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Why We Need Ethnic Studies

By: Shalina Baysan, 12 November 2017

Many opponents of the ethnic studies movement claim that it has no beneficial effect to students. An article titled “Stanford Study Suggests Academic Benefits to Ethnic Studies Courses,” published by Brooke Donald from the Stanford News, contrasts that by explaining, “While ethnic studies proponents contend the courses can help address academic disparities by aligning individual student experiences with curriculum, opponents have argued they are anti-American, teach divisiveness and may displace opportunities for students to take electives of their choice.” The critics grasp at straws when arguing the effectiveness of having ethnic studies in school curriculum. They infer that requiring the courses would not allow students to register for other classes they may enjoy.

Donald cites a study done at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education (GSE) when mentioning a research paper written by Emily Penner, a postdoctoral researcher. In the article, Penner states, “Schools have tried a number of approaches to support struggling students, and few have been this effective. It’s a novel approach that suggests that making school relevant and engaging to struggling students can really pay off.” She explains how many schools on the west coast, namely within California school districts, have been able to assist their students with achieving their academic goals.

A few months ago, a federal court ruled the banning of Mexican American Studies in Tucson schools was unconstitutional. A Reuters correspondent, Taylor Harris, wrote about the ruling in the article titled “Arizona ban on ethnic studies unconstitutional: U. S. judge.” It highlights the amount of support the ethnic studies program received from proponents and the positive affect it had on students at the time.

In the academic journal titled “Getting beyond marginality and ethnicity: The challenge for race and ethnic studies in leisure research,” author Myron Floyd talks about the issues with keeping leisure research broad with the steady growth of demographic trends and clientele being more racially and ethnically diverse. Floyd touches on how most pieces of literature originally produced about different groups of color frame them as marginalized, not culturally diverse, and other. Additionally, author Philip Q. Yang talks about important issues within the ethnic studies movement and the components that make it up. In his book, “Ethnic Studies: Issues and Approaches,” Yang shines a light over the ways to approach social sciences and humanities relating to ethnic studies.

The National Education Association published a research review by Christine Sleeter titled “The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies.” It mainly focuses on the mainstream European-American histories and how it diverges from what ethnic studies should be. Sleeter touches on how ethnic studies as an ideology and movement helps to diversify the academic curriculum for not only people of color but for Caucasians as well.

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The History of Ethnic Studies

By: Shalina Baysan, 22 September 2017

           For as long as most can remember, the topics discussed in history classes consisted of Europeans settling in America and differences between groups. They are taught about historical figures whom have made significant impacts in the making of the United States of America; however, the stories of non-European immigrants are often overshadowed or forgotten. Those advocating to include ethnic studies in public schools across America believe that students would highly benefit from taking the courses both academically and personally. Despite these claims, opponents of ethnic studies think it is “anti-American” and an attempt to overthrow the government. In short, the inclusion of ethnic studies in school curricula has both desired and undesired effects to students, faculty, and the government. There are a lot of influences to ethnic studies today, such as its founders, stakeholders, and lasting effect in schools.

           There is a significant amount of people behind the ideology of ethnic studies, even before its rise in popularity at the end of the Civil Rights Movement. According to the Shmoop Editorial Team, “an African American sociologist, civil rights activist, and historian by the name of W.E.B. Du Bois” is the father of the theoretical perspective of ethnic studies (Schmoop Editorial Team). Du Bois is the first African American to be granted a Harvard Ph.D. back in 1895, and later published a book about the experiences of his race, which founded the area of Ethnic Studies. His work laid out the important foundation that was needed to create ethnic studies. It also assisted with showcasing the innumerable contributions that natives and immigrants alike have done. As there are many ethnicities, there are just as many key players that contributed to each area. Schmoop provides examples of figureheads that have influenced ethnic studies. For African American studies, noteworthy people include historian Cornell West, filmmaker Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and novelist Toni Morrison. West is a democratic socialist, and advocates for social issues in American society. Gates, in addition, is a prominent literary critic known for producing historical series. Morrison is an award-winning author for books like Beloved and Song of Solomon. With Latino studies, anthropologist Renato Rosaldo and author Gloria Anzaldua are said to lead the march. Rosaldo conducts research on cultural anthropology while Anzaldua is known for writing social theories. Additionally, Asian American studies have also become prominent in more recent years with the likes of Ronald Takaki, a historian, and sociologist Philip Q. Yang. Takaki works against Asian American stereotypes and Yang focuses on racial and social issues. The field of Native American studies is spearheaded by cultural author Vine Deloria, Jr. and scholar Clara Sue Kidwell. The previously cited figures are only a small sample of those who impact ethnic studies positively.

