BY BARBARA BOWMAN
SAN FRANCISCO - The day that California's Proposition 209 went into effect, thousands of supporters of affirmative action chanted, sang, and marched their way across San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge to protest the law that will supposedly end government sponsored affirmative action in this state. The police estimated the crowd at 4,000 people. March organizers said 10,000 protesters participated.

Many motorists on the bridge honked and saluted the marchers with thumbs-up signs. Two small planes carried banners opposing the demands of the march. One banner read, "Affirmative action is wrong - Jesse be gone," referring to Democratic Party politician Jesse Jackson, one of the initiators of the march. The other declared, "Real women don't need feminists."

The event, organized on short notice and dubbed the "March to Save the Dream," was called to commemorate the 34th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "March on Washington."

March organizers had agreed not to carry banners and signs and tried to ban singing and chanting, but several contingents captured the anger and confidence of many of the demonstrators. About 30 farm workers, including some from strawberry fields being organized by the United Farm Workers union (UFW), led hundreds in chanting, "Sí, se puede," (Yes, it can be done) as the crowd poured into Crissy Field for a rally after the march.

Fifty law students from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, wore T-shirts that read, "I'm a Boalt Hall student and I support affirmative action" on the front and, "Qualified and here to stay," on the back.

Proposition 209 was approved last November banning affirmative action programs at state and government institutions. Only one Afro-American student was admitted to Boalt Hall this year.

Rashaad Ibrahim, 24, a third-year Boalt Law School student, explained, "We've been having a lot of protests at Boalt Hall against the new admissions policies, but it's just a small part of a larger sickness. It's important to not let the lie be told that no one sees the wrong in Proposition 209."

Mia Paraiso, 16, marched with 17 other students from Mercy High School, a Catholic girls' school in San Francisco. "I really believe in affirmative action, in giving minorities an equal opportunity starting out. I don't think that Proposition 209 should go through. Even if it goes through the court, they shouldn't enforce it," she said.

Hundreds of demonstrators sported union jackets or hats, but few marched in organized contingents. The presence of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) was evident by a blue truck, one side of which said, "Part-time America Doesn't Work! Support the UPS Strikers!"

The march was called by Jesse Jackson. Sponsors included the National Organization for Women (NOW), the UFW, and the mayor's offices of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Berkeley.

The office of San Francisco mayor William Brown played a prominent role in building the demonstration, including contacting minority contractors that do business with the city urging them and their employees to attend the march. Brown negotiated personally with the park service, California Highway Patrol, San Francisco Police Department, and the Sheriff's Department on the policies of the event.

Organizers of the march used park police and National Park rangers to remove people distributing political literature and attempted to prohibit sales of any kind. A "First Amendment area" was set up behind two sets of barricades in the middle of a large parking lot a considerable distance from the rally.

A park policeman confiscated donations made to an anti- police brutality organization and returned a $2 donation made by a woman to a pro-choice group. "Don't I have the right to make a contribution to a cause I support?" she asked the cop.

The same officer threatened Militant salespeople with a $500 citation each if they were discovered distributing "as much as a single leaflet" after the activists refused to hand over copies of their paper.

Jackson will lead a similar march on Sacramento, the state capital, October 27.

Barbara Bowman is a member of United Transportation Union Local 1732 in San Francisco. Cathleen Gutekanst, a member of Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Local 1-5 in Richmond, California, contributed to this article.  
 
 
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