Ethnic Studies

 

Ethnic Studies Bill in Senate Education Committee

AB 2016 (Ethnic Studies Bill) goes before the CA Senate Education Committee tomorrow:

• Please call Senator Carol Liu (Chair of Senate Ed Committee) and ask for her to vote in support of AB 2016. Her telephone number in Sacramento is (916) 651-4025. AB 2016 successfully made its way through the California Assembly, and now needs to continue its path through the Senate.

Letter of Support from Tom Torlakson

• California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has expressed his support for AB 2016 in a letter last week which he sent to Senator Carol Liu. This is an important step, as this is the first year that he has shown this level of support for Ethnic Studies. You can read the letter here: http://www.ethnicstudiesnow.com/tom_torlakson_letter_of_support_of_ab_2016You can call to express your thanks to him here: (916) 319-0800.

Defend Ethnic Studies at SFSU

Precious Knowledge - Event Sacramento

College Protests- Worthwhile Causes

by Jimmy  Franco, Sr

The deep-seated anger that caused the recent outbreak of student protests at colleges across the country has been building on campuses for a number of years due to ingrained racial issues that have been consistently glossed over and never thoroughly resolved. From Yale to Missouri and across the country to the University of Southern California, Occidental College, UCLA and Claremont College, angry minority students along with white student allies have stood up to raise their voices in opposition to random acts of intolerance at many of these schools. Such racially-related incidents against African-Americans and Latino students involve derogatory comments or outright insults, racially-themed fraternity parties, segregated social events and in many cases a hostile campus environment that makes many minority students feel unwelcome. The accumulated effect of this pattern of everyday racial slights has finally ignited the simmering anger of many of these students who have finally declared that they would no longer put up with such ignorant and abusive behavior at their schools. Many colleges and their bureaucratic administrators have ignored racially-biased policies and incidents of bigotry for years and allowed them to persist without taking any thoroughgoing preventive nor remedial measures to eliminate them. This is called by school administrators as “keeping the lid on problems”. In this day and age, it is astounding that minority students who are trying to receive an education at our universities still have to experience racial insults, name calling and intolerant behavior by a certain sector of students. This intolerance exhibited by a number of white students is a direct reflection of their background and upbringing within a bigoted sector of our society whose traits have unfortunately been brought onto college campuses by them. 

This increase in racially-related incidents has been labeled with a new social term called microaggression which could be described as a milder form of everyday racism or being racially insensitive in a more casual way. To those who are not on the receiving end, microaggresion is supposedly not as bad as macro or large-scale and blatant racial aggression. Many apologists for such unprincipled racial behavior believe that African-American and Latino students can easily avoid these micro-racial slights by simply ignoring them. However, racial harassment, stereotypes and insults whether large or small are still racism and no one in 2015 needs to endure such irritating incidents and harmful behavior whether it be at work or school.

A self-righteous and kneejerk reaction from the political right

There has been a vocal backlash against these student protests from many on the political right along with their media allies. These are people who as white students were most likely sheltered and never had to experience any type of racial slights or ethnic barriers. Many of these far-right critics have expressed condescending comments about the rash of racially-related incidents aimed at minority college students as well as against females  who have experienced sexual assaults on campuses. According to these critics these incidents are

Both the right-wing media and GOP candidates have attacked the students & defended the status quo.

simply a part of life and that most students tend to be “spoiled and need to be tougher and have a thicker skin”! These young people who are standing up and speaking out against racial intolerance, ethnic slurs or sexual assaults on campuses are being verbally attacked with a form of reverse psychology by right-wing propagandists in order to slander and undermine their principled efforts. These regressive media commentators along with the intolerant statements made by most Republican presidential candidates blame the victims and point a finger at the students as being the ones responsible for supposedly creating and exaggerating these problems at their schools.  These biased comments are aimed at covering over the real problem which is the backward culture and ideology that still spawns and condones this existing bigotry at many colleges. A number of conservative professors and alumni at certain schools have also led a coordinated attack to tarnish the protesters and their community supporters. They allege that the student’s grievances are artificially created due to an extreme form’ of political correctness and an opposition to freedom of speech that is being practiced by them. For these conservatives, their distorted version of freedom of speech means having the right to hurl bigoted insults and stereotypes at minority students and to hold racially-themed events. Other commentators on the political right have also joined in and lashed out at what they term “self-righteous and privileged” students who are unappreciative of their opportunity to attend college and who are merely whining. These ethically-warped arguments by the conservative establishment are intended to defend the structural racism that has been rooted for decades within the traditional university system. In addition, their hollow criticism that these young people are thin-skinned whining children of privilege is simply an underhanded attempt to blemish and undermine these justified student protests and defend the racially structured status quo and profitability of the university system.

