2010 Press Releases and Statements of Support
September 28, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Last spring, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed House Bill 2281 banning ethnic studies. Passed in the wake of the draconian anti-immigrant bill SB1070, the education bill specifically targeted the Mexican American Studies Department of the Tucson Unified School District. Ten days later, the Texas State Board of Education passed Social Studies standards that reflect a of right wing fundamentalist Christian agenda.
Today the Texas State Education Board is considering a proposal to remove a "pro-Islamic slant" in Texas textbooks. At the same time the Board faces insufficient funds to publish new texts of any kind (New York Times, September 23, 2010). Meanwhile, in Tucson, enrollment in Ethnic Studies programs has doubled. (Education Week September 22). All across the nation the Arizona ban has inspired people to expand multicultural education. Educators in communities across the nation are engaging in a week of actions in October that celebrate, deepen, broaden, and strengthen ethnic studies and multicultural education from kindergarten to graduate school.
ETHNIC STUDIES WEEK, October 1-7, was initiated by 210 educators from 27 states and dozens of communities, who dedicate themselves to expanding not banning ethnic studies. They teach in community colleges, K-12 schools, community colleges, Ivy League and big 10 universities, private liberal arts colleges and experimental nonprofit community and arts programs. They hail from tiny towns and major cities, California to Connecticut, Idaho to Indiana. Many of these educators have struggled to protect their programs from budget cuts and political attacks. To see who we are: http://ethnicstudiesweekoctober1-7.org/initiators.html.
Ethnic Studies Week has been endorsed by over 50 national and local organizations including the National Association of Ethnic Studies, the National Council of Black Scholars, College Progressives (A National Student Organization) and dozens of university departments, schools, unions and activist organizations. To see the full list go to: http://ethnicstudiesweekoctober1-7.org/organizational-endorsements.html.
Ethnic Studies Week October 1-7 2010. Why now?
Events in Arizona and Texas represent the tip of the iceberg. They must be understood within a political context that includes:
1. A crisis of racial inequality in the nation's public schools that can be measured in graduation rates, college attendance and college graduation. African American boys are those most adversely affected, followed by Latino and Native American boys, and girls of color. (The Schott 50 State Report on Race and Education, (2010) www.blackboysreport.org)
2. Virulent anti immigrant, and anti Islamic sentiment that is finding legal legitimacy, reminiscent of the Indian Removal Act of the 1830s, post slavery vagrancy laws, Chinese Exclusion Act in the 1880s, Jim Crow laws, ethnic quotas of the 1920s, and the internment of Japanese Americans during in World War II. It is no wonder that anti- immigrant politicians like Jan Brewer desire to delete these past atrocities from the curriculum.
3. Unprecedented budget cuts in education, that promise to pit one group against another; and in which all programs that do not directly involve test preparation are considered extras.
These three factors represent a "perfect storm" - a crisis for multi-cultural education.
Today educators, students and community activists are uniting to provide a powerful levee against the ensuing storm. We have organized, without funding or corporate sponsorships, and without ready access to mainstream media. We have built a powerful and unprecedented coalition uniting K-12, and college and community, students, teachers, professors, and parents of all races, religions, and cultural backgrounds.
We will not allow our youth to be the victims of this Hurricane INEQUALITY pummeling our education system. What is needed now is a positive affirmation of our diversity in the classroom and our intention to fight ignorance, not immigrants; bigotry not diversity.
Events planned for ethnic studies week reflect local educational and social needs. To view a map with details of events happening in localities across the country click here: http://ethnicstudiesweekoctober1-7.org/events-october-1-7.html
Here are some of the themes addressed in Ethnic Studies week actions:
Making the case for ethnic studies. Through essay contests, academic testimonies and youth debates, communities and colleges in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Illinois, California and Minnesota will address the question WHY ETHNIC STUDIES?
Building Cultural Bridges: Many communities are using the week to bridge cultural and class divides in their communities. For example, at Riverside High School in EL Paso Texas where 97% of the students are Latino, speakers from the Islamic Center of El Paso will be addressing students and in Martha's Vineyard adult community education students and K12 charter school students will share knowledge and experiences.
