Affirmative Action Activists March in O.C.

About 30 university students marching from Sacramento to San Diego to defend the “social and economic justice” of affirmative action programs entered Orange County on Thursday, passing out leaflets and registering voters.

The political activists marched from Las Lomas Elementary School in La Habra to Pearson Park in Anaheim. Today they will continue through Anaheim, then pass through Santa Ana over the weekend and leave the county through San Clemente next week. They plan to rally at the GOP convention in San Diego next month.

They said they are trying to persuade people to vote against the anti-affirmative action initiative, Proposition 209, on the Nov. 5 ballot and register new voters. Proponents of the initiative include most of the state’s Republican officeholders.

“Our message is to tell people to register to vote and use our voting power to fight the racism that still exists today through these kinds of initiatives,” said Claudia de la Rosa, 22, a Cabrillo College student from Santa Cruz.

During a lunch break and rally in Fullerton, speakers including Latino and women’s rights activists addressed the importance of voting and offered words of encouragement.

Becky Esparza, representing the Orange County Human Relations Council and Commission, said too little was done to defeat Proposition 187, the initiative passed by voters in 1994 that sought to deny most publicly funded benefits to illegal immigrants.

“We were quiet,” she said. “Now, it’s time to wake up and speak out with our votes.”

The group, which has been marching for 53 days as of today, has signed up about 6,000 new voters, organizers said.