A former Antifa activist is demanding that the University of North Carolina end all of its ethnic-specific scholarships.
Speaking with the Washington Examiner, Our America National Director Gabriel Nadales said that the continuance of the scholarships are a violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He protested three scholarships at UNC specifically, sending a letter to the school in an attempt to exert pressure on it.
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When asked if he believes the scholarships represent a broader issue, he said that such scholarships promote a perverted version of diversity.
“I understand the purpose of wanting to create diversity,” he explained, but said ethnic specific scholarships do the opposite. “These are fake diversity programs, they exclude white and Asian students as well. That’s not true diversity. A true diversity is a program that invites people from all racial and ethnic backgrounds.”
He went on to say that he’s lost count of the number of colleges that offer ethnic-specific programs, and the choice of UNC was somewhat of a coincidence. Our America had sent another letter to a different North Carolina college months ago, but did not receive a response, leading it to set its sights on UNC.
The three scholarships mentioned in the letter are the Light on the Hill Society Scholarship Program, the Julius Peppers Endowed Scholarship Fund, and the Joseph Cooley and Kathleen Cullins High Endowed Scholarship Fund— all of which only accept black applicants. The descriptions of each stress the importance of the scholarships as carrying on the legacy of civil rights, and reducing the education gap between black and white students.
But Nadales sees it differently, arguing that the scholarships are themselves going against the legacy of civil rights. So much so that he is confident that the Supreme Court will shut them down, labeling them a violation of the Civil Rights Act.
“I think they are going to be forced to shut them down,” he said of the scholarships. As for legal action, he said, “We’re gonna have to rely on the federal government to enforce the Civil Rights Act.”
In line with this point, he told the Washington Examiner that he doesn’t believe any new laws from Congress are needed; all that’s needed is the enforcement of already standing laws.
As such, Nadales said, the mission of Our America and its recently sent letter is to draw public attention, in order to apply pressure to shut down the scholarships.
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“At this point, what we want to do is apply a lot of pressure to these schools. We believe sunlight is the best disinfectant,” he said of the organization’s strategy.
As with the last North Carolina school, Nadales hasn’t received a response to his letter. But, he believes, the point has already been made, as more public pressure is mounting on UNC to disband the scholarships.