           Like with any critical situation, there are groups and communities that are directly affected by the issues at hand. Regarding implementation of ethnic studies, the stakeholders may include students, their parents, school administration, and the government. If one were to narrow down the pool of stakeholders, students and families of non-Caucasian descent are the less generalized community. Within this group includes both immigrants and those who were born in the United States, some being at-risk. Immigrants from outside of the United States have been a part of the country for decades; they have contributed to society and the economy. However, not everyone in the greater public has the opportunity to learn about immigrants’ sacrifices and lives in America. This cluster of stakeholders gains academic benefits with the integration of ethnic studies courses. The Southern California Public Radio published an article written by Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, an education correspondent and award-winning journalist, titled “New Research Shows Broad Academic Benefits for Students Taking Ethnic Studies Classes.” Guzman-Lopez showcases the effects California public schools have seen from students within certain classes. Emily Penner, a professor at U. C. Irvine and lead research of ethnic studies programs, explains that the program saw a large increase in GPA and attendance, likely resulting from the multicultural history that the diverse student body can relate to upon taking a course (Guzman-Lopez). Students are taught the history of other racial groups to an extent, often times only a few chapters or a paragraph in their text book. Ethnic studies provides an opportunity for them to learn more about the United States’ whole history and also about their own.

The other side of this community of stakeholders involves local government administrations that do not see the need for ethnic studies. According to the online Southern California Public Radio, “Ethnic studies in public schools became a national flash point in 2010 when the Arizona legislature banned Mexican American studies in Tucson public schools. Opponents of the classes said the classes taught separatism” (Guzman-Lopez). Those against ethnic studies see it as a divider between groups rather than something to bring people together. The stakeholders opposing the courses have more to lose than gain; there are assumptions and misconceptions about race, and the study of race, that most arguments are based off. The article “Myths about Ethnic Studies, the Theory,” written by U.C. Irvine and Stanford graduate Arnold Pan for Post Academic, debunks the myths about ethnic studies, as its name suggests. Ethnic studies opponents speak of ‘reverse discrimination’. The idea of ‘reverse discrimination’ supposedly advantages minorities and disadvantages non-minorities. To elaborate, people that are African American, Asian American, Latino American, and Native American are assumed to be given the advantage with ethnic studies, while the Caucasian Americans are discriminated against. As Pan further elaborates, “The basic ‘logic’ behind this line of attack is spelled out in the AZ law when it ‘declares that public school pupils should be taught to treat and value each other as individuals’” (Pan). Ethnic studies supposedly challenge the respect for individuality because it highlights race, ethnicity, and group identity. Having it taught in schools, as opponents put it, marginalize and divide everyone based on race once again.

Back in 2011, columnist Doug MacEachern from The Arizona Republic wrote an editorial titled “Bogus Arguments for Tucson Ethnic Studies Finally Debunked.” MacEachern points out that early in the fight to have the studies in Arizona schools, district members were questioning the validity of claims made by the ethnic studies program directors. He says the improvement of academic performances of students is an “unsupportable claim,” thus the Tucson Unified School District’s board members had requested for information about the students’ performances (MacEachern). Some conclusions showed that students taking ethnic studies classes did just the same on the AIMS tests as students who are not enrolled. Superior graduation rates are not true, according to the research, despite many students from lower income families doing better than before. The research conducted on ethnic studies was showing no significant advantage for students. David Scott, the district statistician assigned for the case, found “roughly the same proportion of [Mexican American Studies] and non-MAS students intend to enroll in college after high school graduation” (MacEarchern). To further drive the notion that the previously provided statistics of ethnic studies was bogus, no one in the district had cross-checked the data sent by the ethnic studies program director.

