A New Revolution Is in the Wings on California Campuses : Youth: Minority students are aroused by Prop. 187 and the rollback of affirmative action.

Throughout California, poor and working-class young people of color are under attack by sociopolitical forces that are more interested in scapegoating and maintaining power than in securing the future. In response, some members of my generation are casting aside the apathy and uninvolvement usually associated with the so-called Gen X.

When we consider that more than half of California’s youth are people of color, it is no surprise that children and students have been abandoned by most political figures. In fact, current trends suggest that politicians care more about imprisoning people than about educating them. In a country that has the highest incarceration rate in the world while continually ranking low on the education and social services charts, young Americans don’t seem to have a very bright future.

So, what has been their response? From marching in the streets against Proposition 187, to being arrested at Soledad prison to protest the “three strikes” initiative, to the organizing now taking place to defend affirmative action from the proposed “California civil rights initiative,” concerned young people are refusing to stand silently by while their future is decided by a small voting segment of the population.

Proposition 187 has been described by many as a defining moment for my generation. Before election day, images of young people marching down the streets of Los Angeles saturated the local media. Although there were some in the public who felt threatened by thousands of young, mostly Latino students, many of them waving Mexican flags, there were those of us who saw in the mass mobilization signs of hope for a more just society.

Although drawing parallels to the student movements of the 1960s is the obvious nostalgic trend for many veteran activists, many of the young people today are not aware of historical struggles that have sought to implement social change. Those of us who do know that history are constantly trying to make that past relevant to today’s generation of student activists.

Historically, social movements engaged in militant activism have seen existing sociopolitical structures as illegitimate. Alienation from a political system has often meant that groups act outside of the system in order to destroy it. Those in positions of power today must ask themselves if they are willing to deal with the consequences of a young generation that sees current social structures as disempowering. In large part, the current level of consciousness and activism is an assertion of power that does not need to be legitimized by a political system that excludes the voices of difference.

We recognize that the power hierarchy in this country--in the world, for that matter--is not likely to relinquish its dominance of its own accord. If today’s young generation wants to see social justice materialize, there has to be organization, mobilization, the construction of social and cultural fortifications to say “ya basta!” (enough is enough!).

Above all, the lessons of the civil rights movement, the Chicano movement and the antiwar movement must be learned and remembered. If we are to move toward a more humane society where people cease to be commodities, where they matter not because of how much money they are worth but because they are human beings, then there must be a power shift. Those who hold power today, whether in the corporate world, the universities or the public sector, must begin to share power with an increasingly diverse population. Programs like affirmative action are meant to facilitate that transfer of power necessary for a peaceful and just society.

My generation and those to come must consider whether we want to continue living in a society that is controlled by and for the benefit of the rich and powerful. If we want real social change, we cannot wait for the courts or the politicians to implement it. Young people today must become agents of social change. We must fight for social justice at all levels. In the words of Cornel West, “You either struggle or you’re pushed back.”