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.”

California Senate passes bill requiring ethnic studies class for CSU system

With the nation in a heightened state of racial awareness  because of the killing of George Floyd, the California State Senate passed a bill, 30-5, on Thursday that would require completion of one three-unit ethnic studies course as a graduation requirement.

The bill, AB 1460, is authored by Assemblymember Dr. Shirley Weber, a former San Diego State University faculty and member of the California Faculty Association (CFA).

The bill would add ethnic studies courses, including issues of race and gender and sexual identity, at all 23 campuses but would not result in additional units, as students would be able to take the ethnic studies course in place of other electives.

The bill requires the California State University, the largest higher education system in the US, to require the completion of a 3-unit ethnic studies course as an undergraduate graduation requirement, starting with the 2024-2025 academic year. All 23 CSU campuses are required to provide ethnic studies courses starting with the 2021-2022 academic year, according to the bill.

Ethnic studies focuses on four historically defined racialized groups: African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Latina/o Americans, according to the bill.

“This is a moment to be proud of and say the issue of race specifically needs to be talked about,” Senator Henry Stern said.

The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature.

While the idea of requiring students to study the contributions of nonwhite ethnic and racial groups has been long-standing in California, the latest push is happening amid nationwide anti-racism protests and calls for systemic change ignited by the police killing of George Floyd and other African Americans.

“It is absolutely critical that all of our students have an opportunity to learn and engage in ethnic studies,” said CFA Vice President Charles Toombs, who teaches Africana Studies at San Diego State. “It’s in these classes that they gain a deeper understanding of different communities and their histories, struggles, and triumphs. And that, in turn, provides an opportunity to embrace a racial justice perspective.”

Senator Ling Ling Chang

During the Senate meeting, Senator Ling Ling Chang, R-29th District, recalled when she had the opportunity to educate a woman while Chang was knocking on doors to garner support. When a woman responded by saying she will never vote for ”an oriental”, a derogatory term to describe Asians, Chang took the time to educate her on acceptance.

“Ignorance can become hatred … Ultimately this is something I have to support because if we can kill hatred by just informing and educating our students to think critically, to think in different ways to seek more understanding, I think that’s a good thing,” Chang said.

The demand for ethnic studies has deep historical ties to student-led efforts. In the fall of 1968, the a coalition of Blacks, Asians and Latinos in the Third World Liberation Front engaged in over four months of protests that resulted in the creation of the nation's first college of ethnic studies. Since then, dozens of ethnic studies programs and departments have been established across CSU, the largest four-year university system in the nation with 480,000 undergraduate students. Across the system, students of color make up a strong majority of the student body.

Since then, many campuses across the country called for an establishment of their own ethnic studies departments.

To close the hearing, Senator Steven Bradford recounted how he felt “ill-equipped” to pass an African American history course — which was taught by Assemblymember Weber — during his freshman year. He explained that the school system does not prepare students to learn history outside of what is in their textbooks.

“The school system does not prepare students to know about the real truth or the real history. This course will allow at least a little better understanding of each and every one of us,” Bradford said. “The urgency of now has clearly been demonstrated over the last three weeks in this country and around the world that we need systemic change when it comes to talking about our great diversity and ethnic differences in this country.”

Asian Americans in center of brewing affirmative action fight in Calfornia; Assembly passes ACA 5

SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE

California Assemblymember Evan Low voted to approve ACA 6,

UPDATED Jun 13, 12:20 p.m. to correct the vote of AAPI legislators.

George Floyd's death hung over the California Assembly Wednesday as the legislative body voted on Assembly Constitutional Amendment 5, a measure that would repeal Prop. 209 that banned affirmative action.

“I’m so grateful I didn’t have to convince you that racism is real, because George Floyd did that,” Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego and the author of the proposal, told her colleagues before a vote was taken.

In the end, the Assembly voted along party lines, 58-9, to let voters decide whether to repeal the amendment. The state Senate must vote on the measure before June 25 if the question is to make on the November ballot.

The partisan vote also exposed the rift within the Asian American community over the issue of affirmative action.

Most of the Assembly's AAPI members voted for the measure. Two Democrats — Ed Chau of Monterey Park and Kansen Chu of San Jose — sat out the vote.

Meanwhile, Republicans Phil Chen, Steven Choi and Vince Fong voted no. Republican Tyler Diep did not vote.

“I do not want to live in a state where the color of my skin or my race or my sex or my national origin determines my qualifications for a position, a job or entering to a college,” Choi told the L.A. Times. “I came here to this country to get away from ideologies like that.”

A similar attempt to overturn Prop. 209 via an amendment died in the Legislature in 2014 after a small, but well-organized opposition in the Chinese American community pressured some Chinese American lawmakers to vote against it.

Although studies show that the overwhelming majority of Asian Americans favor affirmative action, the small, but vocal Chinese American opponents made it appear to the mainstream media that they represented the majority of Asian American.

ACA 5 is supported by members of the API, Black, Latino and Women’s Caucuses, as well as leading business and civil rights organizations across California, including Equal Justice Society, the California Black Chamber of Commerce, Chinese for Affirmative Action and scores of faith-based organizations. 

Some Asian Americans fear ACA5 would make it harder for them to gain admission to the state's prestigious public universities — where students of Asian descent are overrepresented.

Assemblyman Evan Low, D-Silicon Valley, who is of Chinese descent said his office received more than 3,000 emails and phone calls opposing the repeal compared to just nine in support. Despite the opposition in his district, Low voted in favor of ACA 5.

"It’s about fear. It’s about race. It’s about the loss of power. Asian-Pacific Islanders, particularly the Chinese community, fear the loss," Low said, adding that he didn't run for office for "self-preservation."

“Some of the opposition want you to believe Asian Americans unilaterally oppose affirmative action. That is simply not true,” said Assemblymember David Chiu, D-San Francisco.

A national survey by AAPI Data found that a majority of respondents supported affirmative action programs designed to increase the number of underrepresented black and minority students on college campuses,” compared to 32% who did not. Of the six national origin groups surveyed — Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese — only a majority of Chinese-American respondents opposed the policy.

“We know that there is some intense mobilization in some parts of the Chinese community but we try hard to help explain that actually the Asian American community is quite diverse,” said Vincent Pan of Chinese for Affirmative Action. Pan is also the co-chair of Opportunity for All, an umbrella advocacy group pushing to repeal Prop. 209.

The political climate and the Asian American community has changed since 2014. Because of Donald Trump, Asian American voters have shifted decidedly towards Democrats and progressive issues. 

The state has grown even more diverse. As of 2019, Hispanics make up 39% of the state’s population while whites account for 36.8%, according to the US Census. Asians have grown to 15.3%.  African Americans have held steady with 6.5% of the state’s population.

Many Asian Americans and organizations have expressed their support for Black Lives Matter and the hundreds of thousands who demonstrated for equal justice in the death of Floyd.