The past struggles to integrate the colleges only dealt with the symptoms 

During the 1960’s and 1970’s, the principal struggle of the college student movement was to break down the traditional barriers of legal segregation that had historically excluded minority students from many campuses. This was carried out at that time in conjunction with opposition to the Vietnam War. The intense struggle against legalized segregation was aimed at government-sanctioned policies that for

The demand for the right to an education now includes the right to be free from racism on campus.

decades had restricted or made it difficult for students of color to gain entrance into schools of higher learning. Such institutional racism and its restrictive laws resulted in exclusionary de jure policies and processes that limited minority enrollment along with access to needed student services. In response, minority students during this period organized and formed student groups that struggled against the university systems in order to pressure them to open up admissions and create programs to recruit more students of color and implement campus programs to retain them. Many of these student organizations ranged from MEChAs, Black Student Unions, Puerto Rican student groups, Asian Student Unions and the assistance of white students from Students for a Democratic Society. Hard-fought battles were waged against the long-existing white supremacist structure at both public and private universities in order to make their resources available and relevant to minority students and the surrounding community. These student demands were in contrast to the traditional university role of servicing corporations and merely

Students at USC demand an end to racially-related incidents and increased diversity.

creating different colored clones as future employees in exchange for huge financial donations. Other key issues that were struggled for were the establishment of ethnic studies programs and affirmative action policies in order to expand the university’s outreach to minority students, strengthen their retention and develop a certain amount of diversity on campuses. There is an interrelated external and internal aspect to these ongoing racial problems at colleges across the country. The first stage of campus protests during the civil rights period dealt with the external and more blatant government-sanctioned racial aspect. This meant dismantling the legality of segregated schools, any existing restrictions, antiquated policies and exclusionary practices that denied large numbers of minority youth the access and right to a higher education. This first stage was essentially victorious as most racially restrictive barriers fell and more equitable policies were put in place except for the lingering and contentious issue of affirmative action which is once again being taken up by the US Supreme Court. However, the internal aspect of this problem still persists within the organizational structure of many colleges and still needs to be dealt with. It is comprised of a culture of long-embedded racial attitudes and policies of neglect, exclusion and even hostility by many administrative bureaucrats and faculty.

The second stage of confronting and rooting out structional racism has arrived

This internal and persisting structural racism with its deeply-rooted  policies and strata of biased administrators was not systematically rooted out during the 1970’s and especially at many of the private universities which are primarily profit driven. Thus, these institutional biases and inequitable policies continue to create a harmful learning environment as they are still ingrained within the mentality of many staff members at a number of colleges. At these affected schools, a strata of entrenched and highly paid bureaucrats are used to

Claremont College students protest against an official and for an end to racially-themed events.

implement and defend outdated policies that ignore the urgent need to expand minority outreach and recruitment, enhance diversity programs on campuses and implement pro-active policies to defuse racial problems by promoting intervention and student dialogue. Thus, a second stage of protest and pressure is now necessary to replace the discriminatory attitudes and biased policies that were not flushed out during the period of the 1970’s. These outdated policies remain as obstacles which hinder the prevention and resolution of racially-related incidents at campuses across the country. Many present-day college presidents and administrators who ignore this recurring pattern of bigotry on their campuses and simply look the other way are in fact encouraging the continuation of this noxious behavior and essentially promoting a breeding ground for racism. Amazingly, our institutions of higher learning which are supposed to encourage and motivate logical inquiry and a higher level of conceptual thinking and civilized behavior, are being attended by a number of misguided students who express racial insensitivity and shameless bigotry in both words and deeds. These traits could only have been instilled in them by their families, communities and former high schools who influenced their thinking. What is particularly unfortunate is that many of these same college students who espouse these backward views and behavior will eventually become the future leaders within

