Ethnic studies equip students to challenge racial, ethnic inequalities
As race and ethnicity education face political attacks, a major battle is unfolding in California over AB 1468, a bill from the CA Legislative Jewish Caucus (LJC) that seeks to censor Palestinian voices in ethnic studies and expand state control over curriculum.
Sponsored by Senator Rick Zbur (D-Los Angeles), Assemblywoman Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay), and Senator Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), the bill has 31 co-sponsors, 17 from the LJC. The California Legislative Black Caucus has not supported it, and the California Faculty Association warns that increased oversight disproportionately impacts communities of color.
Though AB 1468 does not explicitly mention Gaza, Palestine, or Israel, it limits ethnic studies to the "domestic experience" of marginalized groups. Critics argue this restriction excludes discussions on Israeli settler colonialism’s impact on Palestinian Americans, U.S. trade policies driving immigration, and global resistance movements. Christine Hong, a UC Santa Cruz professor, emphasizes that ethnic studies historically recognize global interconnectedness.
The UC Ethnic Studies Faculty Council warns the bill would censor history, expand bureaucracy, and undermine local school district autonomy. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) calls AB 1468 part of a broader effort to suppress discussions on race, history, and justice by shifting curriculum decisions from educators to politicians. Opponents include Jewish Voice for Peace-Bay Area, Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
The California Teachers Association (CTA), with 300,000 members, strongly opposes the bill. In 2024, CTA opposition led to the withdrawal of similar legislation that would have restricted local lesson plans on Haitian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and other marginalized communities.
The Jewish Public Affairs Committee (JPAC) leads a coalition of 35+ Jewish organizations lobbying for standardized ethnic studies to combat antisemitism, yet its definition includes criticism of Israel. Senator Becker claims AB 1468 protects students from bias, but Jewish Voice for Peace argues it favors an apartheid state by suppressing discussions on Israel’s occupation and Gaza.
Ethnic studies affirm identities, provide historical context, and equip students to challenge racial and ethnic inequalities. The fight for an inclusive, truthful curriculum remains at the forefront of California’s education debate.
Jill Stegman
Retired teacher
Grover Beach
Where’s the outrage?
We are being robbed! The agencies we rely on to provide vital services and protect us from predatory corporations are being dismantled.
A gang of thugs is taking a wrecking ball to these agencies in the pretense of "efficiency" when, in fact, this liquidation is theft of our collective resources for a few morbidly rich individuals to accumulate more.
Creating the experience, expertise, and infrastructure necessary to maintain them takes years and precious resources. It takes only minutes to destroy them. When they’re gone, it will take years and trillions of tax dollars to "reinvent the wheel."
This catastrophe is being met with an eerie silence … the silence of cowardice, ignorance, and fear. There will be no "knights on white horses coming to save us!"
Where’s the outrage?
Donald Archer
Cambria