A warped, antisemitic version of Ethnic Studies is now officially seeping into classrooms throughout California and the rest of the country. $55 million public funds have been allocated in CA for implementing Ethnic Studies, but the type of Ethnic Studies is not specified. While we support Constructive Ethnic Studies, we need to tell leaders that poisonous content should not qualify for a graduation requirement nor should it receive state funding.
Initial, politicized drafts of CA’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) were rejected (thanks to many of you!) due to bias, bigotry, and discrimination. But districts choose their own curricula, and the very drafters of that toxic, biased content are now peddling to schools a toxic, biased curriculum. Those authors formed the Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Coalition (LESMCC) explicitly to preserve the controversial material and ideological agenda rejected from the ESMC. Among the many antisemitic examples in LESMCC materials, they:
use maps showing ALL of Israel as Palestinian land
erase Jewish indigenous roots in the Middle East and mis-define Zionism to deny Jewish right of self-determination
falsely equate Israel with South African apartheid
promote BDS with a false, positive misrepresentation
This image (pencil on top of a rifle) is the book cover of the seminal pedagogical text for the “liberated” curriculum propagating through US schools. [Textbook: Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed]
We believe our children’s education should not be used as a weapon.
Local school districts across the country are being misled and persuaded to hire the LESMCC. For instance, the Castro Valley Unified School District recently approved a contract with the LESMCC to develop curriculum and train teachers in its biased, ideological approach.
This image (pencil on top of a rifle) is the book cover of the seminal pedagogical text for the “liberated” curriculum propagating through US schools. [Textbook: Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed]
We believe our children’s education should not be used as a weapon.
Of note, the LESMCC leaders know that their perversion of Ethnic Studies would be opposed if people saw all the material, so they advise that teachers “fly under the radar” of administration and “shut their doors and teach their students liberatory curriculum."
The impact of this toxic curriculum is far-reaching, as districts are advised by the State Board of Education to integrate Ethnic Studies into every subject and every grade. With California leading the way for related curricula across the US, the time to act is now.
Students deserve Constructive Ethnic Studies curricula that build understanding, inspire mutual respect, confront racism, and celebrate ethnic accomplishments. Please take one minute to make your voice heard.
Forward this link to as many people as possible throughout the U.S. – this affects every single one of us. And don't forget to post on your social media!
