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It Was a Milestone for Progressive Education in California. Then it Unraveled
Sudden News ^ | 7/6 | Robin Buller

Posted on 07/11/2025 2:30:16 PM PDT by nickcarraway

It was celebrated at the time as a major milestone for progressive education. In 2021, California became the first state to make ethnic studies a graduation requirement, mandating all high schools teach the subject by fall 2025.

The idea, championed by California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, was to bring modern concepts into the classroom. At its core, ethnic studies, an academic discipline born on California campuses during the civil rights movement, elevates the experiences of historically marginalized groups. Its materials push students to question their biases, reimagine power structures, and think critically about the enduring legacies of colonialism. In California high schools, courses would bring to the fore the experiences of Chicano, Black and Indigenous communities in the state by diving into issues such as gentrification, the impact of pesticides on farm worker communities and the legacies of Indian boarding schools. Many school districts enthusiastically jumped on board.

The idea to make ethnic studies part of the curriculum always had its detractors. But it gained significant support after the racial justice protests of 2020. Today, however, ideas that rose to the vanguard of American culture after that period’s uprising have fallen dramatically out of political favor, and ethnic studies is now the center of an acrimonious battle over what constitutes antisemitism – and whether students should be learning about international conflicts, namely the fraught histories of Israel and Palestine – in courses meant to lift up the diverse experiences of Californians. The controversy has resulted in lawsuits and threats to ban certain concepts and materials entirely.

In hindsight, it’s not clear whether lawmakers understood the radical nature of the concepts they legislated into public school curricula.

(Excerpt) Read more at sudden-news.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: education; ethnicstudies; progressive

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1 posted on 07/11/2025 2:30:16 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Close the public schools. They do far more harm than good.


2 posted on 07/11/2025 2:31:09 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

The communists took over what was the finest state school system in the country and turned it into a woke indoctrination network to produce servile morons.


3 posted on 07/11/2025 2:35:38 PM PDT by Orosius
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To: nickcarraway
In California high schools, courses would bring to the fore the experiences of Chicano, Black and Indigenous communities in the state

The morons are forgetting the Chinese, who played a big part in development of 19th Century railroads in this State, among other things.

4 posted on 07/11/2025 2:36:54 PM PDT by Carry_Okie (The tree of liberty needs a rope.)
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To: Carry_Okie

There are a lot of Armenians in California. They need to include the history of the Turkish genocide of the Armenians.


5 posted on 07/11/2025 2:53:10 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: Orosius
The communists took over what was the finest state school system in the country and turned it into a woke indoctrination network to produce servile morons.

Agreed. I grew up in the CA school system from 61-72. We read Animal Farm (in class) in 5th grade, Count of Monte Cristo in 6th grade. My 6th grade class tested at 12th grade reading level.

We didn't have AP back then, but I took the college track courses, which prepared me to achieve 95th percentile on the ACT, helping me to earn a 4 year Army ROTC scholarship.

6 posted on 07/11/2025 3:00:19 PM PDT by Night Hides Not (Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! Remember Gonzales! Come and Take It!)
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To: Verginius Rufus

Anybody else? Overwhelm the system with every ethnic pocket in the world? What about Transylvanians? The only representation they have is Dracula.


7 posted on 07/11/2025 3:02:04 PM PDT by HYPOCRACY (Wake up, smell the cat food in your bank account. )
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To: nickcarraway

I think this could have been done so differently and benefitted everyone, especially non-white students.

My children know that one of the first people to die in the cause of American independence was Crispus Attucks, a black man, at the Boston Massacre.

They learned about Harriett Tubman, a freedom fighter, and the underground railroad.

Agustin Calero, a Hispanic and a literal killing machine, who fought in both WW2 and Korea.

Richard Allen, a builder and the first black representative in the Texas House (a Republican).

Dr. Daniel Williams, who helped pioneer open heart surgery.

Henrietta Lacks, a black woman whose cells are still being used today in medical research (see HeLa).

The Native American code-talkers.

Then again, I homeschooled my children for a while, so they were taught actual history, not slanted DEI hate-whitey nonsense.

Instead, like all things the Democrats touch, it turned to poop.

Now, DEI needs to DIE.


8 posted on 07/11/2025 3:36:52 PM PDT by TheWriterTX (🇺🇸✝️🙏🇮🇱)
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To: HYPOCRACY

No. There are trans people everywhere in the state.


9 posted on 07/11/2025 3:37:25 PM PDT by 17th Miss Regt (Fascist, deplorable, and proud of it!)
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To: HYPOCRACY
Anybody else?

Only those who have been oppressed. Of course the Okies should be left out because they were mostly whites.

10 posted on 07/11/2025 3:37:59 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: TheWriterTX

That would make too much sense!


11 posted on 07/11/2025 3:37:59 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

In hindsight, it’s not clear whether lawmakers understood the radical nature of the concepts they legislated into public school curricula.


Of course they understood its radical nature. That’s why they passed it.


12 posted on 07/11/2025 3:38:42 PM PDT by hanamizu ( )
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To: Orosius

I was born & raised in Wisconsin.

ALL I EVER heard was how great the Calif schools were.

Moved there in Feb 1964.

Bought first house in 1966.

Interacted with teens next door.

THEY COULD NOT MAKE CHANGE FOR A DOLLAR-—

I LEARNED THAT BY 3rd GRADE, THANK YOU, ONE ROOM SCHOOL !!!

I AM NOT KIDDING.

Found similar situations everywhere.

“CALIF HAS THE BEST SCHOOLS” WAS A TOTAL LIE.


13 posted on 07/11/2025 3:38:51 PM PDT by ridesthemiles (not giving up on TRUMP---EVER)
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To: 17th Miss Regt
Don't leave out the transcontinental railroad. Very important for the development of the state.
14 posted on 07/11/2025 3:40:41 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: nickcarraway

Breaks my heart to know what a great education I received in California back in the 60’s and early 70’s and compare to what has happened.
California is truly ghetto.

BUT it’s the 4th largest economy in the country.

Everyone gets a medal, a degree and never has to learn English.


15 posted on 07/11/2025 3:46:36 PM PDT by Karliner (Heb 4:12 Rom 8:28 Rev 3, "...This is the end of the beginning." Churchill)
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To: ridesthemiles

My sister and I were attending a parochial school in Texas when my father was transferred to Virginia near the end of the school year. We had been promoted to the next grade but our parents decided that we were bored so they enrolled us in the local public school for the last three weeks of the term. When my father went to enroll us they asked him where he was from and he said “California” because he was born there. He was told that his kids would be put back a grade until he explained that we had not attended school in California. This was in the late 1950s.


16 posted on 07/11/2025 3:46:51 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: Verginius Rufus

They were commies too. Like Steinbeck.


17 posted on 07/11/2025 3:55:38 PM PDT by HYPOCRACY (Wake up, smell the cat food in your bank account. )
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To: Karliner

That 4th largest economy claim has to. Be a lie. No way.

They have to be cooking numbers.


18 posted on 07/11/2025 3:58:53 PM PDT by Chickensoup
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To: Chickensoup

I think so but I’m no economist so I have no clue.


19 posted on 07/11/2025 4:04:59 PM PDT by Karliner (Heb 4:12 Rom 8:28 Rev 3, "...This is the end of the beginning." Churchill)
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To: nickcarraway

I saw so many libtard buzzwords and phrases in this article, I couldn’t finish reading it.


20 posted on 07/11/2025 4:19:02 PM PDT by simpson96
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