UCLA students demanded an end to racially-themed parties on campus and against further tuition hikes.

corporations, government and even schools where they will continue to perpetuate and spread their harmful biases. Those who oppose social change and a defense of basic rights and progress will wail in right-wing unison that these student protesters don’t appreciate America and are overly sensitive whiners who are motivated by political correctness. In reality, it is the protesting students who presently occupy the moral high ground in defense of diversity, civilized behavior and tolerance against a decaying, but still robust and entrenched racial bias that continues to exist within many of the university systems and among a segment of their students. It is the remnants of this traditional culture of intolerance along with its buffer of bureaucratic defenders that must be exposed and rooted out of these institutions once and for all through the implementation of thoroughgoing and concrete methods of pressure and change. Throughout all of these protests, the basic and underlying demand that most minority students have stood for and support is the right to be able to attend college in an equitable learning environment, receive a qualitative education and be treated in a decent and respectful manner.

Copyright, December 9, 2015: Jimmy Franco Sr.

Facebook: JimmyLatinopov
See also:  https://sites.google.com/site/chicanodigital/home/faculty-retention-at-csus--2011

Ethnic Studies Are Important

The Time for Ethnic Studies is Now

Christine Sleeter

California has one of the largest and most diverse student populations in the nation. Over 71 percent of California’s students are ethnic minority; over half are Latino. There is ongoing concern about closing racial/ethnic achievement gaps, and about building cross-racial understanding. What is often not understood is that ethnic studies helps to address both concerns.

Over the past two decades, very little attention done into making California’s curriculum more reflective of Californians. In 2002, I analyzed the History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools for its racial/ethnic representation. I found the 96 Americans named for study were 77% White, 18% African American, 4% Native American, 1% Latino, and 0% Asian American. All Latino and all but one Native American names appeared at the elementary level. AB 101 specifically addresses this absence of racial/ethnic minorities, particularly Latinos, in the state’s social science curriculum.

AB 101 Vetoed- Ethnic Studies

From the Ethnic Studies Coalition.
Unfortunately, Governor Brown refused to listen to the people -- he vetoed AB 101. Sources also tell us that State Superintendent Tom Torlakson played a role in killing the Ethnic Studies bill. You can read Gov. Brown's letter and Assemblymember Alejo's response on our website.

But we will not lose our resolve. We will not allow the powers-that-be dictate to us what is worthy of study and what is not. Our communities deserve better. We will redouble our efforts at the local level and prepare ourselves to ensure we build insurmountable public pressure to bring Ethnic Studies into every school in California.

Thanks to your efforts, school districts across California are implementing Ethnic Studies programs -- to more than 200,000 students! This is a huge accomplishment and we will continue providing support to local districts, like those in Ventura County who recently launched their Ethnic Studies Now campaign. 
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See the letters linked above. 
A process to change the History Social Science Framework that would include the Ethnic Studies proposal offers an opportunity.  See the several posts on this process here. http://antiracismdsa.blogspot.com/2015/10/breakthrough-on-california.html

Ethnic Studies Now

Thank you for making calls and sending emails. So far we have been able to send 600+ emails and 200+ calls but I believe we can do better! Can you send another email and make another phone call? It's easy to do, just…. 

call: (916) 623-4866. Tell Governor Brown to take a stand and support Ethnic Studies. California is NOT Arizona. Use/Share this ESN number so we can keep track of how many people call. Then press "1" for English, and "4" to speak with a rep. Say you want the Governor to sign AB 101 into law. If you get voicemail, it means the Governor's line is busy, so just keep calling back. There are a lot of bills on the Governor's desk, so a lot of calls being made.

