregon State Capitol, (posted 5/10/99) SALEM, OR-A march was held in Salem to protest the current attempt by the Oregon Legislature to pass several bills which would severely hurt farmworkers.. Shouting "Farmworkers Yes! Slavery No! -- SB 1115 must go!" nearly two hundred farmworkers and supporters marched from the Oregon Fairgrounds to the State capitol building. The organizers of the march, Oregon's farmworker union Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN), stated the objective of the march was to rally opposition to House Bill 2793, Senate Bill 1115, SB 1267 and SB 678. House Bill 2793 would lower the minimum wage for young farmworkers and restaurant waiters. The bill passed the House of Representatives and has already had a hearing in the Senate. CAUSA, a statewide immigrant rights coalition, co-sponsored the action. The marchers also targeted SB 1115, a bill sponsored by the Oregon Farm Bureau to roll back farmworkers' limited legal protection from retaliatory firing by employers for engaging in collective activity to improve their working conditions. SB 1115 is an attempt to undermine the minimal protections farmworkers could soon enjoy under the case of Aguilar Rueda v. Oregon Roses Inc., the verdict of which is now pending action by the Oregon Supreme Court. A similar legislative attempt was vetoed by Governor John Kitzhaber last session. Farmworkers say they would otherwise be willing to talk with employers about resolving problems in the workplace, but many are afraid to do so currently because of possible retaliation. "When workers speak out, they are fired," stated Ramon Ramirez, President of PCUN. Gabriel Solis, a farmworker who was fired from his job at Coleman Farms last year, was also present. Michael Dale, an attorney with the Oregon Law Center, told marchers at the rally that the Legislature has proposed a "dirty half dozen" bills which, if passed, will set back farmworker living and working conditions 30 years. Martin Gonzalez, coordinator of Camino, a coalition of community-based organizations, stated that it was his privilege to speak at this rally because of the significance of International Workers' Day. "We must do everything we can to defeat racist and discriminatory laws," he said. Francisco Lopez, a farmworker housing advocate from St. Pious X Catholic Church, said "The Oregon Legislature must do more to improve housing conditions for farmworkers." Mr. Lopez and his organization brought a farm labor camp to the steps of the state capitol last month to illustrate the abysmal conditions farmworkers live in throughout the state. Farmworkers got a boost when Karla Spence of the Oregon Public Employees' Union (OPEU) pledged the support of her 25,000-member union for defeating legislation that attacks farmworker rights. "We stand in solidarity with your noble cause," she said. The march also celebrated International Workers' Day. Ramirez stated, "We are here to commemorate the struggles of our working-class brothers and sisters who dedicated their lives to improve living and working conditions for working people. This march is held in your honor." Praguay's Victory For Democracy, (posted 5/10/99) THE DEMOCRACY CENTER ON-LINE Volume 25 - May 6, 1999 Dear Readers, On Tuesday I returned from a week-long visit to Paraguay, where I was working with "Jovenes Para La Democracia" (Youth for Democracy) the leaders of last March*s dramatic protests that led to the ousting and exile of Paraguay*s President. I know that the events of six weeks ago received very little attention in the US, but what just took place in that small corner of Latin America is a powerful story of courage, conviction and of a victory for the principle of democracy. This issue of "The Democracy Center On-Line" is dedicating to making that story more widely known. Sincerely, "PARAGUAY'S VICTORY FOR DEMOCRACY" Paraguay is a country that few people elsewhere ever think about. If you can summon from memory two facts about the place that probably puts you two facts ahead of most everyone else. However, in the closing days of March, this small land-locked country in the heart of South America offered the world one of the century*s great examples of democratic heroism. In the space of just five days the Vice-President was assassinated, the President was implicated as the likely mastermind, and thousands of Paraguay*s young people waged a five day battle to oust him from office and protect their nation*s democracy. They faced down tanks, endured a bloody massacre, and stood strong against calls by national leaders for them to quit. Their tenacity and bloodshed eventually forced the President to flee in exile. This is story of Paraguay*s "Victory for Democracy". THE BEGINNING - AN ASSASINATION It began with an assassination. On Tuesday March 24th Paraguay*s Vice President, Luis Maria Argaña, was driving through the capital city of Asunción on his way to work. Argaña was close to having the votes he needed in Paraguay*s Congress to win impeachment and conviction against President Raúl Cubas. Months earlier President Cubas had cut short the prison term of General Lino Oviedo, the convicted leader of a 1996 coup attempted. The general*s release set off a firestorm of public anger and the moves toward impeachment. Suddenly the Vice-President*s car was forced off the road and sprayed with automatic weapon fire, leaving the popular Argaña dead from bullet wounds to his head and chest. Reaction was swift. Within hours, Asunción main plaza, straddled between the pink National Congress building on the one side and the twin-spired National Cathedral on the other, was filled with thousands of protesters, almost all of