California Becomes First State in America to Approve Statewide High School Ethnic Studies Curriculum

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By Zack Linley, The Root

While Republican-run states like Florida are proposing statewide educational curricula that will “expressly exclude” critical race theory—because a lot of white people in power are fragile AF and that fragility will undoubtedly extend to the classrooms in their states—California has adopted the nation’s first statewide ethnic studies high school curriculum, and one that doesn’t shy away from discussing things like police brutality and systemic racism in America.

The Associated Press reports that on Thursday, members of the California State Board of Education unanimously approved the curriculum with hopes that it would clear a path for states across the country to follow. But the effort to give high school students access to an education that doesn’t center whiteness above all didn’t come without plenty of hurdles….

…The curriculum also includes lesson plans that revolve around Jewish people, Arab Americans, Sikh Americans and Armenian Americans all of whom “have important stories to tell about oppression and contributions,” as California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said, AP reports.

Right now, America is in the midst of a racial awakening that started with nationwide anti-racism and anti-police brutality protests last year. But if this week’s shooting in Georgia in which eight people were killed—including six Asian women—has taught us anything, it’s that we still have a long way to go. (Especially considering the way a certain Cherokee County sheriff captain with a racially insensitive social media history handled his report of a white killer who he said simply “had a bad day.”)…

Read the full article here.

Learn about the history of education about racial injustice and access to education for black children under Jim Crow.

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