Beware of Toxic Curricula:
Liberated/Politicized Ethnic Studies
Liberated Ethnic Studies approach dictates a narrow, politicized ideology, divides students into powerful oppressors and dis-empowered victims, and elevates violent role models. Much of this content comes from the state-rejected model curriculum drafts.
-
Students are instructed to fill out a “Social Identity Chart” listing their Gender, Sexual Orientation, Emotional Developmental Ability, Race, Religion, and Socio-economic status, and to define themselves as an "Agent" or "Target” of oppression. Students report that, since no one wants to be an agent of oppression, they strive to find as many ways as possible to qualify as a victim of oppression.
Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District, Ethnic Studies, Unit 3, Intersectionality & Positionality
-
In an initial Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum draft, written by Liberated Ethnic Studies leaders, many role models of color listed were violent or promoted violence, while peaceful change agents were omitted. Some of those included were Oscar López Rivera (responsible for 130 bomb attacks in US cities), Lolita Lebrón (led attack on the US congress that wounded 5 Congressmen), Assata Shakur, and Mumia Abu-Jamal (each convicted of 1st degree murder). A list of 154 role models of color omitted non-violent leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, and Thurgood Marshall.
-
“It is critical for our students that they see the results (many incredibly harmful to our humanity) as predictable outcomes of various systems, rather than consequences of “bad” individual decisions.”
San Francisco Unified School District
-
The Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (LESMC) is clear that the Liberated brand of “Ethnic Studies does not feign neutrality.” Rather than encouraging students to question and verify information, the LESMC insists that “the dominant narrative found throughout mainstream education and curriculum is biased, presenting a false or selective account of our his/herhxstories and realities.” Students are instructed only to reject all mainstream facts and history, not to evaluate them.
Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, IIntroduction to Chapter 1, Page 12i
-
“Zionism is a nationalist, colonial ideology that, from the late 19th century on, has called for the creation and expansion of Israel as a Jewish state in historic Palestine by any means necessary.” (quote from the professional development Teach Palestine Toolkit)
Fact: Zionism is the movement for the self-determination and statehood for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, the land of Israel. Referring to Zionism as a “colonial ideology” denies 3,000 years of Jewish indigeneity in the land of Israel; “historic Palestine” misleadingly creates a false connection to modern-day Palestinians; and “by any means necessary” overlays implications of violence on a basic definition. What poses as a definition is, in reality, a series of misleading or false information that comprises a point of view.
-
Example - Section 51500 of the California Education Code. “A teacher shall not give instruction, and a school district shall not sponsor any activity that promotes a discriminatory bias on the basis of race or ethnicity, ...religion...nationality...”
How did this happen?
Liberated Ethnic Studies (ES) was developed by activists that wrote the rejected draft of California's Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC). Governor Gavin Newsom was so alarmed about this draft that he promised that it should "never see the light of day.”
Unfortunately, the same activists and their trainees, are now promoting the rejected materials to districts, and some schools are falling prey to their efforts. Parents, community members and educators are often shocked when they discover what is creeping into the classroom. Several lawsuits have already been filed across the state, with more pending.
Concerned about these rogue curricula, Governor Newsom and the State Board of Education (SBE) recently issued a letter referring to AB 101, the law requiring ES and specifying that rejected content should not be used in ES courses. The letter warned that some vendors are promoting inappropriate materials and encouraged districts to ensure that they align with legislative and SBE guidance.
Media and Lawsuits
Numerous parent groups and organizations have filed law suits against politized ethnic studies organizations and districts for civil rights discrimination, intentional lack of transparency, and teaching false information.
The New York Times The Debate Over Ethnic Studies and the The San Francisco Chronicle Fight over Ethnic Studies highlight the growing tensions between parents and school-sponsored radicalism.
In colleges, Liberated Ethnic Studies is an openly politicized subject – one that Liberated activists explicitly state is rooted in specific politics and activism.
“At the college and university level, Ethnic Studies and related courses are sometimes taught from a specific political point of view. In K–12 education, it is imperative that students are exposed to multiple perspectives, taught to think critically, and form their own opinions.”