them in their teens and twenties. Democracy is fragile property in Paraguay. For 35 years (from 1954 to 1989) the nation was ruled by the authoritarian, Alfredo Stroessner. Dissenters were rewarded with the methodic application of electric prods while the Orwellian message, "Stroesnner*Peace* Work*Well-Being" flashed on and off in bold neon 24 hours a day in the city center. Americas* longest running dictatorship was brought to an end only after a military rebellion. In the decade since Paraguayans have guarded their delicate democracy with great care. With their Vice President murdered on the eve of the impeachment vote, Paraguayans knew what was at stake, with that knowledge falling hardest on the young. "I was 15 when Stroesnner fell," a young woman leader of the protests told me. "We grew up with the idea of liberty." Paraguay*s young people dropped everything else they were doing and went to the Plaza to defend democracy. TANKS, GARBAGE TRUCKS AND A MASSACRE The President*s response was equally swift, police on horseback beating the protesters with hard rubber truncheons. The Plaza only filled up more. The next day, amidst an emotional memorial service for the Vice President, the thousands of young people were joined in the Plaza by campesinos from the countryside. On Thursday, while thousands continued to occupy the plaza outside, the lower house of Congress voted a resolution of impeachment. On Friday, the Paraguayan Senate prepared for a showdown vote on conviction and President Cubas ordered the protesters out of the plaza. When they refused, events turned violent. Hundreds of backers of the President and General Oviedo began arriving at the Plaza, bringing pistols and rifles along with them. By nightfall the plaza was divided in two, with thousands of committed young people on one side and the armed and often drunk supporters of the President on the other. At sunset the President ordered army tanks into the plaza, for what many expected would be a bloody massacre of the youth who remained. Asunción*s quick-thinking mayor, upon hearing that the tanks were on their way, issued his own orders, commanding the city*s fleet of garbage trucks to blockade the streets surrounding the plaza to prevent the tanks access. The Mayor told me he most expected a military coup was on its way. In the plaza the two warring factions first flung insults at one another, then rocks, and later molatov cocktails. Then armed snipers, supporters of the President and General, climbed to the top of several buildings adjacent to the plaza, opening fire. More than 200 young protesters were wounded, six were killed. The plaza was filled with bloody bodies being carried away by friends for emergency medical attention. The next morning, with thousands of exhausted and bloodied young protesters continuing to occupy the plaza outside, the Senate voted a resolution of conviction. The Presidents response was silence. Senators left the Capitol Building wearing bullet-proof vests. The next morning, Palm Sunday, the young protesters celebrated mass in the cathedral as their vigil continued. One by one the six coffins of the dead were carried by their young friends to the plaza and to the mass. At the end of the service Paraguay*s Archbishop asked the young people to leave the plaza, to risk no more danger. They refused and they waited, along with all Paraguayans, for news of what would happen next. At 6pm on that Sunday President Cubas announced that he would resign. Two hours later the head of the Congress was sworn in as President, in an inaugural marked by the presence of one of the wounded brought in on a stretcher. As President Cubas fled to Brazil and General Oviedo to Argentina, 50,000 young people crowded the plaza yelling, "democracy has won". A SEASON FOR DEMOCRACY The events of late March in Paraguay remind us that democracy is something more than bland electioneering. In some moments, in some places (the United States in the 1960s, Czechoslovakia in 1968, Poland in the mid-1980s, The Philippines in 1986, Tianamen Square in 1988, and now add Paraguay in 1999) democracy is that dangerous, inspired, spontaneous demand that the people will decide the course of their own futures. In Paraguay now the young people from the plaza are turning to the difficult challenge of converting their hard-won democracy into something lasting and tangible in people*s every day lives. The bonds they formed under fire are becoming organizations. Their demands are shifting to issues like youth unemployment, poor schools, and an end to rampant government corruption. Each day the front page of Asunción*s daily paper, Las Noticias, runs the photos of the six dead young people under the heading, "They gave their lives for democracy, the country should never forget." It is unlikely that this generation of young Paraguayans will ever forget the events of last March. They have made a commitment to democracy sealed in blood and have offered the rest of the world an example that should not be missed. THE DEMOCRACY CENTER ON-LINE is an electronic publication of The Democracy Center, distributed on an occasional basis to more than 1200 nonprofit organizations, policy makers, journalists and others, throughout the US and abroad. Please consider forwarding it along to those who might be interested. People can request to be added to the distribution list by sending an e-mail note to "info@democracyctr.org". Newspapers and periodicals interested in reprinting or excerpting material in the newsletter should contact The Democracy Center at "info@democracyctr.org". Suggestions and comments are welcome. Past issues are available on The Democracy Center Web site.
