In 2021, California became the first state to require ethnic studies (ES) for high school graduation. The University of California’s Ethnic Studies Faculty Council (ESFC), which lists over 300 UC faculty as members, has developed specific course criteria that UC is considering as an admissions requirement. If adopted, this requirement would eliminate the freedom that individual high schools would have in teaching ES courses, at least for students applying to the UC.
California passed the ES high school graduation requirement to help students become citizens of the world by honestly portraying our history and positively focusing on the scientific, artistic, economic, cultural, and social achievements of different groups of people. But this is not what ethnic studies is about within the UC. Far from bringing people from different backgrounds together, the ESFC promotes a highly politicized high school curriculum called Liberated Ethnic Studies, which is founded on the notion that the US is a highly racist society in which Whites systematically oppress minorities.
After the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, it is obvious that the ESFC should have nothing to do with course content. In response to the Hamas attack, UC president Michael Drake and UC Board of Regents chair Rich Leib issued a brief statement on behalf of the UC system condemning the terrorist attack, expressing grief for those affected on both sides and hope for a peaceful resolution.
Drake and Leib’s statement was attacked in a letter written by the ESFC. The letter is abhorrent and dishonest: “In the strongest possible terms, the UC Ethnic Studies Faculty Council . . . that represents over 300 faculty systemwide, rejects recent UC administrative communications that distort and misrepresent the unfolding genocide of Palestinians. . . . [These statements that] irresponsibly wield charges of ‘terrorism’ and ‘unprovoked’ aggression, have contributed to a climate that has made Palestinian students and community members unsafe, even in their own homes.”