UC Berkeley-owned community farm allegedly bans white people on Saturdays

UC Berkeley is facing backlash and allegations of "systemic racism" after it reportedly banned white people on Saturdays from a community farm it co-owns.

Gill Tract Community Farm is in nearby Albany, California, and designated Saturdays as exclusive to "Black, Indigenous, and People of Color," according to the New York Post. A complaint about the banning of white people was sent to the US Department of Education by the Mountain States Legal Foundation.

Even as one of the most progressive colleges in the country, some have accused the school of "systemic racism."

William Trachman, general counsel for the Mountain States Legal Foundation said, "UC-Berkeley thinks that racial segregation is progressive now, but it's no different than segregation of the past."

“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,” added Trachman.

He said that it was an example of "systemic racism" that had to end. 

The farm was launched in 2013 with a partnership between UC Berkeley and the neighboring community around the farm. Students as well as staff go there to grow crops as well as conduct farming research. 

The complaint included an email from a staff member on the farm which said “Saturdays are exclusively BIPOC. Exceptions have only been made for events that are BIPOC-centered and with plenty of advance notice and planning.”
 

In a statement to the Post, US-Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said, "The anonymous texts attached to the complaint have no specific information about time or place. 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, 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."