Social Sciences Essay: The San Francisco State College and Strike and the Asian American Movement

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The San Francisco State College and Strike and the Asian American Movement
Article: Orrick, William Horsley. "Shut it Down!: A College in Crisis: San Francisco State College, October 1968-April 1969; a Report to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence." (1969).
Discrimination is a vice that has existed in the US's vocabulary for a very long time. There has been racial discrimination that extended into the education sector. Students from the African and Asian races were not allowed to enroll in universities and colleges. This discrimination led to a series of demonstrations from the discriminated groups for equal treatment. The most outstanding of the demonstrations is the San Francisco State College in 1968 and 1969. Orrick William Horsley (1969) compiled a report of the Staff in San Francisco to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence stating what sparked the strike and how to prevent them in future. This came after the commission was formed on 10th June 1968 to investigate the incident. This paper analyses the report by the San Francisco staff to the commission.
The college staff were directed to account for what they believe caused the violence and how to prevent any future violence from erupting. However, the report does not give any conclusion or recommendation about the incident (Orrick, 45). The report is divided into two parts. The first part explores why the strikes erupted in San Francisco State College and not other places, the condition in San Francisco before the strike and the strike itself. The second part describes the black students and the conditions that led to them leading the strikes and the future outlook.
San Francisco State was a commuter school as opposed to others. The students were also older and belonged to the working class. Besides, they had political experience adding to their process in organizing the strike. The report also recognizes the influence of the black panthers in the organization and execution of the strike (Orrick, 89). Many members of the Black Student Union (BSU) were former members of the black panther party hence the intimate relationship between the two.
The article also highlights the university system then, and it notes that the institution's authority is centralized, lacks parity and financial flexibility or a faculty voice. This means that the institution was run under strict rules that did not favour students. Amid these strict rules and unfair state of the system was a brewing strike in 1968 with students now fighting for their rights. The institution's management was adamant about closing the college during the strike to help cool down the situation.
The BSU approached the college's administration, demanding that the admission of black students be increased. It was an easy task as the administration granted them 400 more slots. The whole issue of strike cooked up when the Asian American students realized that the blacks had been granted some favour and demanded a similar treatment, but the administration declined it. Instead, they were told to ask the blacks to surrender some positions for them, but the blacks declined. The two groups decided to come together to form a more powerf...