Ethnic studies mandatory for California State University system, bill advances for high school ethnic studies course

 

An Asian American Studies class at Cal State University, Fullerton.

It's a shame a law has to be passed in order to have the history of ethnic minorities included in high school studies but centuries of having only one version of history taught in schools makes this complicated road to the truth necessary.

Hoping to build on the heightened awareness of the racial disparities that exist in almost all U.S. institutions, Assembly Bill 331l would require all students to take ethnic studies to graduate from high school is pressing Senate leaders to free up the bill and send it to California's Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature before the end of August. 

“For too long, the experiences and contributions of people of color have been left out of the classroom,” said Assemblymember Jose Medina, one of the lead authors of the bill.

“Ethnic studies courses empower students and help build culturally competent citizens. Requiring ethnic studies will help ensure that all students learn a more holistic and representative history of the United States and foster a deeper understanding of our commonalities and differences.”

The governor on Monday (Aug. 17) signed another bill that would make a course in ethnic studies a prerequisite for graduation at a California State University. That requirement would take effect for the freshmen of 2024. (For those unfamiliar with California, the CSU is different from the better known University of California system.)

“Ethnic studies will make people uncomfortable and if not, then it has not done its job."

-- Assemblymember Shirley Weber

The bill for high school on Thursday (Aug. 20) passed the Senate Appropriations Committee and now goes to the full Senate for a vote.

Medina has amended the Assembly Bill 331 to apply to students entering 9th grade in the fall of 2025. That would give school districts and charter schools several years to phase in ethnic studies. But Medina and members of the Black, Latino and Asian and Pacific Islander legislative caucuses are pressing ahead with it now, capitalizing on the tail winds of widespread public sympathy with the Black Lives Matter movement and racial reckoning the country is undergoing.

If signed into law, California would be the first state to mandate ethnic studies as a high school requirement. AB 331 would require at a minimum a one-semester course that would be based on an ethnic studies model curriculum that districts could use to fashion their own version. In 2016, the Legislature ordered that the curriculum be created to encourage more districts to teach ethnic studies.

Medina along with members of the caucuses of Black, Latino and Asian Pacific American legislators, organized a press conference before the Appropriation Committee's vote. 

Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, referred to the police killing of George Floyd in explaining why the Legislature should act.

“AB 331 is a clear way and a great way to make sure we are pricking students’ consciousness before they enter adulthood and before we have to see any more videos of people dying,” she said. “The time is now to answer the call for justice in a meaningful way.” 

Meanwhile, Newsom approved Assembly Bill 1460 that requires all students enrolled on all 23 CSU campuses to take a 3-unit class in Native American studies, African American studies, Asian American studies or Latina and Latino studies.

The new law will make California the first state to require ethnic studies as a university graduation requirement, according to the California Faculty Association.

CSU, the largest university system in the nation, has been in the forefront of ethnic studies education. In 1969, after a months-long strike led by minority students, the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State became the first college of its kind in the country. Cal State Los Angeles created the first Chicano studies program in 1968.

“Ethnic studies will make people uncomfortable and if not, then it has not done its job,” said Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, who coauthored the legislation. “It was founded because the current system crushed people; to not recognize how deep is racism is to deny ethnic studies.”