Educating communities about the Arizona Law and Texas laws: In Gainesville, Gary, Laramie and Los Angeles, symposia focus on educating communities and moving them to take action to oppose the Arizona Law and the Texas standards.
Uncovering hidden and censored histories. In Madison, Wisconsin, library students are sponsoring a read-in of banned books. In Long Beach, California, several days will be dedicated to uncovering the history of the U.S. Bracero program. Educators and students in Lincoln Nebraska, St Cloud MN and Moscow Idaho and elsewhere will take the opportunity to DO ethnic studies.
Building local coalitions through large multi-themed community events. In Tucson, Minneapolis, New Haven and San Diego, universities, community colleges, K-12 schools and local organizations are collaborating in community-wide events. They are using the week to build local coalitions of mutual support and political clout.
Using art to educate: Poetry, theater, dance and the plastic arts will be central to many of the events planned in places like Pima Community College in Tucson and Macalester College in St Paul. At San Francisco State University, for example, students from Prof. Valerie Soe's Asian American Community Arts Workshop at San Francisco State University will be hanging banners and planning other art projects in support of Ethnic Studies.
Given the egregious violations of civil rights in Arizona and Texas, we are building a movement to honor and expand the intrinsic role of ethnic studies. To find out more about what is happening locally and nationally, to read more about the issues and find quotes by educators, go to the Ethnic Studies Week website:
http://ethnicstudiesweekoctober1-7.org/index.html.
STATEMENTS OF SUPPORT 2010
We are very excited about your plan for the ethnic studies week in October. It is a brilliant strategy, and will go far to spread the word and help mobilize people everywhere to stand firm against racism and to fight against the enactment of these laws whose purpose is to continue to divide people and promote hatred based upon fear and ignorance rather than bring us together in truth, understanding, and celebration of diversity. It is an important step, and you may be sure that you have our full support behind this effort.
Aisha kahlil for Sweet Honey in the Rock
The Struggle for Ethnic Studies is the struggle over ideas. What we know and how we know it remains a contested terrain in Higher Education and K-12. Ethnic Studies, importantly, centers this politics of knowledge, rendering it visible in the pedagogy of teaching and learning.
Rose Brewer, Professor, African American Studies, University of Minnesota
The Arizona and Texas legislations are designed to move public education backward, to reverse the incorporation of new knowledge about the United States' multiracial/multicultural heritage and to return teaching/learning back to
the mono-cultural white supremacist days before the 1960s. They seek to re-impose the false consensus of the 1950s. They re-inscribe a set of myths in which what WEB Du Bois called the darker peoples appear primarily as problems
and as objects, but never as thinking critical subjects whose struggles against racial oppression and economic exploitation forced the country down the road toward democracy.
Sundiata Cha Jua, Professor, African American Studies and History, University of Illinois, Urbana.
Ethnic Studies Week is an opportunity for educational institutions and educators to showcase their many benefits to students and the broader community. We think this is the best way to combat restrictive and ill-conceived legislation that would limit what is taught in the classroom and infringe upon academic freedoms and the First Amendment. Our communities and our country benefit from knowing the history, culture, and struggles for social justice of all people, particularly those left out of or marginal to the curriculum and to the nation's political and economic structures. Ethnic Studies Week will highlight how the discipline contributes to a greater democracy, one inclusive of all people regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, or nationality. We see this as the promise of the American Dream and the ethos of Ethnic Studies.
Rosalia Solorzano, Chicana and Chicano Studies, & Francisca James Hernández,Anthropology Program, Pima Community College, Tucson, Arizona
What's at stake in Arizona and Texas is the right to a quality education. Tucson's ethnic studies program has been proven to raise test scores, graduation rates, college going rates, and civic capacity of all children regardless of race. These efforts to deform our schools into primitive bastions of chauvinism are against federal policy, sound teaching, and common sense. The hypocrites would gladly sacrifice test scores, an intelligent future citizenry, and our children's well-being on the altar of bigotry.
