Allegations of racism and segregation are swarming around the University of California at Berkeley after the collaborative community farm it shares with the local community of Albany reportedly banned white residents from using it.
According to the New York Post, “The university told The Post it is investigating claims that the ‘Gill Tract Community Farm’ in nearby Albany offered its space on Saturday exclusively to ‘Black, Indigenous, and People of Color,’ after a complaint with the US Department of Education by the Mountain States Legal Foundation.”
William Trachman, general counsel for the group, said there’s nothing “progressive” about the shocking move.
“UC-Berkeley thinks that racial segregation is progressive now, but it’s no different than segregation of the past,” he noted.
A graduate of UC-Berkeley, Trachman says it’s also against the law.
“Preventing Caucasians from accessing Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources Farm on Saturdays is a clear violation of Title VI, which bars educational institutions from engaging in or allowing race discrimination,” he said.
“He said the feds should open a sweeping audit of every UC-Berkeley program to ferret out what he claimed was ‘systemic racism,'” added The Post.
According to its website, the mission of the Gill Tract Community Farm is “to conduct collaborative community-driven research, education, and extension focused on ecological farming and food justice, and to foster equitable economies, a healthy environment, and increased resilience in vulnerable communities, both urban and rural.”
In 2023, one user on X gave a brief history of the farm, and it’s a doozy.
He wrote, “11 years ago, May 14 2012, University of California police raided and destroyed an occupation of Albany’s Gill Tract, arresting nine people. For a month, Occupy the Farm had illegally farmed the UC-owned property, which was slated to be sold for private development.”
“Activists had fought since 1997 to turn the tract into a center for sustainable urban agriculture, but had been consistently blocked by the UC,” the thread continued. “On Apr 22 2012, activists aligned with the Occupy movement decided to take the land over and farm it themselves.”
Activists had fought since 1997 to turn the tract into a center for sustainable urban agriculture, but had been consistently blocked by the UC. On Apr 22 2012, activists aligned with the Occupy movement decided to take the land over and farm it themselves pic.twitter.com/mdSD6JgE1O — Left in the Bay (@leftinthebay) May 14, 2023
According to the user, “Occupiers chose the date of their occupation to coincide with Via Campesina’s International Day of Peasant Resistance.
“OTF saw itself as ‘a cross-pollination of Occupy and food justice movements,’ and was in direct communication with Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement (MST).”
Occupiers chose the date of their occupation to coincide with Via Campesina’s International Day of Peasant Resistance. OTF saw itself as “a cross-pollination of Occupy and food justice movements,” and was in direct communication with Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) pic.twitter.com/jpodd7bXUU — Left in the Bay (@leftinthebay) May 14, 2023
“Occupy the Farm had about 70 planted rows, a seed library, chicken coops, and a lady-bug patch for children. It also hosted a number of teach-ins and educational events,” the user continued. “On May 14, police raided and trashed the farm, although occupations continued on-and-off in the following years.”
“In 2014, the UC turned the northern part of Gill Tract into a community farm, while the southern section has since been developed into a grocery store.”
On May 14, police raided and trashed the farm, although occupations continued on-and-off in the following years. In 2014, the UC turned the northern part of Gill Tract into a community farm, while the southern section has since been developed into a grocery store pic.twitter.com/A8B6njsxZs — Left in the Bay (@leftinthebay) May 14, 2023
The complaint against Berkeley “includes an email from a farm program manager telling someone, ‘Saturdays are exclusively BIPOC. Exceptions have only been made for events that are BIPOC-centered and with plenty of advance notice and planning,'” The Post reports, ‘I trust you stand in solidarity with upholding boundaries around that safe and sacred space,’ the farm manager said.”
It wasn’t until The Post reached out to the university that UC-Berkeley knew a complaint had been filed, according to UC-Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof.
“The anonymous texts attached to the complaint have no specific information about time or place,” he told The Post. “And, as you can see, the Gill Tract’s website and calendar make no mention whatsoever of any program or activity of the sort described in the complaint.”
“Having said that,” he added, “the university takes complaints like this extremely seriously and I can assure you that on Monday I will contact the appropriate people on campus in an effort to determine what the facts are.”
“The challenge to alleged UC-Berkeley’s segregated farming practice comes after the US Supreme Court ruled last June that colleges’ race-conscious or ‘affirmative action’ admissions policies were unconstitutional and had to be scrapped,” The Post notes.
Online, the outrage is palpable.
UC Berkeley accused of segregation by allegedly banning whites from community farm. They’re racists. https://t.co/Ga4jVoqojE — Brie Grey ❄️ (@brigrey1005) April 1, 2024
Leftists outing themselves as evil racists. They would kill or enslave us if they could. Good luck to them. https://t.co/V0Be2SEIJu — Wayne Root – Wayne Allyn Root – TV & Radio Host (@RealWayneRoot) April 1, 2024
Berkeley used to fight against racism, now they promote it! Oh, how things have changed! from Integrity, to nothing but trash! Systemic racism is back at Berkeley.https://t.co/duhw6wguTp — Dmturk (@abledanm) April 1, 2024