2. Email Governor Brown (there shouldn't be any more bouncing, as we removed the cc to the Gov's staffer whose box was full):

3. Letters to the Editor
Please also consider writing a Letter to the Editor to one of the following newspapers about the importance of AB 101 and Ethnic Studies. You can use the email to the Governor as an example. Please let us know if the article is published. How to submit a Letter to the Editor:

Ethnic studies courses benefit all students

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/sep/26/ethnic-studies-education-students/

By Thandeka K. Chapman & Tricia M. Gallagher-Geurtsen | 12:01 a.m. Sept. 26, 2015 | Updated, 5 p.m. | Sept. 25, 2015

On June 9, 2015, the Board of Education of the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) approved a resolution for an Ethnic Studies Advisory Committee to begin meeting immediately to “develop recommendations as to how ethnic studies can be implemented and accessible to all students in the San Diego Unified School District throughout their K-12 educational experience.” Why ethnic studies and why is this curriculum important for all of our youth in San Diego?
The support for ethnic studies in K-12 schools in California has been growing for the past few years. Briefly, ethnic studies is the interdisciplinary study through social science, history and literature of how different populations have engaged in and experienced building what is now the United States of America. Although the student population of San Diego Unified School District is extremely diverse representing many ethnic groups and more than 60 languages and dialects, our social science, history and language arts texts and curriculum are not reflective of this diversity.

Ethnic Studies Bill Passes Senate- On to the Governor

Thanks to your constant support AB 101 Ethnic Studies passed today in the California State Senate!!! It now goes to the Governor's desk for signature. We are receiving word that he may veto the bill. Please join us and take action!

1. Call the Governor:
(916) 623-4866. Tell Governor Brown to take a stand and support Ethnic Studies. California is NOT Arizona. Use/Share this ESN number so we can keep track of how many people call. Then press "1" for English, and "4" to speak with a rep. Say you want the Governor to sign AB 101 into law. If you get voicemail, it means the Governor's line is busy, so just keep calling back.

2. Email Governor Brown:

Letters to the Editor
Please also consider writing a Letter to the Editor to one of the following newspapers about the importance of AB 101 and Ethnic Studies. You can use the email to the Governor as an example. Please let us know if the article is published. How to submit a Letter to the Editor:

• Sacramento Bee: http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article2571437.html
• San Fransisco Chronicle: http://www.sfgate.com/submissions/
• San Diego Union-Tribune: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/letters-commentaries
• Los Angeles Time: http://www.latimes.com/oe-howtosubmitoped-story.html

Upcoming Events

Support Ethnic Studies

Thank you!  In 24 hours over 100 people sent emails in support of AB 101. Can we reach 200? If you haven't sent an email yet it's super easy, just click on the orange button below. This Wednesday the Ethnic Studies bill will go before the Assembly Education Committee -- and they need to hear from you as soon as possible: Please click on the button above, add your name at the bottom of the email, and send.

Ethnic Studies Now - Sacramento

Ethnic Studies Now Coalition-Sacramento

In solidarity with school districts in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Monica and El Rancho, who have passed resolutions requiring Ethnic Studies classes for graduation, the Ethnic Studies Now-Sacramento coalition seeks your participation in establishing an Ethnic Studies grad requirement at Sacramento City Unified School District.   

Parents, students, educators, and community members are invited to attend a community meeting

March 18, 2015

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Language Academy of Sacramento

2850 49^th St., Sacramento, CA 95817

www.ethnicstudiesnow.com

Ethnic Studies Now - Sacramento

Sign the petition

Sacramento City USD High School Students have joined efforts with the statewide/national coalition Ethnic Studies Now to require Ethnic Studies as a graduation requirement.  On February 24, 2015 they launched their petition campaign and hope to obtain over a 1,000 signatures for this measure. The students are asking community members to support this effort by signing the petition. The petition will go live by this afternoon – the link is as follows:  http://www.ethnicstudiesnow.com/scusd . Please spread the word. If you are interested in finding out more and getting involved a community meeting will be held on March 18, 2015 6 p.m. (location TBD).

In Solidarity,

The existing educational system will not solve our social problems

Things to No Longer Believe In, and Things to Do in 2015

by Jimmy Franco Sr.

