DEMONSTRATION AT THE UNITED NATIONS
AGANINST GENOCIDEL RACISM IN THE CITY UNIVERSITY

This demonstration at the United Nations is to denounce the
genocidel racism in the City University. It is to give world wide
focus to the racist standards to be imposed on students in the
City University.

On December 15, 1975, the nine member board of the City Un-
iversity, voted 7-2 to restrict admissions to only those students
who have attained a minumum eigth grade reading level. The de~
ficient education that Black and Hispanic children receive in the.
public school system makes this eigth grade reading level biased :
and racist.

In the book "Dark Ghetto", by Kenneth B. Clark, he states
the results of reading test by the New York City School System.

MiB reading comphrehension, the ability to understand what
one is reading, 30 percent of the Harlem third grade pupils dre
reading below grade level, compared to 21.6 percent who are read-
ing above. For sixth grade pupils, the story is even more dismal;
there 80.9 percent of the pupils score below grade level in read-
ing, while 11.7 percent score above, indicating;a*rather: rapid
relative deterioration in reading Bonn reherat cn with in three

years, Between grades three and six, word knowledge falters also}

in third grade, 38.9 percent score below grade level, 18.7 percent

above, Arithmetic shows a similar pattern of underach{evement,



one

though figures are only available for the sixth. grade (57.6, percent:
are below grade level in "computation," 66.6 below in "problems

and con-cepts"), By eigth grade, three-quarters of the Harlem
junior high school students score below grade level in reading com-
prehension and word knowledges in arithmetic, their performance is
even more discouraging-83,8 percent are now below,"

With the 8th grade reading level being the criteria for en-
trance in the City University, we must dismiss the ethics, that
an education is the vehicle to prosperity, because Black people
are being denied an equally efficient education and on the same
basis are being denied entrance to the City University,

The City University admits itself, that the majority of the
students who are academically deficient are Black and Hispanic
students,

In its study entitled "Effects of New Admissions Criteria
upon the ethnic composition of the City University of New York,"

It indicated, "that 72 percent of the Black students sampled scored
below a eigth grade «reading ‘level jin either -reatiing cor -math ahikity,
that 65 percent of Hispanics students similarly scored below that
level and that 20 percent of the Whiteé did,"

The study was drawn up by David E. Lavin Professor of Soclology
at Lehman College, It was based on a large sampling of students
who entered the City University in 1971,

The imposition of a eigth grade reading level is racist and
genocidel to the future of Blacks and Third World students, because
Black people have been denied an equal academically efficient
secondary education and are now being denied entrance to the City

University. This isan infrinement of Black people's Human Rights,



eve

because it denies them an equal education and penalizes them for
having an inadequate education; this is racism,

The Board of Education and the Board of Higher reading results
indicate a history of defiiciency in reading an other academics by
Black children, stemming from:alihistoryodf racism in thisscountry.
Let us note that it was only 111 years ago that it was against the
law for Black people to learn to learn how to read or write.

In the final analysis we as people can never obtain life,

liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that is noted in the Hecla~

ration of Independence, because we are subsequently denied an equal

education,
This is mass genocide against Blacks, Hispanics and also poor
Whites who receive substandard education, which chains them to
an unending spiral of proverty, and degradation, and to never as
a mass obtain life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Titus Walker

PRESIDENT OF THE
BLACK STUDENT UNION