Fearing America’s History Keeps America in a State of Denial

How America need to reckon with its racist past and through education that can happen

Some day this country will happen to reckon with its past or it will forever haunt and keep many perpetrators in prison shivering with fear of being found out.

California is one of the few states who are getting it right and making changes happen before the world’s eyes becoming the first state to make ethnic studies a required class for high school graduation.

The goal here is first, to tell the truth about this country’s history, second to assist students in understanding the past and present struggles and contributions of Black, Asian, Latino, Native/Indigenous Americans, and the various other groups who have been exposed to racism and marginalization in America.

There has been much outcry from politicians down to housewives and every thinkable group in between. Some fear the truth coming out, while others fear Caucasians will lose credibility.

For over four hundred years, people of color had their credibility not only denied but much was stolen and suppressed for years. Karma is real and rears its head when you least expect it.

Gov. Gavin Newsom since winning by a landslide his attempted recall election has been making good on lots of promises from passing policing reforms and now education reform.

Ironically, the same measure he vetoed years ago for revising the state curriculum guide for ethnic studies, has had a change of heart and passed legislation making it a reality with overwhelming support in the Legislature. Approved by the Board of Education, graduates of 2030 will be required to take the curriculum. By 2025, all schools will have to offer ethnic studies.

Not only will all students understand America’s true history and the contributions of people of color, but the educators will also gain insight on a higher factual level. Ignorance may be bliss, but not in this case. Bliss will come with the truth.

While this is a milestone but it is not the last stone to fulfilling the end goal. Next is a wait-and-see how the schools and school districts move forward and not allow entanglement in a volatile political divide over race theory and its incorporation in the state’s ethnic studies curriculum hold it hostage.

Across the country, there is much debate about Critical race theory which is not a new concept. Critical race theory is a body of legal scholarship and an academic movement of US civil-rights scholars and activists who seek to critically examine the intersection of race and US law and to challenge mainstream American liberal approaches to racial justice. It was introduced in the 1970s and became a movement in the 1980s.

Many opponents concluded that critical race theory would allow the portrayal of American culture and institutions through a racially divisive prism of oppressor and victim. Any excuse is better than no excuse all, I suppose.

Newson confirmed that education is the key and history that comprises the truth about people of color while painful strewn with woeful injustice must be understood in its totality in order to build a more just society and a better tomorrow for all.

Even before the passing of the legislature for ethnic studies, Los Angeles Unified School District whose student body is 70% students of color had begun to offer ethnic studies and made it a graduation requirement. It faced much backlash from ethnic studies critics and was accused of being biased.

The ethnic guides or curriculum will be an ongoing process to get the facts and truth right and all people of color must have input. No more one race telling the story of all the other races in the country. This was the initial problem, so repeating the process would be a detriment to society.

In conclusion, accountability is needed for inclusivity. As mandated by the new legislature, the ethnic studies guide or course material is required to be provided for public review, and public hearing, before being approved. Accuracy, transparency, inclusivity, and accountability are crucial for the application of ethnic studies.

In conclusion,

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