What Some in Our Community Get Wrong About Ethnic Studies

Many Los Angelenos and other Californians waited expectantly for the scheduled webinar, “Ethnic Studies 101: Elevating and Protecting Our Voice.” I watched as well. But rather than being illuminating, it confirmed some of my worst fears — that there is a misunderstanding by many mainstream Jewish groups about the true nature of ethnic studies, an ideologically-driven discipline seeking to turn students into activists and education into activism.  

The webinar, which was co-sponsored by the LA Jewish Federation and the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California (JPAC), reminded me how Jewish students, parents and educators are facing the brunt of antisemitic backlash that has been fueled by radical ethnic studies activists. So far, organizational and political leadership have proven ineffective against the highly coordinated and seemingly well-funded ideologues who relentlessly pursue the institutionalization of Jew-hatred, using ethnic studies as the vehicle. Time after time it was everyday citizens who pushed back, sending the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) back to the drawing board. 

When the fourth and final version was approved, it still proved problematic, so much so that “guardrails” had to be put in place to prevent antisemitic tropes from being embedded in ethnic studies classes. We must ask, why, after multiple drafts and the institution of guardrails, does ethnic studies still fuel antisemitism? The answer to this question, exemplified by the ethnic studies activists the organizers included in the webinar, shine a light on what many in our community get wrong about ethnic studies.

When most people hear the term “ethnic studies,” they assume that it is the study of different ethnic groups — and who would argue against having students learn that? However, the discipline of Ethnic Studies is not a simple study of ethnic groups, but rather a critical study of power, oppression and colonialism, which is what makes it so problematic for Jews and other minority groups who do not fit neatly into the American-centric, color-based racial structure.

When most people hear the term “ethnic studies,” they assume that it is the study of different ethnic groups — and who would argue against having students learn that? 

Fidel Rodriguez, the webinar panelist’s ethnic studies activist, stated on the webinar: “Ethnic studies taught me the concept of decolonizing the mind.” He went on to provide an example about how he can never look at Wells Fargo bank the same after learning that “Henry Wells and John Fargo built the roads to the westward march for Manifest Destiny.” Rodriguez believes that Wells Fargo is a “symbol of conquest … a symbol of colonialism.” This idea is central to the discipline of ethnic studies, which holds that “Everything that we see and are experiencing, the poverty of the homelessness that we’re seeing is a byproduct of colonialism.”

The failure for some Jewish community groups to understand that power, oppression and colonialism are central concepts to Ethnic Studies and the dangers that such an ideology pose to Jews is leading too many to jump on the bandwagon and cheer for a discipline that will always view them as part of the problem.

No doubt, this favorable treatment of this flawed framework is designed in part to insert units about Jews. And it should go without saying that students should have the opportunity to learn about the richness and diversity of the Jewish people. But this by itself will not adequately address the problem with an ethnic studies pedagogy that holds that anyone with real or perceived power is forever stained and labeled as an oppressor. Rodriguez admitted as much after being asked about the inclusion of Jews in ethnic studies. He stated that while Jews never let people forget the Holocaust, the narratives of others have been omitted, implying that Jews intentionally promoted their narratives to the exclusion of others. 

Perhaps there is no better example of what many in our community get wrong about ethnic studies than the Long Beach school district administrators who participated in the webinar. Rebecca Sanchez is the district’s leader, responsible for developing the ethnic studies course for LBUSD.  Not only has she embraced the radical ethnic studies ideology demonstrated through her use of the typical buzzwords like “liberatory,” “critical hope,” and “disrupting systems of oppression,” but Ms. Sanchez also admitted that she is using ethnic studies to encourage “transformative resistance.” 

Too many in our Jewish community leadership naively dismiss the ideology behind these words, especially when it comes to fueling antisemitism. The only way Jews get included in movements for “transformative resistance” is if they denounce a core piece of their Jewishness: their Zionism. 

The webinar reminded us that the ethnic studies activists who are driving antisemitism are not fringe outside agitators; they are the ethnic studies establishment who hold the core beliefs that underpin ethnic studies. If our American Jewish community truly wants to prevent antisemitism from becoming a core part of the school curriculum, we have to stop ignoring the obvious and demand better for our children.

Dr. Brandy Shufutinsky is the Director of Education and Community Engagement for the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values (JILV).