Why We Need Inclusive Ethnic Studies
Diversity lies at the heart of our national identity. As reflected in our national motto, E Pluribus Unum—out of many, one—America was built on the revolutionary idea that a nation did not have to arise from “blood and soil,” but could instead be comprised of people from all over the world, united around the principles of liberal democracy. For E Pluribus Unum to work, however, America’s citizens must understand the history of how people from various ethnic backgrounds have come together as Americans. This is why the stakes are so high in the recent movement to require ethnic studies in high school.
California made headlines last year when it passed AB 101, which, contingent upon funding by the legislature, will require high school students to take a course in ethnic studies to graduate. Other states, such as Washington and Vermont, and many local school boards, have passed similar measures. The trends are clear: students across the United States will be learning “ethnic studies.”
But what remains undecided is how schools will teach ethnic studies. We have a choice between two broad categories of ethnic studies: critical (sometimes called “liberated”) ethnic studies, and inclusive ethnic studies. The differences between them are profound.
Critical ethnic studies offers the view that American history and liberal democracy constitute an ongoing colonial project, in which white ethnic groups subjugate non-white ethnic groups. It presumes that all American institutions—the legal system, the economic system, and the education system, among others—are inherently unjust because they are based on oppressive forces such as white supremacy, colonialism, patriarchy, neoliberalism, and capitalism. The pedagogical mandate is to convert students to this worldview and enlist them in the political project to “dismantle” oppressive systems.
According to Rethinking Ethnic Studies—a seminal resource for developing critical ethnic studies courses—a proper ethnic studies course “reframes the United States from ‘a nation of immigrants’ to ‘a nation of settler colonialists.’” It lists “decolonization” as a central goal of all ethnic studies courses and refers to “the repatriation of sovereign Indigenous land.” It instructs teachers to become “enemies of the state,” to “use education to subvert state agendas,” and to “critique the ideas of “abstract liberalism” such as “equality for all.”
In short, “liberated” in the context of critical ethnic studies refers to the “liberation” of people from the system of American liberal democracy. Most Americans want their children to learn the whole story of America, to think critically about our history, and to apply historical lessons to the problems we face today. They do not believe our nation is irredeemably oppressive and do not want their children to be used as political tools to “disrupt and dismantle” American institutions.
Education should respect students’ intellectual autonomy as they seek the truth by asking questions, formulating answers, and weighing alternatives. Inclusive ethnic studies fosters true inquiry by exposing students to diverse perspectives about the history of ethnicity in America and encouraging students to express their own views. This gives students the opportunity to discover for themselves the complex truths of our pluralistic society. Critical ethnic studies, by contrast, inherently rejects the idea of viewpoint diversity because offering different perspectives would undermine its explicitly stated political goals.
The inclusive approach treats ethnic studies as an opportunity to unite Americans by teaching the history of our nation with truth and optimism. Inclusive ethnic studies courses, such as the one developed by The Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR), give students a comprehensive and nonpartisan understanding of ethnicity in America, grounded in our nation’s revolutionary founding principles of equality and individual human rights. It teaches them how the unequal application of these principles has caused suffering and injustice throughout our history, and how marginalized groups have successfully appealed to those principles in order to secure equality and make further progress on human rights for all Americans.
The education of our children is essential to the health of our republic. Schools should teach ethnic studies in an inclusive way so that our children can lead our diverse democracy toward a “more perfect union.”
