How is ethnic studies defined? According to the University of California, Berkley, it is the critical and interdisciplinary study of race, ethnicity, and indigeneity with a focus on experiences and perspectives of people of color within and beyond the United States. From grades 1-12, all students learn about in Social Studies or History is the history of the United States. It's not a bad thing at all because it is important to learn about how the country was formed, but after some time learning about the same thing over and over again is not always people's favorite thing. Sometimes students want something new or exciting to learn about; something that they are interested in. For some they want to learn about where they came from or even their culture because they know nothing about their ethnicity and culture. From what I have learned, when families decide to come to the United States they do so hoping for better opportunities for their children in terms of education. However, in the process of doing so they need to assimilate to the dominant culture of the country, in this sense American culture. Due to their want for the promises of the US, they give up their culture in order to fit in and they in turn teach it to their children, while keeping minor traces of their real culture. As we have learned in previous chapters from the Latino/a Studies Reader, the second generation tend to see their ethnicity as "optional" and only shown when it is convenient. It is not only the second generation of Latinos/as that experience this but all minorities groups as well. I was born in the US but I am a member of a minority group. My parents came to the US for the same reasons but made sure to hold on to some aspects of the Filipino culture but I can say for myself that I feel I do not know anything at all about where I came from. If I had the opportunity to take classes like those provided at Tucson High School, except for Filipinos, I would do it in a heartbeat. I do believe that it is important to know about how the country we live in was formed but I believe that it is more important to learn about who you are and what makes you... you.
Watching the documentary Precious Knowledge, made me feel so many emotions that I did not think I would by just watching it. I understand those students and their love for the classes that they were taking because I know I would feel the same. Those classes gave those students what they felt they were lacking, which is an understanding of who they really are. It made them see that they are more than what those stereotypes say they are. I wish that I could take classes about my ethnicity too. Those teachers gave them just what they needed like a place where they felt comfortable and like they belonged. There are not many teachers like that in the world. While watching Precious Knowledge, I found myself understanding, agreeing, and enjoying what was being taught and how the teacher was teaching his students. I found myself laughing at the teacher because he made the lessons funny. From what I saw in the video, the main concern is the dropout rate of the students attending the school but thanks to the ethnic studies classes that began to change. The students wanted to go to school and were engaged in their studies resulting in graduation and college attendance rates to be averaged at 93%.
Here's the thing that is just pissing me off beyond belief. Forgive me for putting it that way I just could not find a better way to express my feelings towards this. Why would you want to take away a program that has done nothing but help students excel in the classroom and in life? Why would you want to take away something that engages students in school rather than having them sleep in class or even worse just drop out of class altogether? Watching the parts with the superintendent and the legislature, made me feel nothing but anger and disgust. During some of those parts, I had to just pause the video and take my headphones out because I could not believe what I was hearing. There were some times when I actually yelled. My mom was in the room with me while I watched it and she kept asking me what's wrong with me cause I yelled. Just some of the things these government officials said did nothing besides making me mad. I could not even agree with what they were saying at all. Some of them said, "Teachers are teaching the kids to hate America", "The classes are anti-American", "Can't plant evil ideas in kids minds and expect healthy outcomes." Those people have never been inside the class before and listened to what is being taught, so how can they say those things without actually seeing it with their eyes. Even the one person who accepted the invitation sat there and listened to the view points of the students, who are the ones who will be affected the most from the shut down of the class, but all he could do was point out one thing the teacher or director said. That teacher was mentioning a fact about Benjamin Franklin, which is most probably not known by others, and called the class anti-American. He was upset at the fact that the teacher or director "trash talked" a founding father. Here's the thing though... Do we know everything about the people that helped found America? No absolutely not. Do we know everything about those founders' lives? No. Do we know about all the decisions they made? No we do not. Then what do we know? We know what they did to help found America, in other words all the good things that they did in their lives. History tells mostly of what was done to positively impact the US but there are things that talked about what negatively impacted the formation of the country as well. Other than those points nothing else about them was talked about. So how can that one point of the visit be the main reason for agreeing that the ethnic studies department should be shut down. Shouldn't he have considered what the students had to say? Or couldn't he even notice how engaged the students were during that class or how interested they were? During the discussion the students brought up compelling points, such as the Civil Rights. The student made asked, "Didn't people disagree with the Civil Rights movement?" and he was not able to give a definite answer because he knew that the student had a point and he could not deny it. The student compared the Civil Rights Movement to the situation they were in. Hearing the students do that even though he is a member of government, I felt proud and happy that they were able to do that on live TV.
Unfortunately the bill was passed that banned schools from having ethnic studies classes. Even though that happened it did not stop the students, alumni, and community from fighting for what they believed to be true. It has been 10 years since that video was made and now ethnic studies classes are back in colleges and that are more of them. This Introduction to Latino/a Cultural Studies class was started due to another class. Who knows more classes like this may form.
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