This past Tuesday, the Berkeley College Republicans sponsored a bake sale on campus that sold cupcakes at different prices based on ethnicity. Whites had to pay the highest prices at $2 per cupcake, while Native Americans received the lowest prices at 25 cents.

The group staged the event to mock a Berkeley student government resolution supporting SB 185, a bill the California legislature passed that would allow state universities to “consider race, gender, ethnicity and national origin of admissions applications.”

The bill is controversial because California citizens banned affirmative action via a ballot measure known as Proposition 209 in 1996. Therefore, SB 185 may be unconstitutional.

Since Californians banned affirmative action, enrollment of African-American, Latino, and American Indians has dropped meaningfully at the university.

Fall Admissions by Ethnicity, Source: University of California at Berkeley

Fall Admissions by Ethnicity, Source: University of California at Berkeley

The key question is the following:

Was the event racist and in bad taste, or was it justified based on the passage of an equally, if not more, offensive bill?

I look forward to hearing a lively discussion. I have included the following videos to provide some additional background information.