Allison Adad
Ethnic Studies Curriculum in California
San Francisco State’s fight for the college of Ethnic Studies was the first major triumph
for, not only, ethnic studies, but specifically for students of color in academia. This sparked
movements all over the U.S. that forced colleges to listen to the demands students had for their
school to teach their truth. A similar time has come, but this time, for high school students in
California. The California Department of Education Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Advisory
Committee (CDE) has been drafting an Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) so high
schoolers would be given the chance to learn the narratives of marginalized groups in this
country through ethnic studies, this draft has finally come to the final round of approval before it
is finalized by California’s Board of Education (Morrar). This all sounds like such promising
endeavors for BIPOC marginalized communities that are often not represented in the world of
academia but ever since Assembly Bill No. 2016 was passed, which ignited the creation of this
curriculum, there has been controversy regarding erasure of certain ethnic groups, such as Arab
Americans, Palestinian Americans, Jewish Americans, and Pacific Islanders from the curriculum
(Morrar). There has been several revisions due to the abundant critiques from educators,
students, and members of the community but on February 2nd, 2021 the advisory committee
writers for the ESMC requested there names be removed from the finalized curriculum (“CA
Ethnic Studies Writers Remove Their Names from State Curriculum, Insist It’s an Insult to
Ethnic Studies.”). This endeavor, of now 5 years, has seemed to be a beacon of hope for
education being more inclusive and truthful, but this event has also demonstrated that this
curriculum is not what dedicated ethnic studies activists hoped for, and that there is still great
work to be done to ensure no erasure is committed .
This fight is so crucial because it is a fight for representation. Representation of culture,
struggle, and resistance. According to Lara Kiswani, a former professor of mine who actually
introduced me to this bill, in a webinar hosted by Arab Resource and Organizing Center
(AROC): the right-wing backlash in the midst of the creation of the ESMC began in 2019 which
targeted the removal of Arab American studies and the erasure of the Palestine; eventually the
CDE “agreed to reinsert Arab and Asian American studies”, but they have gutted the entire
curriculum” and it became a “white-washed lesson plan”. During the Webinar Jason Ferreira also
pointed out the parallels between the fight for ethnic studies now, and in 1968 during the Third
World Liberation Front Strikes. He mentioned that we, the marginalized groups, have “the right
to define what constitutes ethnic studies,” and calls out those opposing the original version of the
ESMC and groups them to the same oppressors the TWLF faced (“The Fight for Ethnic Studies
in CA with Special Guest: Angela Davis.”). This collection of ethnic studies experts on the
webinar all emphasized that ethnic studies isn’t just a department, it’s who we are because of it’s
interconnectedness with out ancestors, our places of origin, our native language, and native land.
The CDE continues to fail to prioritize the positive impact learning such valuable history could
have on BIPOC children in high school, simply because ethnic studies does not fall under
americas white, colonial, cis-heteronormative, capitalist agenda. The people on the California
Board of Education have most likely never taken an ethnic studies course yet have the power to
create a curriculum they think is best for children state-wide. The reason “educators and activist
groups that the authors of the curriculum’s original draft have demanded that their names be
removed,” is because the bill no longer reflects the committees vision for an authentic
curriculum of ethnic studies pedagogy. During the webinar in February 2nd 2021, Allyson
Tintiangco-Cubales is the one who announced the request that would be sent to the CDE to
remove their names “from the association from the final document” (Gardiner). This is
something that must have deeply troubled the original writers of the ESMC because their
intention in doing so was a genuine hope to empower BIPOC youth, but in the end they were not
able to fully resonate with their accomplishment. On March 19th, California officially approved
the curriculum. This feels like a step forward but after investigating and understanding that this
curriculum does not truly serve every oppressed group, it’s hard to feel content. The process of
this whole bill from start to finish, demonstrates the sacrifices marginalized groups make to resist
systems of oppression, and how it’s unfortunately it can still not be enough.
This event is relevant to youth culture, race, and resistance, because at the heart of this
battle to spread ethnic studies curriculum is the children that educators want to reach. All these
movements taught at SFSU’s Race & Resistance Curriculum involve historical movements, all
with young people at the forefront. When young students are given representation in their history
books, it makes it easier for them to be courageous to be themselves unapologetically. In
“A snapchat story: how black girls develop strategies for critical resistance in school” by Lauren
Kelly, we see this engagement from young girls in matters like racial equity stem from the use of
social media. Social Media is a tool that makes it easy to learn and when intricate topics related
to social justice are made easier to understand, it’s likely that people will be more inclined to
learning. We see this with a young girl named Layla, who sates she’s already “learned so much
about disabled people’s rights and erasure of Native Americans..in such a short time” from
Twitter; this same student acknowledged that social media taught her about racial inequity, which
“she found lacking in her formal schooling” (Kelly 381). Having ethnic studies as readily
available resource in schools will help develop the ability to critically question ones
surroundings and allow one to feel more compelled to be involved, which is the beginning of
activism. Similarly, before the creation of the ethnic studies at SFSU, students from the Black
Students Union demanded a Black studies department, because they knew they had a right to
learn about their ancestors and they also knew that the truth could no longer be buried under a
white supremacist cloak (Bates). This fight for ethnic studies is still being fought.
I chose this article because ethnic studies is a framework that has changed my perspective
of my surroundings for the better. This article was a great learning tool for me to understand that
there are multiple dimensions to an exiting issue, and so many different ways to critically
evaluate what the truth is and who is being primarly affected. On the surface, the ESMC seems
like a curriculum that all activists were waiting for, but major news outlets only celebrated the
newly approved curriculum and fail to mention the letter that the advisory committee sent to the
CDE, or the disapproval of the finalized curriculum from many ethnic studies educators and
students (“California Adopts First Statewide Ethnic Studies High School Curriculum.”). This
occurrence has shown me how prevalent erasure is and if we aren’t constantly being active about
preventing it, then erasure will triumph. I see ethnic studies as a form of story telling, because
one day if technology ceases to exist we will only be able to pass down what we know through
our words, and art, so this is why we must keep it alive.
Work Cited
Bates, Karen Grigsby, and Shereen Marisol Meraji. “The Student Strike That Changed Higher Ed
Forever.” NPR, NPR, 21 Mar. 2019.
“CA Ethnic Studies Writers Remove Their Names from State Curriculum, Insist It’s an Insult to
Ethnic Studies.” Save Arab American Studies, Arab Resources and Organizing
Committee, 3 Feb. 2021.
“California Adopts First Statewide Ethnic Studies High School Curriculum.” NBC News, NBC
Universal News Group, 19 Mar. 2021.
Gardiner, Dustin. “California’s Ethnic Studies Curriculum Sparks Sharp Divide as Vote Nears.”
San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 Mar. 2021.
Kelly, Lauren Leigh. (2018) A snapchat story: how black girls develop strategies for critical
resistance in school, Learning, Media and Technology, 43:4, 374-389, DOI:
10.1080/17439884.2018.1498352
Morrar, Sawson. “Controversial Ethnic Studies Draft Approved by California Commission,
Moves to Final Round .” The Sacramento Bee, The Sacramento Bee, 20 Nov. 2020.
Morrar, Sawson. “Will the Ethnic Studies Plan Include Pacific Islanders and Arab Americans?
Eventually .” The Sacramento Bee, The Sacramento Bee, 14 Aug. 2020.
“The Fight for Ethnic Studies in CA with Special Guest: Angela Davis.” Arab Resource Was &
Organizing Center, Arab Resource Was & Organizing Center, 2 Feb. 2021.

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