The December 4 march and rally coincides with the opening of oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in two cases that challenge school desegregation plans in Louisville, Kentucky, and in Seattle. Among the numerous endorsers of the action are the NAACP, American Federation of Teachers, and Chinese for Affirmative Action.

At the November 13 meeting Shanta Driver, a national spokesperson for BAMN, noted the importance of the landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled against segregation in educational facilities. She called on Howard students to help reach out to students at American University and George Washington University to build the planned event.

Arnita Hayden, coordinator of the Howard Undergraduate Student Assembly, reviewed decisions by the Supreme Court over the past 30 years that she said weakened affirmative action and desegregation.

Stefanie Brown, head of the youth and college division of the NAACP, said that today 70 percent of African-American students attend schools whose student bodies are predominantly Black and from other oppressed nationalities. “This is not about quotas,” she said. “This is about whether or not our children or grandchildren will attend schools with inferior resources.”

Student groups are organizing meetings twice a week on campus to build the December 4 rally. The action will be at 9:00 a.m. in front of the Supreme Court building, followed by a march to the Lincoln Memorial. More information is available online at www.bamn.com.  
 
 
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