K. Wayne Yang, Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies, Affiliated faculty, Urban Studies & Planning Program University of California, San Diego
Ethnic studies -- I am not just learning about history, power relations, and the diversity of our backgrounds, I am also learning about the current society and others around me as I gain a better understanding of myself. I would say this is the essence of a humanizing education and a worthwhile life. One should be able to ask others thoughtful questions about their backgrounds and experiences, which will also allow one to build upon these relationships and shared histories while learning, questioning, and reflecting on one’s own identities. I was given the wonderful opportunity to learn about the United States and its people, and I would like to see everyone continue to have the chance to learn about the racial history of peoples in the United States through ethnic studies.
Gina Chen, Junior, Yale University
The Arizona law and the New Texas Standards are manifestations of a common ideology emanating from organizations like Liberty Legal Institute, and Arizona’s School Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne. They explain inequality in U.S. society as a diversity of effort, not resources systematically denied. They view social discord in U.S. history as evidence that enemies of the state, not injustice, abound. This is jingoism, not pedagogy. Ethnic Studies Week asserts our commitment to studying and teaching about the multiplicity of histories that make up the U.S. experience. Inequality is a central theme in those histories. Learning about them can help us to form a more equitable society.
Anne Winkler-Morey, National Coordinator, Ethnic Studies Week October 1-7
In Arizona, the state superintendent of schools has appointed himself not simply education czar (opposing local control), but also, royal cosmographer– determining that not only is maiz-based or Maya-Nahua culture and knowledge – the philosophical foundation for Raza Studies – outside of Western Civilization, but also outside of humanity. In effect, he also fancies himself head of the BIA – determining who/what is Indigenous."
Roberto Rodriguez, Assistant Professor, Mexican American and Raza Studies, University of Arizona
As a Fulbright visiting professor to the USA I have
had the pleasure of teaching Ethnic Studies and found the enthusiastic response of students to such a program. Ethnic studies helps to liberate young minds from ethnocentricism and should be a compulsory part of all academic programs that will help constitute liberal minds that are able to comprehend the world beyond the narrow confines of the immediate cultural identity of the individual. I strongly support the inclusion of Ethnic studies in the curriculum and extend support from a distance.
Subhadra Channa,
University of New Delhi
channa.subhadra@gmail.com
Today the Texas State Education Board is considering a proposal to remove a "pro-Islamic slant" in Texas textbooks. At the same time the Board faces insufficient funds to publish new texts of any kind (New York Times, September 23, 2010). Meanwhile, in Tucson, enrollment in Ethnic Studies programs has doubled. (Education Week September 22). All across the nation the Arizona ban has inspired people to expand multicultural education. Educators in communities across the nation are engaging in a week of actions in October that celebrate, deepen, broaden, and strengthen ethnic studies and multicultural education from kindergarten to graduate school.
ETHNIC STUDIES WEEK, October 1-7, was initiated by 210 educators from 27 states and dozens of communities, who dedicate themselves to expanding not banning ethnic studies. They teach in community colleges, K-12 schools, community colleges, Ivy League and big 10 universities, private liberal arts colleges and experimental nonprofit community and arts programs. They hail from tiny towns and major cities, California to Connecticut, Idaho to Indiana. Many of these educators have struggled to protect their programs from budget cuts and political attacks. To see who we are: http://ethnicstudiesweekoctober1-7.org/initiators.html.
Ethnic Studies Week has been endorsed by over 50 national and local organizations including the National Association of Ethnic Studies, the National Council of Black Scholars, College Progressives (A National Student Organization) and dozens of university departments, schools, unions and activist organizations. To see the full list go to: http://ethnicstudiesweekoctober1-7.org/organizational-endorsements.html.
Ethnic Studies Week October 1-7 2010. Why now?
