Ethnic Studies in Indiana

Part I

Ethnic studies is the interdisciplinary study of race and ethnicity, as understood through

the perspectives of major underrepresented racial groups in the United States (Northern Arizona

University, n.d.). I argue that ethnic studies is American. Ethnic studies programs are beneficial

for students and play an important role in teaching American history and the history and culture

of all American citizens. Ethnic studies involve relevant history for all students and provide

different perspective of people who are not white.

Ethnic studies is American because it promotes the American spirits: freedom and

equality. There are many definitions of what it means to be American. Some people say being

American is accepting that everyone has different ethnic and racial backgrounds and all

backgrounds are equally important to American culture and society, some people say being

American means we are all treated equally no matter what color skin you have, and it doesn’t

matter what culture you are from, and some people say being an American means to have the

ability and right to question previous and current actions from the American government

(Scholastic, n.d.). No matter how those definitions different from each other, they all have

around one theme, which is freedom and equality. American is a quite diverse country with large

proportion of citizens from different ethnic groups other than White. According to the statistics,

by 2016, 61.3% American citizen are White alone, 17.8% are Hispanic or Latino, 13.3% are

Black or African American, and 5.7% are Asian (Census Bureau, 2016). With the fact that

American is made up by different ethnic groups, it can be said that American history should be

made up by their history; in other words, ethnic studies should be a part of American history. For

Indiana, by 2016, 79.6% citizens are White, 9.7% are Black or African American, 6.8% are
Hispanic or Latino, and 2.2% are Asian (Census Bureau, 2016). As Indiana is also made up by

people from different ethnic groups, so ethnic studies should be taught in Indiana as well. In

current American history curriculum, topics about identity, African American, American Indian,

Latino American, and Asian American are not included (New Visions for Public Schools, 2018).

Those non-White students do not see them in the curriculum, it is a denial of their citizenship and

their culture in American history. The way that current American history curriculum is taught

often excuses indiscretions in the past for the sake of tidy nationalism, the naive notion that one

cannot be a proud of America and critical of America at the same time (Kohn, 2011). Ethnic

studies is an opportunity to serve all students, it promotes freedom and equality by giving

students the choice to learn what are not taught in current American history classes and treading

the history of every ethnic groups equally.

In order to become a productive American citizen, we must learn to accept and get along

with people of all cultures, races, and religions. It is one of the main aims of education to prepare

students for the American society and the real world, and both of those are very diverse. Ethnic

study courses have a positive impact on students’ racial understanding, ability to see another

perspective, empathy, and commitment to civic engagement (Sleeter, 2017). According to hooks,

ethnic studies provides student different perspectives on the world and the way of seeing things

through a new lens (hooks, 2015). Ethnic studies is beneficial to break down barriers and

deconstruct stereotypes and negative assumptions about race, which is helpful for integrating the

whole country. For example, a research review of 73 studies of the impact of a diversity course, a

diversity workshop, a peer facilitated invention, or a service intervention found that 52 of the

studies reported positive gains, 14 reported mixed gains, and only 7 reported no change

(Engberg, 2004). As another example, a set of survey data from 8,634 graduates with 91% White
of 229 institutions of higher education showed that those who had participated in racial/cultural

awareness workshops during college were significantly more likely to be engaged civically as

much as six years after graduation than those who had not (Denson & Park, 2016). According to

Levinson, to help students to have a better understanding of the world and become a better

citizen, schools should teach collective action, openly discuss the racialized dimensions of

citizenship, and provoke students by engaging their passions against contemporary injustices

(Levinson, 2014). Ethnic studies provide the opportunity for students to take civic and political

action within the school, which empower all young people to raise their diverse voices. When

students are taught the full view of American history, including history about different ethnic

groups, they will be able to grow a full view of American society and obtain the ability to fix

real-world problems. As a result, ethnic studies is American because it teaches students the

diversity of the American society and prepared them for their future life in this diverse society.

Part II

Another group’s argument is that ethnic studies is anti-American. They argue that ethnic

study programs promote overthrow of the US government, encourage resentment towards a race

or class or people or ethnic solidarity, segregate students based on their races, and abuse

taxpayers’ money. In their point of view, ethnic studies courses are taking away from the

students’ ability to gain the core knowledge necessary for cultural literacy in America; they

segregate students by race and ethnicity, and as such are not helping the integration of American

society; they teach students that they are oppressed and can lead to a deficit perspective on

education for students. I think my position is better.

Firstly, they said that ethnic study programs promote overthrow of the US government,

and the evidence they showed is the protests that happened in Tucson. This evidence cannot
support their argument because the reason why teacher and student organized protests against the

local government is that ethnic studies was banned. In other words, if the ethnic studies was not

banned, they would not organize protests. Ethnic studies will not promote overthrow of the US

government, instead, it helps the integration of the American society. According to hook, the

purpose of education is help people to achieve self-actualization. Self-actualization is a state in

which people are at their very best. It is a state that people are being efficient in how they

perceive reality, accepting of themselves and others, able to form deep relationships, appreciative

of life, guided by their own inner goals and values, and able to express emotions freely and

clearly (hooks, 2005). It can be seen that when we taught the full view of the American history,

people can become more acceptance and inclusive. Furthermore, what was taught in ethnic

studies courses are parts of American history, they are the facts. For example, it is true that

America used to be an oppressor and Mexica was oppressed in the past, but that is just the

history. It does not mean that America is still s oppressor now or Mexico is still oppressed not.

