Student-Led Rally Will Protest Racism

More than 500 people from around the county are expected to participate Monday in a student-organized rally and candlelight vigil decrying racism and calling for cultural understanding in Fillmore.

“It’s not a political rally in any way,” said Sydia Lopez, a senior at Fillmore High School and member of an informal group called Understanding New Ideas Through Youth--UNITY--that is organizing the event. “We just wanted to let the community know how we felt and hopefully unite people.”

The rally is part of the fallout from the September visit of Republican vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp and wife Joanne, who returned to the idyllic town of her 1950s youth only to be confronted by the realities of 1990s California.

During the Kemps’ visit, Latino students protested Republican support for Proposition 209, which would abolish state affirmative action programs. The protest upset and embarrassed some Fillmore residents, but some students said racist comments from the largely white crowd exacerbated tensions.

“The Kemp rally may have exemplified a little how people are feeling,” Lopez said. “It’s time for us to look at our diversity and look past racism.”

At Monday’s event, African American, Latino, Native American and white students will talk about their experiences with prejudice, Lopez said. A candlelight vigil follows.

The rally, dubbed Unity for our Community, begins at 7 p.m. in Central Park in front of Fillmore’s new City Hall.