We all have a general tendency to believe in myths that have been consistently repeated to us all of our lives as this type of conditioning process has instilled within our minds a subjective faith in certain feel-good concepts and abstractions that do not really exist. We are not born this way, but we are propagandized and programmed to accept as true what political authorities, schools and other social institutions implant within us even though many of these ingrained myths, concepts and historical occurrences that we are taught are often not real or actually didn’t happen within our society. So, there is a contradiction between what many of us have been conditioned to believe and what actually exists or simply put, illusions versus social reality. With the approach of 2015, we need to reject this conditioning process and discard most abstract concepts, theories and illusory beliefs that are detached from the objective world and which hinder us from confronting important social issues and changing conditions within our society…Here are some beliefs that many of us hold or have once held, that actually don’t exist or do not correspond to the real world. As such, they need to be discarded into the trash bin of 2014.

The existing educational system will solve our social problems:

The traditional message that we have all heard is to tell students to attend school and do well and that this effort will most likely produce a good future. However, this educational road is a lot more complicated and difficult than implied by this simplified message. Numerous young casualties are being left along the academic pathway as many students have tried their best in school and still have fallen by the educational wayside. While we should motivate

Ethnic studies courses develop academic skills & an enhanced sense of cultural pride

students to do well in school, the existing reality of an unequal educational system, poverty, parents working long hours to survive, inferior schools with low expectations and sub-standard teachers, effectively derail the enthusiasm and academic achievement of many low-income Latino students. Adding to this deplorable situation is the rapid increase in college tuition costs and resulting loan debt. These social and economic barriers are widespread in many of our schools and prevent many students with good intentions from not successfully completing their studies. Besides being supported and motivated to do well academically by family and friends, students also need to be encouraged by them to become involved in the growing political movement to reform and change their schools by demanding more funding and resources for their classrooms, a higher level of expectations and accountability from teachers and administrators and lower college tuition costs. The participation by students in this struggle to change and improve our schools is an important aspect of a student’s education and is a way for them to give back to their communities while enhancing their own world outlook and academic work. The ability of all students to actually have an equal opportunity to succeed in school requires that we continue our efforts to fundamentally change and reform our present educational system. Otherwise, a sizable number of these students with good intentions and who are trying their best will continue to fall through the educational cracks of a broken system.

Ethnic Studies to be required in San Francisco

Ethnic Studies Victory! San Francisco Unified, 3rd District in CA Making it a Graduation Requirement

The San Francisco Unified School District has approved Ethnic Studies as a graduation requirement.  SFUSD is the 3rd district in California, following the wake of El Rancho Unified and LAUSD.

Inspired by Ethnic Studies programs such as Raza Studies in Tucson and their struggle, high school and college students were joined by teachers, researchers, and the general community in this historic victory. 

Follow the legal battle for Raza Studies: The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will be hearing Maya Arce v. John Huppenthal on January 2015 .

"Ethnic Studies is a game changer in starting the process of loving ourselves...The more I learn about myself and my history the more open I am about learning your history and who you are, and thus our collective history..." - Ms. Kim-Shree Maufas

LA Unified begins requiring Ethnic Studies

                                                                      Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed.  You cannot un-

Cesar Chavez & Duane Campbell, 1972.

educate the person who has learned to read.  You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.  Cesar Chávez.  November 9, 1984.

By 2019, every Los Angeles Unified School District high school student will need to take a class in ethnic studies to graduate.

The LAUSD board voted 6-1 on Tuesday to require the courses and increase ethnic studies classes as hundreds of students rallied outside the district's downtown headquarters, shouting "We won!"

District officials estimate the new requirement will cost $3.9 million to roll out to all 140,00 high school students, but the board has yet to be presented with the program's budget.

Ethnic studies, the interdisciplinary study of race, ethnicity and culture, has long been offered in colleges, but has not been widely available in high schools. 

Several ethnic studies courses, such as Chicano Literature or African American History, are already offered at 19 district schools, but fewer than half count towards California university entrance, according to a board report.

Supporters say exposing students to the stories and cultures of other ethnicities promotes racial tolerance and teaches a more accurate version of the country's history.

“There is a saying: 'The real story of the hunter will be told when the lion and the buffalo get to write,'" said LAUSD board member George McKenna, co-sponsor of the resolution who represents South Los Angeles. 

Angie Escalante, a senior at Orthopaedic Hospital Medical Magnet High School near USC, complained her history and literature courses focus too heavily on white people.

