Image / "Paternalism or Self-Determination?"

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Title: "Paternalism or Self-Determination?"
Creator: Third World Liberation Front
Date Created and/or Issued: 1969
Contributing Institution: UC Berkeley, Ethnic Studies Library
Collection: Third World Strike at University of California, Berkeley collection, 1968-1972
Rights Information: Copyright Unknown
Rights Notes: Copyright status unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of gift agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Type: image
Identifier: CES ARC 2015/1 Carton 1 Folder 3
CES0001_img_0001
Subject: Student movements
Student strikes
Third World Liberation Front
Place: Berkeley, Calif.
Source: Third World Strike at University of California, Berkeley collection, CES ARC 2015/1, Ethnic Studies Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Location: UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies Library
Transcription: PATERNALISM OR SELF-DETERMINATION? In response to a demand for a Third World College made last November by the' Third World Liberation Front, Dean Knight established a Committee on Ethnic Studies headed by Goerge A. Devos. This Committee was in turn divided into two subcommittees, one to report on the possibility of establishing ethnic institutes and one to report on the feasibility of a Third World College of Ethnic Studies. Earlier this week, George A. DeVos issued a report of his subcommittee on ethnic studies. Although the report contains many of the same concepts as the TWLF proposal, it differs fundamentally on the issues of self-determination for Third World people and student participation. In Step One of the proposal, only Third World faculty are to be on the planning committee for the Third World College. Third World students and community are thus excluded from developing the college and making it relevant to their needs. Third World faculty alone cannot decide the kind of college which Third World Students want and need; the students must be able to determine the quality of their education. The "relevant channels" to which these proposals will be forwarded as Step Two are the regular administrative and faculty channels. In this step, the Third 1'lorld faculty are excluded from the decision-making process; they have become ex-officio (non-voting) advisors. TWLF can accept no less than the reversal of this traditional approach. The Third World Implementing Committee must have decision-making powers and the committee making up the "relevant channels" must act only in an advisory capacity. Thus, the Devos report is no more than the usual paternalistic approach to satisfying the needs of Third World people. The whole tone of the report is typically liberal, completely misunderstanding the TWLF demand for self-determination. Like liberals, the Committee wants to do ihings for other people, while the TWLF wants to do things for itself. The Devos report is very similar to Dean Knight's perversion of the Afro-American Student Union's proposal for a Black Studies Department. The Knight proposal does not specify who would set up the Department nor how it would be established; the Department is supposed to be a part of the College of Letters and Science and therefore set up by the Administration and faculty. It was not given the autonomy necessary for a meaningful program. Also, the AASU proposal stressed curricular community programs and student participation in the decision-making process as essential, while the Knight proposal recommends that the Chancellor consider implementing the former via extension or appropriate research centers and ignores the latter. The TWLF strike will end when the administration does the following: 1) Immediately establish an independent Department of Ethnic Studies on a temporary basis with a commitment to an autonomous Third World College controlled by Third World people (students, faculty and community) by September, 1969; 2) Hire Third World administrators who have already been and will be recommended by member organizations of the TWLF; 3) (a) Expand the Educational Opportunity Program and related programs equal to the needs of Third World people; (b) 30 Work-Study positions for the Chinatown and Manilatown projects, and 10 EOP counselors, including a full-time Asian Coordinator; (c) Expand Work-Study program jobs to the AASU East campus Berkeley High School Project to include at least 30 positions; (d) Give permanent status to the Chicano Center with funds to implement its programs; 4) Third World people must be in control at the decision-making level from funding to program implementation for every University program financed federally or otherwise that involves the Third World communities (Chicano, Black, Asian); 5) Not administer any disciplinary action in any way to any student, worker, teacher, or administrator during and after the strike as a consequence of his participation in the strike. labor donated TWLF

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