UC Berkeley student government reminds student body that ‘lynchings’ were once used to suppress Black election turnout

The University of California – Berkeley’s (CAL) student government unanimously passed a resolution in the lead-up to the presidential election to remind students that  “lynchings in the United States were used as a means to defer Blacks from the ability to vote.”

The resolution, S.B. 142 (A Bill Recognizing the History and Presence of Lynching and Anti-Black Sentiment in the United States of America, State of California, and UC Berkeley), was passed October 31st, just days before the November elections.

The University of California Berkeley student government passed a resolution in the lead up to the November elections reminding students that lychings were once used to deter people of color from voting.”

“On the eve of the 2012 election it is important to remember,” it reads.

The purpose of the bill, which had the potential of stirring racial tension before the contest between President Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney, was unclear.  

The bill also claims that “Trayvon Martin was brutally murdered in another epic of vigilante justice” and notes that Blacks “have not received any legitimate, tangible, and long-term form of reparations” for suffering through slavery and the civil rights movement.

In the resolution, CAL’s student government demands the University of California Office of the President (UCOP) “write a public letter condemning any and all hate crimes and affirming its support for student of color within the University of California.”

A spokesperson for UCOP would not immediately tell Campus Reform if their office would be issuing such an e-mail out to its students and declined further comment.

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