I’m sure you’ve heard this story by now. The Berkeley College Republicans at UC Berkeley came up with the brilliant idea to have a “Race Based Bake Sale”. No, it isn’t some sort of awesome marathon/food challenge like the incredible “Krispy Kreme Challenge” like they do down in Raleigh for the NC Children’s hospital. (That’s a 4 mile race with a stop in the middle to eat a dozen delicious Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Hilarity ensues.) Instead, the Berkeley College Republicans held a bake sale and wanted to get attention make a statement by setting the prices based on race. They were trying to prove that affirmative action efforts are not fair. That it isn’t equitable to sell they same thing when people have to pay different prices for them. Here’s how they did it.
That would be:
Native Americans $0.25
Black/African Americans $0.75
Latino/Hispanic $1.00
Asian/Asian American $1.50
White/Caucasian $2.00
$0.25 off for all Women
I guess I appreciate the sensitivity on the titles. They didn’t want to piss people off up front. Does it look racist? That was the point. The president of the college Republicans wanted to have something that was “inherently racist” because he wants to talk about how inherently racist affirmative action is. He believes “it is no more racist than giving an individual an advantage in college admissions based solely on their race (or) gender”. I get it. He thinks affirmative action is unfair. He wants to focus on the process and not the cause or the effect. He comes up with a stunt to get attention but he gets the analogy all wrong.
(side question…where did they find that brother to sit at the back sale table? Come on Bruh!)
If they wanted to get it right, here is what the pricing structure per cupcake should be:
Asian/Asian American $100
Latino/Hispanic $500
Black/African Americans $You aren’t allowed to buy cupcakes
Native Americans $If you have some cupcakes we would like you to give them too us.
White/Caucasian $Free CUPCAKES! All you can eat.
Hot Women: Free Cupcakes for you too!
Not hot women: Do you really need a cupcake? Really?
See, the pricing structure above shows a lot about the mindset of the Berkeley College Republicans. They see affirmative action as something that costs them. They they have to work harder to get the same cupcake. That they have to pay a higher price to get the exact same cupcake. It makes it look like the road to a cupcake just gets easier and easier if you belong to certain racial groups. In reality, affirmative action is about giving someone who has never had a cupcake a chance to taste a cupcake. Finding a person who would become a master baker if they were just exposed to cupcakes. It is the hope that by letting someone get access to a cupcake, they would expand their world so that they might be able to get access to cupcakes for their children and their grandchildren.
You know what, let’s drop the metaphor, we’re talking about education. It isn’t easy for anyone. The opportunities are different and the effects are different in a way that hurts everyone. People can do great things when they get opportunities to learn.
In addition, how about the fact that I think it is racist to give other races access to sugar-loaded, carb-laden cupcakes at a lesser price? Here is the scene after the bake sale.
Sure, that looks like a “lay in” protest showing that a lot of people in the UC Berkeley were protesting against the Bake sale, but in reality it is just all the people going into diabetic shock because of all the cupcakes.
I know, I know it is a serious protest. I know the people running the table were there to educate and prove a very discreet point. Not mock the issue of race or trivialize the challenges that people face.
Wait a minute.
Two white girls just show up in hot pink indian headdress and they are good to go, huh? Let’s do the math. American Indian $0.25 with the female $0.25 discount. Free cupakes!
Sounds a lot more like the UvT pricing structure than the College Republican pricing structure doesn’t it?
Look. This isn’t the first time there have been racist baked goods. For instance:
Why do the brown cakes gotta be called “Ho Ho’s”? Huh? Where’s the protest for that?
I just want everyone to get along. Like I said above, I’ll take the marble cake.
No marble cake? Damn. Then I’m with Delonte West. You betta have my doughnuts.
-Brock