           A few questions remain to be asked: What exactly are involved with ethnic courses? Do students really need them? How would its implementation effect those impacted? To quickly state, an ethnic studies course would focus on some or all groups including Asian Americans, African Americans, Latino Americans, and Native Americans, among others. J. Gabriel Ware, a reporter from the social-issues tackling Yes! Magazine, penned an article called “Ethnic Studies Courses Break Down Barriers and Benefit Everyone—So Why the Resistance?” Here he highlights Ingrid Fey, an ethnic studies teacher from Los Angeles college-prep school, who focuses her teachings on multicultural contributions to the country’s development and the cultures and traditions of different races. When asked about the course, Fey said, “We do our students a disservice when we don’t teach them American history through multicultural lessons” (Ware). The disservice in question is allowing students to only learn one aspect of history. There are large pieces of multicultural history that most students only receive in college; being taught from an early age would allow students to be more open-minded and aware of the world around them.

           The topic of ethnic studies in education has been a hot issue that was debated over decades. Different frames of mind had been shaped by what was taught in classroom; most people were not exposed to multicultural developments, which led to them becoming ignorant of the fact that there is a lack of diversity in history. The two main stakeholders concerning ethnic studies are students who would highly benefit from taking the classes and the government’s administration that find the courses a spark of overthrow and reverse discrimination to non-minorities. Both communities are willing to do what they can to fulfill their agendas, be it to implement more ethnic studies in public schools across the nation or to get rid of them. The best way to approach the issue of ethnic studies is to hash out the benefits and problems, first by doing more research. The stakeholders share values within providing a sound education and enriching history to students, but are not able to compromise on whether to include ethnic history in that. With more research to look into and a plan for school curricula, ethnic studies may have a future. In summary, it could be argued whether or not ethnic studies should be implemented into all schools. The program, influenced by many multicultural figures in history and the present day, still has its pros and cons. Hopefully, there is a time wherein ethnic studies has been vetted its stakeholders and a compromise has been given.

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Precious Knowledge (x)

“Can we create change within the system? Yes we can.”

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This photo was taken at a protest outside of the TUSD offices in 1969. Almost 42 years later, and the struggle over ethnic studies and equal education still continues. 

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Black Flag-inspired resistance, via UCLA.

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Yes, I am technically teaching you banned history*.

*especially if you live in Arizona or Texas

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Ethnic Studies Courses Break Down Barriers and Benefit Everyone—So Why the Resistance?

By: J. Gabriel Ware

posted Mar 23, 2017

Last year Mackenzie Martinez, who’s Mexican American, asked her U.S. history teacher about the roles Asian and Hispanic Americans played in the civil rights movement. She was told Hispanic people had no role in the movement because they were not in the U.S at the time. Months later, while reviewing the curriculum of a Los Angeles ethnic studies course, Martinez learned that Hispanics had, in fact, been involved in the civil rights movement.

Now a senior at The Center School in Seattle, Martinez says she feels robbed of her education by not being taught the contributions and history of different groups of people.

“All I ever learned about was Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks—that’s the extent of my cultural education,” she says. “America is a melting pot, so we shouldn’t have to ignore the other ingredients.”

“America is a melting pot, so we shouldn’t have to ignore the other ingredients.”

The NAACP’s Seattle chapter is working to change that with a resolution that would insert ethnic studies into the city’s public schools. Because Seattle Public Schools faces a debt of $74 million, the proposal doesn’t ask for the creation of new ethnic studies courses, but instead the incorporation of ethnic studies into existing courses—such as history, math, and language and comprehension—by relating course materials to diverse backgrounds.

The support for ethnic studies programs in public schools is spreading throughout the nation. In Texas, Senate Hispanic Caucus Chair Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, is leading a bill that would require the state’s board of education to develop ethnic studies as elective courses for middle and high school students. A similar proposal in Santa Fe, New Mexico, would ensure that students have the option to take ethnic studies as a social studies elective.

Meanwhile, other cities are already adopting ethnic studies curricula in their public schools. In Portland, Oregon, the school board voted in May to offer high school ethnic studies classes that will focus on the history, culture, and social movements of people of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ communities, starting in 2018. In 2014, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and El Rancho, California, voted to make ethnic studies courses a graduation requirement; last year, a state law was signed requiring the state board of education to create an ethnic studies program for all high schools by 2019. And nearly 12 years ago, Philadelphia implemented an African American history course as a graduation requirement, making it the longest-running ethnic studies program in public schools.

Why the need for ethnic studies courses?

-- Full article: http://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/ethnic-studies-courses-break-down-barriers-and-benefit-everyone-so-why-the-resistance-20170323