Events in Arizona and Texas represent the tip of the iceberg. They must be understood within a political context that includes:
1. A crisis of racial inequality in the nation's public schools that can be measured in graduation rates, college attendance and college graduation. African American boys are those most adversely affected, followed by Latino and Native American boys, and girls of color. (The Schott 50 State Report on Race and Education, (2010) www.blackboysreport.org)
2. Virulent anti immigrant, and anti Islamic sentiment that is finding legal legitimacy, reminiscent of the Indian Removal Act of the 1830s, post slavery vagrancy laws, Chinese Exclusion Act in the 1880s, Jim Crow laws, ethnic quotas of the 1920s, and the internment of Japanese Americans during in World War II. It is no wonder that anti- immigrant politicians like Jan Brewer desire to delete these past atrocities from the curriculum.
3. Unprecedented budget cuts in education, that promise to pit one group against another; and in which all programs that do not directly involve test preparation are considered extras.
These three factors represent a "perfect storm" - a crisis for multi-cultural education.
Today educators, students and community activists are uniting to provide a powerful levee against the ensuing storm. We have organized, without funding or corporate sponsorships, and without ready access to mainstream media. We have built a powerful and unprecedented coalition uniting K-12, and college and community, students, teachers, professors, and parents of all races, religions, and cultural backgrounds.
We will not allow our youth to be the victims of this Hurricane INEQUALITY pummeling our education system. What is needed now is a positive affirmation of our diversity in the classroom and our intention to fight ignorance, not immigrants; bigotry not diversity.
Events planned for ethnic studies week reflect local educational and social needs. To view a map with details of events happening in localities across the country click here: http://ethnicstudiesweekoctober1-7.org/events-october-1-7.html
Here are some of the themes addressed in Ethnic Studies week actions:
Making the case for ethnic studies. Through essay contests, academic testimonies and youth debates, communities and colleges in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Illinois, California and Minnesota will address the question WHY ETHNIC STUDIES?
Building Cultural Bridges: Many communities are using the week to bridge cultural and class divides in their communities. For example, at Riverside High School in EL Paso Texas where 97% of the students are Latino, speakers from the Islamic Center of El Paso will be addressing students and in Martha's Vineyard adult community education students and K12 charter school students will share knowledge and experiences.
Educating communities about the Arizona Law and Texas laws: In Gainesville, Gary, Laramie and Los Angeles, symposia focus on educating communities and moving them to take action to oppose the Arizona Law and the Texas standards.
Uncovering hidden and censored histories. In Madison, Wisconsin, library students are sponsoring a read-in of banned books. In Long Beach, California, several days will be dedicated to uncovering the history of the U.S. Bracero program. Educators and students in Lincoln Nebraska, St Cloud MN and Moscow Idaho and elsewhere will take the opportunity to DO ethnic studies.
Building local coalitions through large multi-themed community events. In Tucson, Minneapolis, New Haven and San Diego, universities, community colleges, K-12 schools and local organizations are collaborating in community-wide events. They are using the week to build local coalitions of mutual support and political clout.
Using art to educate: Poetry, theater, dance and the plastic arts will be central to many of the events planned in places like Pima Community College in Tucson and Macalester College in St Paul. At San Francisco State University, for example, students from Prof. Valerie Soe's Asian American Community Arts Workshop at San Francisco State University will be hanging banners and planning other art projects in support of Ethnic Studies.
Given the egregious violations of civil rights in Arizona and Texas, we are building a movement to honor and expand the intrinsic role of ethnic studies. To find out more about what is happening locally and nationally, to read more about the issues and find quotes by educators, go to the Ethnic Studies Week website:
http://ethnicstudiesweekoctober1-7.org/index.html.
STATEMENTS OF SUPPORT 2010
We are very excited about your plan for the ethnic studies week in October. It is a brilliant strategy, and will go far to spread the word and help mobilize people everywhere to stand firm against racism and to fight against the enactment of these laws whose purpose is to continue to divide people and promote hatred based upon fear and ignorance rather than bring us together in truth, understanding, and celebration of diversity. It is an important step, and you may be sure that you have our full support behind this effort.
Aisha kahlil for Sweet Honey in the Rock
The Struggle for Ethnic Studies is the struggle over ideas. What we know and how we know it remains a contested terrain in Higher Education and K-12. Ethnic Studies, importantly, centers this politics of knowledge, rendering it visible in the pedagogy of teaching and learning.