Taking away certain parts of history cannot change the history or erase the history. Learning

about what the 360-degree history that all American citizens ultimately share, can only bring us

closer together as a nation and help them all better understand the real problems and injustices

that still plague them as individuals.

Secondly, the anti-American group argued that ethnic studies is teaching students from

other ethnic groups they are oppressed, which prevents them to take the opportunity to control

their destinies and achieve their own goals (ABC News, 2017). It is not true because no study

shows that students who took ethnic studies classes dropped school or became hopeless. On the

contrary, students who enrolled in ethnic studies courses have higher GPA, higher graduation

rate, and lower dropout rate. The researchers found that, in San Francisco High Schools,
attendance for students who encouraged to enroll in the class increased by 21 percentage points,

GPA by 1.4 grade points and credits earned by 23 (Donald, 2016). Another study shows that

students in Los Angeles schools who took ethnic studies courses increased probability of passing

the state reading test by about 9%, and students who had low GPAs in their freshman year ended

up with some of the highest graduation rates (Donald, 2016). As a result, ethnic studies do not

prevent students from success, instead it promotes higher academic achievement. In addition,

teaching the history about oppression is not something dangerous or anti-American, however,

turning down the courses of teaching the history about oppression is an action of oppression,

which violates the American values. Students are oppressed because they cannot choose what

they want to learn. Apple argued that curriculum is never neutral knowledge because it is deeply

implicated in the politics of culture (Apple, 1994). I agree. But I also think we should avoid that.

Pulling the curtain back to reveal the full story of that history of exploitation does not hurt

Americans or the society, it reveals the truth and remind new generation to avoid repeat the

mistakes of the past.

Thirdly, they argue that ethnic studies courses are taking away from the students’ ability

to gain the core knowledge for American history, which also abuse taxpayers’ money. The

evidence they used is that taxpayers’ money is not being used efficiently and adequately when

students are taught they are oppressed resulting in drop-out rates, unemployment, and so on.

However, just as the evidence I showed in the previous paragraphs, students who took ethnic

studies classes tend to have better GPAs and higher graduation rates. The data that they used is

comparing the achievements of Black and Hispanics students to White students, and it shows

Black and Hispanics achieve less than White students on average (NXES, 2015). It is true that

there is an achievement gap between White students and other ethnic groups’ students, but ethnic
studies is helping those students to achieve higher and trying to reduce the gap. We should look

inside each ethnic group and see the progression that ethnic studies has made instead of

comparing between two groups. According to their slides, the purposes of schools are the

development of citizenship, personal growth or self-improvement, and occupational preparation

(Adler, 1982). As I mentioned earlier, according to Levinson, by teaching about race, students

are able to “learn the values of group solidarity, form cross-group alliances, think across group

lines, take alternative perspectives, and commit to ethical action that combats injustice regardless

of identity” (Levinson, 2014, p97). It means that ethnic studies meet all the purposes of schools

by promoting development of citizenship, personal growth, and preparation for the society. Thus,

it is not true when they argued ethnic studies is abusing taxpayers’ money.

In conclusion, ethnic studies is American because it promotes freedom and equality, and

benefits to the integration of the American society. Ethnic Studies is liberation and

empowerment. Ethnic Studies does not teach students how to hate, instead it unveils the truth of

history about oppression and awakens our conscious to see the world critically.
References

11th Grade US History Curriculum. (2018). New Visions for Public Schools. Retrieved from:
https://curriculum.newvisions.org/social-studies/course/us-history/

Apple, W. M. (1996). A review of Michael W. Apple's Cultural Politics and Education. New
York. Teachers College Press. Columbia University.

Donald, B. (2016). Stanford study suggests academic benefits to ethnic studies courses.
Retrieved from: https://news.stanford.edu/2016/01/12/ethnic-studies-benefits-011216/

Ethnic Studies. (n.d.). Northern Arizona University. Retrieved from: https://nau.edu/sbs/ethnic-

studies/what-is-es/

hooks, b. (1994) Teaching to Transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. New York:
Routledge.

Kohn, S. (2010). Why Ethnic Studies is Good for All Americans, Including White Folks.
Retrieved from: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/sally-kohn/why-ethnic-studies-is-
goo_b_582041.html

Levinson, M. (2014). No citizen left behind. Harvard University Press.

Quick Facts United States. (2016). United State Census Bureau. Retrieved from:
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045216

Sleeter, C. (2017). Impact of Ethnic Studies on Attitudes. Retrieved from:

http://christinesleeter.org/ethnic-studies-on-attitudes/

The Associated Press (2017). Shuttered Mexican-American studies program back in court.
Retrieved from: http://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/wireStory/shuttered-mexican-american-
studies-program-back-court-48686395

What does it mean to be an American? (n.d.). Scholastic. Retrieved from:

http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=5235