Anti-Tuition Protest in Sacramento
Anti-Tuition Protest in Sacramento
A group of students and farmworkers stand during a demonstration against California Governor Ronald Reagan’s tuition policy at the State Capitol. Sacramento, California, February 11, 1967. Photo by Emmon Clarke.
On February 11, 1967, a delegation of 200 United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC) leaders and organizers, including César Chávez, Larry Itliong, Jim Drake, Carolina Franco, Joe Serda and Joe Otero, joined a student demonstration of 10,000 people in Sacramento against Ronald Reagan’s proposal to cut university budgets and charge for the first-time tuition to California students in
public universities. At a press conference on January 10, Reagan argued that a tuition charge, among other reasons, would help “get rid of undesirables. Those there to agitate and not to study might think twice before they pay tuition.” In an unscheduled appearance at the podium, César Chávez was cheered loudly when he said that tuition is designed to “keep the poor and minorities in their place,” the Los Angeles Times reported. During his two terms as governor since 1967, Reagan strongly opposed organized labor and resisted farmworkers’ attempt to secure union contracts. He vetoed the Agricultural Labor Relations Act, denying farmworkers collective bargaining rights, rejected unemployment insurance, and disregarded farmworkers’ demands by appearing on TV to eat grapes during a union-sponsored boycott. Reagan also aimed to suppress activism at the University of California, Berkeley, deploying National Guard troops in 1969.
public universities. At a press conference on January 10, Reagan argued that a tuition charge, among other reasons, would help “get rid of undesirables. Those there to agitate and not to study might think twice before they pay tuition.” In an unscheduled appearance at the podium, César Chávez was cheered loudly when he said that tuition is designed to “keep the poor and minorities in their place,” the Los Angeles Times reported. During his two terms as governor since 1967, Reagan strongly opposed organized labor and resisted farmworkers’ attempt to secure union contracts. He vetoed the Agricultural Labor Relations Act, denying farmworkers collective bargaining rights, rejected unemployment insurance, and disregarded farmworkers’ demands by appearing on TV to eat grapes during a union-sponsored boycott. Reagan also aimed to suppress activism at the University of California, Berkeley, deploying National Guard troops in 1969.
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