CA professors protest new chancellor for not being 'anti-racist' enough
The professors were representatives of the California Faculty Association, an 'anti-racist, social justice union.'
One professor told the chancellor that any contract without anti-racist language is ‘explicitly racist.’
Faculty at Sacramento State University protested the new California State University chancellor over his purported inaction on anti-racism practices.
According to a report in The State Hornet, a student newspaper at Sacramento State University, California State University Chancellor Joseph Castro and Sac State President Robert Nelsen were confronted by members of the California Faculty Association on November 3 during his first visit to the university.
The CFA is an “anti-racist, social justice union.”
[RELATED: Southern Illinois University declares itself an ‘anti-racist organization’]
Professors and students pushed for higher pay and follow-through on diversity goals during an open forum and protests.
Images taken by Camryn Dadey of The State Hornet show protesters holding signs with captions such as “Chancellor Castro, Stop Clowning Around!” and “Castro’s Plan: Delay Deny Devalue.”
“President Nelsen has said that he wants this to be an anti-racist campus, and we’re still, obviously, waiting for more progress on that,” sociology professor Kevin Wehr said in an interaction with Castro recorded by The State Hornet. “In our contract negotiations, we have explicitly had several anti-racist and social justice proposals, all of which have been rejected by your team. We have demanded an alternative to policing on campus.”
Castro, according to the student publication, added the following, “So, if you won’t put it in the contract, if you won’t put anti-racist language in the contract, then it remains a racist document. Why won’t you take action on anti-racism and social justice demands?”
[RELATED: College bans ‘caste’ discrimination from campus]
“If you don’t have an anti-racist policy, then your policy is explicitly racist,” Wehr responded.
“I know that’s your point of view, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true. But we can disagree, that’s okay,” Castro said.
Campus Reform reached out to Wehr and California State University for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.
