These demands reflected a respect for the diverse intellectual traditions and cultural expressions of scholars, activists, and artists of color and indigenous people throughout the United States. Their specific demands included the establishment of four departments: American Indian Studies, Asian American Studies, Black Studies, and La Raza Studies within a College of Ethnic Studies. Protestors spoke out against lack of access, misrepresentation, and the overall neglect of indigenous peoples and people of color within the university's curriculum and programs. In 19, the Black Student Union, Third World Liberation Front, select staff and faculty, and members from the larger Bay Area community organized and a series of actions against systematic discrimination. Founded in fall of 1969, SFSU’s College of Ethnic Studies’ website sheds light on this important movement: In fact, student organizers and others at a CSU campus, San Francisco State University, played a key role in demanding and establishing ethnic studies not only in California, but also throughout the nation. Speaking of America’s dark past, in terms of structural racism in higher education, the struggle for ethnic studies dates back to the late 1960s. Thus, why would the opponents of ethnic studies deny a majority of racialized (or “otherized”) CSU students the opportunity to learn about their histories, struggles and successes in this country with its dark past and dark present? Moreover, 21 of the 23 campuses meet the criteria for Hispanic-serving institutions. And Latinas/os were the largest ethnic/racial group, consisting of 199,521 students, or 41.5 percent, of the total. While 76,386 students were Asian/Pacific Islanders, African Americans represented 19,301, or 4 percent, of the student body. That means that the majority, or 77 percent, of the university system’s students were nonwhite. In fall 2018, the CSU system enrolled 481,210 students, including postbaccalaureate and graduate students, of which only 110,570, or 23 percent, were white. To answer this question, let’s consider the demographic composition of CSU students. “So why is it racist to oppose ethnic studies, Dr. Hence, if a student is required to take one three-unit ethnic studies course, it only represents 2.5 percent of the total to graduate. (The CSU represents the “ nation’s largest four-year public university system.”) As approved by the CSU Board of Trustees in early 2013, CSU students need a minimum of 120 semester units to graduate for most bachelor’s degrees. If passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, it would make the 23 California State University campuses require all students to take one course of three units in ethnic studies to graduate. More specifically, a state bill, Assembly Bill 1460, introduced by Assembly Member Shirley Nash Weber and co-authored by other members, is pending. In California, while we’ve done a relatively good job of enforcing home isolation (for those with homes) and social distancing during this crisis, a debate is ongoing in the state Legislature and higher education about whether or not to mandate an ethnic studies course for undergraduates. Now that I have your attention, allow me to explain. It’s racist to oppose ethnic studies in higher education and K-12.
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