California to Rewrite History Textbooks - Include Mexican Americans

Cesar Chavez and Duane Campbell

California to adopt a new guide to Mexican American (Chicano) history, (and everyone else)

"Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed.  You can not un-educate the person who has learned to read.. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.

Cesar Chávez. November 9, 1984.

by Duane Campbell

History will change in May of 2016 for the students of California, and in subsequent years students throughout the nation.

We have a unique opportunity to change the history books in California  K-12 to include Chicano/Mexican American history.

Mexican American/ Chicano history is currently substantially absent from public school textbooks and curriculum in California- and it has been since 1986.  Latino student political non participation and alienation from school is significantly caused by Latino absence from the K-12 textbooks and curriculum.

For the last two years the Mexican American Digital History Project and a broad group of allies have been working for to add Chicano history to the California History/Social Science Framework, the document that determines what goes into textbooks in California. See https://sites.google.com/site/chicanodigital/

We are pleased to inform you that the Quality Instructional Materials Commission an advisory committee of the  California State Board of Education have completed their proposed revised framework and it includes most of what we wanted on Mexican American history.  A significant dispute remains on how the document should cover Indian and Hindu history.  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/06/us/debate-erupts-over-californias-india-history-curriculum.html

The final document will be approved by the QIC on May 19, and soon thereafter by the California State Board of Education.

The documents are here along with a link to the live webcast.

http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/cc/cd/iqcpubmeetings2016.asp

We are confident that this will be resolved.  For now, please monitor the situation and continue to  encourage elected officials  to include a history inclusive of California’s children.

Step by step the longest march can be won.  

It is interesting to note that California Departments of History in the CSU system and the UC system have not been allies nor helpful in this effort.  A number of other groups who should have been allies have been AWOL.