History & Hope: Sac State professor Dr. Robert Stanley Oden on fighting for racial equality
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Updated: 1:12 PM PST Feb 22, 2021
By Julian Gaskins
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Updated: 1:12 PM PST Feb 22, 2021
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LICENSE PLATE 8 UKN 742. WILLIAMS IS BEING HELD ON ELEVEN MILLION DOLLARS BAIL. ALL THIS MONTH, WE’RE SPEAKING WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN PUSHING FOR RACIAL EQUALIT WALTER: IN 1967, DR. STANLEY ODEN KNEW WHEN HE STEPPED ON THE CAMPUS OF U.C. DAVIS HE WOULD TAKE HIS KNOWLEDGE BACK TO HIS HOMETOWN OF SAN DIEGO AND HELP HIS COMMUNITY. BRANDI: THE FORMER MEMBER OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY AND NOW A PROFESSOR AT SACRAMENTO STATE ENCOURAGED DIVERSITY AND PUSHED EVERYONE AROUND HIM TO FIGHT FOR EQUALITY. WALTER: THE NOW 73-YEAR-OLD AUTHOR WAS ONE OF ONLY 40 AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS ON T U.C. DAVIS CAMPUS, BUT THAT DIDN’T STOP HIM FROM CREATING THE BLACK STUDENT UNION WHICH STILL EXISTS TODAY BRANDI: IN OUR "PROJECT COMMUNITY: HISTORY AND HOPE," PRODUCER JULIAN GASKINS TAKES US TO THE MOMENT ONE STUDENT’S PASSION FOR JUSTICE TURNED INTO A LIFETIME OF SERVIC REPORTER: DR. STAN ODEN FROM SACRAMENTO STATE. THANK YOU FOR JOINING ME TODAY. CAN YOU DESCRIBE TO ME WHAT IT WAS LIKE THE FIRST TIME YOU CAME TO THE SACRAMENTO AREA? >> WOW. I CAME IN THE SACRAMENTO AREA WHEN I WENT TO UC DAVIS SUMMER OF 1967. THERE WERE ONLY 40 AFRICAN AMERICANS ON CAMPUS. IN FACT, THERE WERE MORE AFRICAN STUDENTS ON CAMPUS THAN THERE WERE AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS ON CAMPUS. I WAS THE PRESIDENT OF THE BLACK STUDENT UNION AT THE TIME AND WE BEGAN TO ORGANIZE ON CAMPUS TO BEGIN TO DEAL WITH THE ISSUES DR. KING HAD TALKED ABOUT AND BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER. SO WE CREATED SOMETHING CALLED THE MARTIN LUTHER KING COALITION. REPORTER THEY WERE A DIVERSE GROUP OF STUDENTS WHO BROUGHT NEARLY A DOZEN DEMANDS TO THE UNIVERSITY, GRABBING THE ATTENTION OF U.C. LEADERS. >> THE REGENTS COULDN’T MEET IN ANY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA CAMPUS BECAUSE OF THE PROTES HAPPENING IN 1968, 1969. SO THEY DECIDED TO COME TO DAV TO MEET BECAUSE DAVIS WAS A SAFE CAMPUS. WE ORGANIZED OVER 2,000 STUDENTS TO COME TO THE REGENTS MEETING. RONALD REAGAN WAS GOVERNOR. HE CALLED TO FIVE CHP OFFICERS TO BASICALLY COME AND ARREST US WHO WERE THERE. REPORTER: DR. ODEN MET WITH SOME OF THE U.C. REGENTS AGAIN, REITERATING THEIR DEMANDS. >> THEN THEY DIDN’T DO ANYTHING, BUT WE SAID WE’LL MEET YOU AT THE NEXT REGENTS MEETING. THE NEXT REGENTS MEETING WAS AT UC SANTA BARBARA. WE TOOK 500 STUDENTS DOWN TO THAT MEETING SCARED EVERYBODY DOWN THERE TO DEATH. THEY THOUGHT IT WAS AN INVASION FROM DAVIS. WELL, WE WERE INVADING THAT REGENTS MEETIN AND AT THAT MEETING, THE UC REGENTS AGREED WITH SOME OF OUR DEMANDS. REPORTER: WHAT’S SOME OF THE WAYS YOU’VE HELPED BREAK DOWN BARRIERS HERE AT SAC STATE? >> ONE OF THE THINGS I FOUND OUT WHEN I WAS DOING MY RESEARCH AROUND EDUCATION ACHIEVEMENT IS CHILDREN OF COLOR DO BETTER IN CLASSROOMS WHEN THEY CAN RELATE TO THE FACULTY MEMBERS. AND THEY CAN RELATE TO THE FACULTY MEMBER THROUGH CULTURAL RELATIONSHIPS AND UNDERSTANDIN WHO THE STUDENTS ARE AND AT SAC STATE, YOU HAD SO F STUDENTS OF COLOR THAT THI PAST -- THIS HAS TO AFFECT THE RETENTION OF STUDENTS OF COLOR. SO IN MY DEPARTMENT, I WAS ON HIRING COMMITTEES, AND I KNOW THAT’S WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD. REPORTER: DO YOU HAVE A MESSAGE FOR THE YOUNGER GENERATION? >> GET INVOLVED. GET INVOLVED IN YOUR COMMUNITY. ONE OF THE THINGS I’VE DONE AS A PROFESSOR IS I’VE GOTTEN STUDENTS INVOLVED IN SERVICE LEARNING, GOING AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATIONS AND AGENCIES WITH PAID STAFF PEOPLE TO LEARN FROM WHAT’S GOING ON. BUT ALSO TO ENGAGE IN THE COMMUNITY, COMMUNITY ISSUES, AND COMMUNITY PROBLEMS SO THEY CAN REALLY UNDERSTAND THE LIVED EXPERIENCES THAT PEOPLE