The University of Washington College Republicans are planning an Affirmative Action Bake Sale tomorrow on UW's campus.
On Sunday the Legislature passed I-1000, an initiative that essentially repeals the 20-year ban on affirmative action in Washington state. The next day, a group called Washington Asians for Equality filed a referendum to repeal the repeal, so we'll see how that goes.
UWCR says their bake sale protests "a clearly racist change of law," according to the Facebook page for the event. Prices for the Republican confections will be dependent on race and gender: "Asian: $1.50, White $1.00, African American $0.50, Hispanic $0.50, Native American Free."
"Females" get $0.25 off. Looking at the menu, it seems as if Native American women would get a cookie and a quarter. Just a thought, you know, in case anyone is looking to bankrupt this little bake sale.
Chevy Swanson, president of UWCR, said he and his club do not like any policy that "discriminates against or for certain races."
"Although the intentions are good it is still a discriminative policy because it discriminates against Native Americans, Asian Americans, and sometimes Jewish Americans," Swanson told The Stranger.
Jack Pickett, the Washington College Republican Federation president, emailed UWCR denouncing the event. Pickett wrote that the sale breaches the terms of a contract that says UWCR club officers must "conduct themselves and the business of their respective organizations in a manner that does not reflect poorly on the WCRF, the CRNC [College Republican National Committee], the College Republican brand, or the Republican Party at large." I guess this is off-brand for Republicans?
The UWCR posted Pickett's email on their Facebook page, below. A moderator for the Facebook page commented, "Weak Republicans don't support real protests that seek to solve real problems. We will not back down to liberals or RINOs alike!"
Swanson said that the club will not be listening to Pickett.
"At the club it is our definite opinion that the president at the state level is very much a classic RINO—a Republican In Name Only," Swanson said. "I-1000 had no Republican lawmakers sign onto it, so how can he be a Republican? He’s definitely misguided in some opinion and we won’t be listening to it on this."
As far as the bake sale, Swanson thinks people are going to show up and "be mad," but he hopes to "explain the issue to them."
Swanson says UWCR has discussed security measures for the event with UW.
"The university and UWPD are aware of the event and there will be additional officers in uniform present," said Victor Balta, the senior director of media relations at UW.
The bake sale will be held outside the main entrance of the Husky Union Building (HUB) at 10 a.m. on Friday. There will be a big American flag canopy and decorations, Swanson said, "You'll see us."
UPDATE 3:54 PM:
Sen. Mona Das (D-Kent), who voted for I-1000, was shocked when she read about the bake sale, she told The Stranger.
“Clearly, we need to continue to have conversations to bring understanding on why something like this is not okay," Das said over text. "We need to address systemic racism and sexism. We currently have discrimination in so many areas including hiring and educational opportunities.”
Another student-led bake sale has been planned in response to UWCR's event. First Nations at UW will be hosting Cookie Potlatch: Resistance Edition.
Meanwhile, the WCRF released a statement declaring that "the group hosting the 'affirmative action bake sale' on the University of Washington campus in Seattle has no affiliation with the Washington College Republican Federation and we do not sanction their event." It is unclear whether UWCR is still receiving chartered recognition status from the WCRF.
