San Francisco State College Strike Analysis

Reading about the San Francisco State College Strike, it became very clear how racist and hypocritical the U.S. educational system was. Students, faculty members and community activists had to fight hard for equal access to higher education and a new education curriculum that would include studies of the history and culture of all people including ethnic minorities. As Asian Americans were facing similar systematic discriminations, they joined other racial groups to initiate and support the student-led Strike. Government officials viewed students’ demands as too extreme and their activism just a fashionable movement to disrupt the system. As a result many students got beaten, arrested and jailed.
The most important change attributed to the Strike was the establishment of the College of Ethnic Studies in the San Francisco State College, an important legacy followed by many other higher education institutions across the country. The existence of a College of Ethnic Studies gave life to previously unexamined ethnic minorities’ experiences that are now greatly incorporated on campuses throughout the U.S. Student communities became more racially diverse, even though most faculties are still White. An unintended consequence of the Strike was also the
I was amazed how Asian Americans took control of the situation and did not remain silent throughout the event. These achievements would’ve not been possible without the Strike. The longest campus strike in American history turned out to be a very powerful movement that established values of equity and social justice in the American universities. It demonstrated that racial equality is crucial for the development of a democratic society and that the history of EVERY race is