"It says that we don't exist and when we do, it's for something bad," Escalante said. She heard about the initiative to require ethnic studies and encouraged her classmates to attend the board meeting – a first for many.

"When I heard we would have the chance to change history, I was like, 'That would be awesome,'" said Brenda Perez, her voice cracking from four hours of shouting.

"We think this builds a young person's sense of self and empathy in others,"said Manuel Criollo with Community Rights Campaign, an advocacy group supporting the ethnic studies policy. The group shuttled in dozens of Little Caesars' pizzas to feed the crowds of teenagers.

KPCC http://www.scpr.org/blogs/education/2014/11/19/17582/lausd-requiring-ethnic-studies-for-graduation/

Why California Students Need Ethnic Studies

By Duane Campbell

Children and young adults need to see themselves in the curriculum.  Students, particularly students of color, have low levels of attachment to California and U.S.  civil society  messages in significant part because the government institution they encounter the most- the schools- ignore the students own history, cultures and experiences.

Campaign to promote Ethnic Studies

Campaign To Promote Ethnic Studies Summit - October 18, 2014

      

PURPOSE: A conference for those committed to promote Ethnic Studies at all levels of the educational system, to discuss the state of Ethnic Studies in California, Arizona and Texas, and present new models that enhance Ethnic Studies in K-12, based on local-control school board policies and partnerships between schools with colleges and universities.

KEYNOTE ADDRESSES: by Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor & Chair, Africana Studies Dep't, CSULB and Dr. Rudy Acuña, Professor Emeritus, Chicana/o Studies Dept., CSUN.

Campaign to Promote Ethnic Studies Summit 

Saturday, October 18, 2014 ~ 9am-5pm

CSULB Anatol Conference Center

(University Library)

1250 Bellflower Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90840

(Directions and $5 parking at Lot 7: http://csulb.edu/community/v-gettinghere.html)

El Rancho USD makes Ethnic Studies a graduation requirement

Support AB 1750- Ethnic Studies in Schools

Re: Support AB 1750 (Alejo)

Dear Assemblyman Alejo:

As Director of the Democracy and Education Institute, I write in support of AB 1750 –Ethnic Studies, and to offer assistance in this work.

Given California’s increasing diversity, it is vitally important that students receive knowledge of the various ethnic groups in our state and that they learn to work together toward building our democracy.

The Democracy and Education Institute has been working on this issue since 2009, and I have been working on the issue since 1986.

As a part of the effort to include Ethnic Studies I encourage you to concentrate on expanding  Ethnic Studies in the History/Social Science Framework for California public schools.  This state document determines what is taught in our schools and what is included in the textbooks.  There is almost no Mexican American history in the document.  There is a 9^th grade elective course that could be offered.  Your bill should assist in that the CDE should report on the number and the nature of Ethnic Studies offerings.

Reclaim the University- Administration and Faculty Failure at Sacramento State

by Duane Campbell
I just returned from a panel discussion at Sac State by faculty and students on Reclaim the University.  The event was sponsored by Students for Quality Education an organizing group with years of experience.  There  were strong positions on the need to hire new ethnic faculty made by both faculty and students.  Student after student reported that they had few contacts with ethnic faculty.   While there are some 22% of the students who are Latino, less than 6 % of the faculty are Latinos - less today than in 1974.
 African Americans are similarly under represented.

In 1972 the Government Dept. at Sac State had 2 African American faculty members and one Latino.  Today that department has 1 African American faculty member.  A parallel decline in Chicano/Latino faculty has occurred in the History Department and in the College of Education.

See here. https://sites.google.com/site/chicanodigital/home/faculty-retention-at-csus--2011

A major contributor to the problem in the College of Education has been the elimination of the Department of Bilingual/Multicultural Education.

See https://sites.google.com/site/chicanodigital/home/the-creation-and-demise-of-bilingual-education-at-csu-sacramento-2

When the BMED department existed from 1994- 2010,  Mexican American/Latino credential students in the College constituted some 34 % of the total students enrolled.  Since the elimination of the department Mexican American/Latino students constitute some 6% of the students in teacher preparation.  Latino students make up more than 40% of the students in local k-12 schools. Who will be their teachers?