Ucar Hosts Historic Conference
UCAR Hosts Historic Conference
by Mary Mangan
ANN ARBOR - On March 10-12, student-of-color activists launched a "national offensive against student racism" at a United Coalition Against Racism (UCAR)-hosted conference in Ann Arbor.
More than 70 students of color representing different ethnic backgrounds and 18 campuses across the nation attended, as did many leading figures from the 1960s civil rights movements.
According to Michael Wilson of UCAR, the conference aimed at laying the foundations for a revitalized student movement against a background of increasing racist incidents on campuses. Wilson noted that these incidents may be due to a socio-political climate which allows "students to be more comfortable in expressing their racism."
"The conference was also historic," said Wilson, "in that it linked two generations of activists."
"The struggle is more difficult now," said Professor Gloria House, former Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) field secretary of Alabama. In challenging the ethnocentricity of university structures and courses, "students are now taking on the bastions of western civilization. There is a major battle for recognition and equality on a cultural and intellectual level."
An aspect of the conference which raised some hackles across the Ann Arbor campus was the exclusion of white students from most of the sessions. The rationale for this, the organizers stated, was the fact that many previous conferences on racism had been dominated by white participants, and people of color were marginalized. This conference placed people of color "at the center of the dialogue."
The related question of "principled alliance" and coalition with supportive whites was among the thomier of the issues of strategy and ideology addressed in the course of the debates.
A self-criticism made by conference conveners was the under-representation of Asian and Native American student activists. House commented however: "We have definitely moved forward since the 1960s. This type of forum uniting different oppressed communities would not even have been possible in 1960, given the stage of struggle we were in. This is a very hopeful sign and an important starting point."
Plans are being made for a follow-up meeting later this year.