Save Ethnic Studies

Adventuring Rule #7: Pay attention to the things that make you uncomfortable. 

      I am continually surprised by this country, and the things that happen here. Just as a reminder, it's 2011, in America. The land of opportunity and Horatio Alger.

     So there's these cops in Arizona who, as part of their job description, drive around looking for people who look illegal (read: Hispanic).They pull over, interrupting these people and their lives, to ask for ID to determine their legal status. If they can't pull out the ID, they get arrested. If they can, then they simply feel harassed.

     I don't think the internet has a database of how often people are arrested compared to those who are harassed, but I do want to know. I find this ridiculous. It leans a bit too heavily toward Cold War fears of Communism and Nazi era fears of pretty much everything other than white, Christian and able-bodied. It's a law in that state, and it's wrong. But it doesn't end there.


     Apparently Arizona is the site of many injustices toward their Hispanic population. Latino teens have notoriously low graduation rates, about 44 percent nationally, so a group of educators in Tuscon spent some time developing Ethnic Studies courses. These high school classes are intended to promote academic achievement, improve graduation rates, and make students care about their education and their lives at school. They aim  to teach all students, not just Latinos, another view of history and culture.

     The classes work, pulling the graduation rates of those who take them up to 97.5 percent, virtually eliminating the achievement gap between whites and Latino students. A vast majority of those graduates make it to college, bringing more intelligence and diversity to the economy and more well rounded people into the public sphere. This is all a good thing, and very close to what many people at Sonoma State University are working toward.

     Somehow, however, certain lawmakers find it unconstitutional, and that the classes "promote resentment toward a race or class of people." Really. That's a direct quote from Arizona's current attorney general Tom Horne. Apparently, teaching this kind of curriculum leads to ethnic chauvinism and students might see themselves as part of a group instead of as individuals.

     Why is that wrong? Why should students who otherwise feel alienated and excluded find a community for themselves within education? People with a sense of community are more caring, more civically engaged, and they work harder. They look out for one another and live better lives. But these folks passed a law to ban these classes. Why would someone in a position of power want to undermine a sense of community? They are abusing their position for their own agenda. Why don't we hear more about this in the news? Why isn't this a national outrage? Or am I not looking in the right places?

A documentary on the Ethnic Studies fight.

     This is a first for me. Among my friends, I'm usually the source of news and information. But not this time. My friend brought this issue to my attention after a speaker gave a presentation on it in her Chicano and Latino Studies class. I had heard that the Ethnic Studies Tour was coming to Sonoma State, but I ignored it.

     You see, it makes me uncomfortable to think that these issues exist. They bring to light my own dark fears, that I am somehow entitled to so much more than I deserve, that I have not earned by my own merit but instead have be granted by a system.

     The same system that allowed be to be adopted into a family that did not have to struggle for paychecks, but instead owned a home near schools with teachers that care and could afford books and technology. I grew up knowing the dominant language and excelled in an education system that favored me at every step. I worked hard to get to college and to graduate.

     Other people who were just as intelligent didn't have the same opportunities to work hard at these goals, and it sucks. I don't like to think about it. But my friend made me. For that, I both curse and thank her.

    Save Ethnic Studies haven't given up. They're taking their fight as far as they can. I hope it goes all the way, and that they can create lasting change in the way multicultural studies courses are viewed in all areas of the country. Si, se puede.