Work & Money, Capital Markets, (posted 5/10/99) US immigration boom stirs call for reform David R. Francis (francisd@csps.com) Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor American immigration practices make no economic sense. Many economists say that. "Immigration policy has been captured by special interests who peddle the notion that immigration is an unmitigated benefit to the nation and that it is costless," says Vernon Briggs Jr., an economist at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. "Nothing could be further from the truth," he adds. Professor Briggs was one of 20 or so witnesses at hearings called last month by Rep. Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee. One theme of the Texas Republican's hearings was that the greatest influx of immigrants in United States history, now under way, hurts the nation's less-educated, low-skilled workers. Those workers compete for jobs with the 40 percent of immigrants who lack a high-school diploma or "discernible skills," notes Representative Smith. Nor does the inflow provide sufficient educated, technology workers able to meet the needs of American business. Some 90 percent of future jobs, Smith says, will require post-high school education. The well-to-do may get their gardens cleaned up and meat cut into chops at low cost by immigrant workers. But current immigration policy, Smith says, has "a destructive impact" on American workers, especially earlier immigrants and black and Hispanic citizens. New bill expected So Smith plans to introduce a bill soon to alter immigration policy. At present, 80 percent of the nearly 900,000 legal immigrants per year enter under family reunification provisions - families of legal immigrants - no matter their education level. Smith wants to "slightly change the mix" away from family chains to immigrants with the education and skills needed "to find good jobs and take care of their families." He would also prefer to reduce the annual number of immigrants to 550,000, the level suggested in 1995 by the US Commission on Immigration Reform. But no decision has been made to include that in the bill. Other industrial nations are much tougher in selecting immigrants according to education and skills. Immigration growth Here are some findings of research on immigration: Since 1970, more than 30 million foreigners and their descendants have been added to US communities and labor pools. That's equivalent to the population of all Central American nations. Present immigration levels will add the same number in a shorter time. Two-thirds of US population growth stems from immigration. The foreign-born population has grown from 8.6 million in 1965, 4.4 percent of the total, to 27 million now, or 9.7 percent. That doesn't include 6 million illegal immigrants. So 1 in 8 workers is foreign-born. About 300,000 legal immigrants enter the US each year with less than a high-school education. One result: US workers without a high-school diploma rose about 21 percent between 1979 and 1995. Immigration has contributed to an increase in income inequality since the mid-1970s. Less-skilled immigrants use the welfare system and other government safety nets more than do native-born Americans, raising the tax burden. In California, such use costs an extra $1,174 annually in state and local taxes for the average native-born American household. Nonetheless, Congress is reluctant to reform immigration laws. Emotional backgrounds James Edwards Jr., a former congressional aide, calls it partly emotional. Many members think of poor, ill-educated immigrant ancestors. They arrived, though, at a time when that description fit most Americans. Another reason is political. Many members come from districts with large immigrant communities that know how to use their clout. Further, lawyers specializing in immigration cases and business groups that hire immigrants, lobby against restrictions. Low-Wage Businesses Add to Number of Uninsured Workers, (posted 5/4/99) Low-Wage Businesses Add to Number of Uninsured Workers WASHINGTON-A long-spreading gap between the wages of undereducated workers in menial jobs and those of skilled college graduates is contributing to another gap, in workers' health benefits, a research journal reports. Lending a new perspective on the swelling numbers of Americans without health insurance, an article to be published on Monday in the journal Health Affairs says that a phenomenon feeding the benefits gap is the proliferation of low-wage businesses, like stores and restaurants. "Our findings," the authors say, "strongly suggest that low-wage families" can often protect themselves from losing health insurance "if they find work in firms where a substantial share of the employees earn more than they do." John Gabel, the lead author, an economist and benefits specialist at the Hospital Research and Educational Trust, said in an interview, "The pattern we see is that employers that have a high-income work force offer better benefits, no matter how you choose to look at it." The article notes that after taking inflation into account, wages for high school graduates fell 11 percent from 1973 to 1997, while those of college graduates rose 17 percent. The journal says that the rise in the numbers of uninsured Americans, from 38 million in 1992 to 43 million in 1997, has touched most segments of the population, but the poor especially. Over the five years, the study says, the percentage of heads of households with high school diplomas who lacked coverage rose to 28.6 percent, from 26.2 percent. But for those with college degrees, the percentage was much lower and barely budged, to 8.1 percent from 7.8 percent. The authors looked in particular at relationships showing that low-paid employees of companies with high proportions of well-paid employees were more likely to be offered benefits, and to get more choices in coverage, with smaller deductions from their pay, than those at businesses with few well-paid employees. The article does not identify the 2,763 private and public employers the authors examined. But the authors show that low-wage workers serving hamburgers in the cafeteria of, say, a General Motors or a Merrill Lynch, which have relatively few such workers, are more likely to have health benefits than those at, say, McDonald's or Burger King, which have many low-wage workers. For the article, the authors used two surveys conducted last year. One, by KPMG Peat Marwick, the consulting firm, surveyed 1,583 small and large employers. The other, by the Kaiser Family Foundation, surveyed 1,180 small businesses employing 3 to 199 workers. For each employer, the authors weighed the numbers of well-paid workers-those earning more than $75,000 a year-against those earning less than $20,000. The authors put those employers with the highest proportion of the lowest-paid workers into a "low wage" category and those with the highest proportion of high-paid workers into a "high wage" category. Workers at the high-wage companies-whether poorly paid or well paid themselves-got the better deal. They paid 21 percent of the employers' premiums for individual coverage, compared with 24 percent at low-wage firms. And for family coverage, workers at high-wage firms paid 27 percent of the cost, compared with 41 percent for low-wage firms. Among the smaller companies, the authors found that only 39 percent of the low-wage companies offered health benefits, compared with 82 percent of the high-wage firms. JSRI Home | Community Connections | Latino News Archives
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