Youth Against War and Racism (YAWR) began in the fall of 2004 when three high school members of Socialist Alternative started to organize against military recruiters at Kennedy High in Bloomington, Minnesota. When their principal tried to ban them from setting up an antiwar table against military recruiters, the students waged a successful public campaign defending their free speech rights.
As news of this victory spread, YAWR quickly grew to other high schools across the Twin Cities. Student activists with Socialist Alternative along with independent activists started YAWR chapters in other cities in spring of 2005.
