Racial Justice -- Behind Today's Campus Anti-War Activism

Dominique, a 22-year-old student at the University of California at Berkeley, stands in a blue work jumpsuit with a purple bandanna on her head, what she calls her "Rosie the Riveter outfit." She's holding an American flag with rainbow-colored stripes at an anti-war rally, trying to get passers-by to sign a petition to "protect our civil liberties."

"I was never politically active before this. A couple weeks ago, though, I was walking out of class and I heard somebody tell this guy, 'Stop looking at me, you barbaric Arab.' I was shocked. Then I came out here and heard these people cheering 'Stop the violence, stop the hate.' From there I started marching and going to their meetings."

There's a new anti-war movement brewing on the Berkeley campus, but it's not your parents' protest. Young people do not chant "Hell no, we won't go." They're crying out for racial justice, civil liberties, and other issues important to today's youths.

"America" -- The Community Media Project

It's a movement that has brought the diverse campus together to some extent. But different groups with different agendas have gotten involved, causing confusion and turning some away from the movement.

After two weeks of involvement in the organizing effort, Dominique has noticed a somewhat muddled message.

"There is a laundry list of issues. We have people with all different reasons why they don't want war or why they want their civil liberties protected, so it's kind of hard," she said.

Dominique got involved because she wanted to stop racial profiling at her school.

	"It's a coming together between the two opposing groups of the rally under the second two points of unity: End Racism and Defend Civil Liberties. So what we do is agree to disagree on the first one (Stop the War) and come together on the second and third to try and get our message out."

"The main issue is racism in general. The thing is, when you go against people who look Middle Eastern, that can be anybody. Somebody said to me 'Bring all your friends, we're going to bomb your ass.' I said, 'I'm from Puerto Rico --you've been bombing Vieques for the last 25 years.'

"We can't support terrorism, but how are we going to fight terrorism with terrorism?"

Berkeley's student anti-war movement has garnered a student response. Eric is an 18-year-old freshman at Cal and a member of United Students of America (USA). The group formed to show support for America in the face of the attacks, and as a response to the campus protestors.

"We are kind of disgusted, in a way, by these protests, so we decided to rise up and show the world that there are people in Berkeley who do support America," Eric said.

Eric stands with a large American flag over his shoulder, the only flag at the rally that is not in some way defaced, altered or displayed upside-down. A group of students surrounds him, and he calmly addresses all of their questions and accusations.

USA and its members have, expectedly, encountered a lot of opposition on campus. Eric tells the story of an anti-war organizer who followed a USA co-founder to his dorm, yelling at him and shaking his fist.

"He was saying how peace was the way and 'You're completely wrong,' and I honestly didn't catch much of it because of all the yelling and screaming," Eric said.

Eric and his fellow organizers at USA don't want to silence the protestors, though. He supports their right to air their views, but wonders why so many different issues come up in the context of an anti-war dialogue.

"I differ on their viewpoints but I believe in free speech. I think that some of the rhetoric they're using isn't good, though. They're tying in a lot of different cards -- the race factor, the sex factor, and I don't think that necessarily applies to the situation.