Rose Brewer, Professor, African American Studies, University of Minnesota
The Arizona and Texas legislations are designed to move public education backward, to reverse the incorporation of new knowledge about the United States' multiracial/multicultural heritage and to return teaching/learning back to
the mono-cultural white supremacist days before the 1960s. They seek to re-impose the false consensus of the 1950s. They re-inscribe a set of myths in which what WEB Du Bois called the darker peoples appear primarily as problems
and as objects, but never as thinking critical subjects whose struggles against racial oppression and economic exploitation forced the country down the road toward democracy.
Sundiata Cha Jua, Professor, African American Studies and History, University of Illinois, Urbana.
Ethnic Studies Week is an opportunity for educational institutions and educators to showcase their many benefits to students and the broader community. We think this is the best way to combat restrictive and ill-conceived legislation that would limit what is taught in the classroom and infringe upon academic freedoms and the First Amendment. Our communities and our country benefit from knowing the history, culture, and struggles for social justice of all people, particularly those left out of or marginal to the curriculum and to the nation's political and economic structures. Ethnic Studies Week will highlight how the discipline contributes to a greater democracy, one inclusive of all people regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, or nationality. We see this as the promise of the American Dream and the ethos of Ethnic Studies.
Rosalia Solorzano, Chicana and Chicano Studies, & Francisca James Hernández,Anthropology Program, Pima Community College, Tucson, Arizona
What's at stake in Arizona and Texas is the right to a quality education. Tucson's ethnic studies program has been proven to raise test scores, graduation rates, college going rates, and civic capacity of all children regardless of race. These efforts to deform our schools into primitive bastions of chauvinism are against federal policy, sound teaching, and common sense. The hypocrites would gladly sacrifice test scores, an intelligent future citizenry, and our children's well-being on the altar of bigotry.
K. Wayne Yang, Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies, Affiliated faculty, Urban Studies & Planning Program University of California, San Diego
Ethnic studies -- I am not just learning about history, power relations, and the diversity of our backgrounds, I am also learning about the current society and others around me as I gain a better understanding of myself. I would say this is the essence of a humanizing education and a worthwhile life. One should be able to ask others thoughtful questions about their backgrounds and experiences, which will also allow one to build upon these relationships and shared histories while learning, questioning, and reflecting on one’s own identities. I was given the wonderful opportunity to learn about the United States and its people, and I would like to see everyone continue to have the chance to learn about the racial history of peoples in the United States through ethnic studies.
Gina Chen, Junior, Yale University
The Arizona law and the New Texas Standards are manifestations of a common ideology emanating from organizations like Liberty Legal Institute, and Arizona’s School Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne. They explain inequality in U.S. society as a diversity of effort, not resources systematically denied. They view social discord in U.S. history as evidence that enemies of the state, not injustice, abound. This is jingoism, not pedagogy. Ethnic Studies Week asserts our commitment to studying and teaching about the multiplicity of histories that make up the U.S. experience. Inequality is a central theme in those histories. Learning about them can help us to form a more equitable society.
Anne Winkler-Morey, National Coordinator, Ethnic Studies Week October 1-7
In Arizona, the state superintendent of schools has appointed himself not simply education czar (opposing local control), but also, royal cosmographer– determining that not only is maiz-based or Maya-Nahua culture and knowledge – the philosophical foundation for Raza Studies – outside of Western Civilization, but also outside of humanity. In effect, he also fancies himself head of the BIA – determining who/what is Indigenous."
Roberto Rodriguez, Assistant Professor, Mexican American and Raza Studies, University of Arizona
As a Fulbright visiting professor to the USA I have
had the pleasure of teaching Ethnic Studies and found the enthusiastic response of students to such a program. Ethnic studies helps to liberate young minds from ethnocentricism and should be a compulsory part of all academic programs that will help constitute liberal minds that are able to comprehend the world beyond the narrow confines of the immediate cultural identity of the individual. I strongly support the inclusion of Ethnic studies in the curriculum and extend support from a distance.
Subhadra Channa,
University of New Delhi
channa.subhadra@gmail.com