Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
  • omnibus

California Lawmakers Consider Ethnic Studies Mandate For Nation’s Largest University System
Jeffrey Cawood
28 Aug 2019
California Lawmakers Consider Ethnic Studies Mandate For Nation’s Largest University System
California Lawmakers Consider Ethnic Studies Mandate For Nation’s Largest University System

The mandate would affect a system of almost half a million students, 74 percent of them minorities.”

“The White male administrators who run the CSU are trying to kill the bill.”

California lawmakers are considering a bill that would mandate students enrolled in the nation’s largest four-year public university system take a qualifying Ethnic Studies course in order to graduate.

The requirement would apply to the schools that comprise California State University (CSU), which collectively educate approximately 481,000 students. According to CBS News’ Sacramento affiliate, “all 23 campuses in the system are pushing back on the proposed legislation.” Still, the measure passed the state Assembly in May and is currently being considered by the Senate.

“The White male administrators who run the CSU are trying to kill the bill,” said Dr. Melina Abdullah, a professor of Pan-African Studies at CSU’s Los Angeles campus. “There should really be no opposition to this bill…unless you’re a blatant racist.”

Abdullah, who is also the lead organizer of L.A.’s Black Lives Matter chapter, was instrumental in convincing the city’s public school district to make Ethnic Studies a graduation requirement in 2014. A separate bill targeting public high schools across the state was put on hold last week. Critics had claimed the suggested curriculum was anti-Semitic and representatives of several ethnic groups complained about being excluded.

“All 23 campuses in the system are pushing back on the proposed legislation.”

Assembly Bill 1460 (AB 1460), which would apply to the CSU institutions, highlightsfour areas: Native American Studies; African American Studies; Asian American Studies; and Latina and Latino American Studies.

“Ethnic Studies is not the same as ‘multicultural studies,’ ‘diversity studies,’ or even ‘American Studies,’” Dr. Abdullah explained in a recent editorial, speaking on behalf of Black Lives Matter’s sanctioned California chapters. “The thrust of Ethnic Studies focuses on the particular (and intersectional) experiences of the four historically oppressed racialized groups.”

The Los Angeles Sentinel reports: “CSU is the most ethnically and racially diverse university system in the nation with minorities making up about 74 percent of the student population.”

Some lawmakers have expressed concerns about future proposals asking the Legislature to dictate even more CSU graduation requirements, such as gender studies or curricula that focus on LGBTQ+ themes. They argue that college administrators should take the lead in determining educational programs rather than politicians.

However, the bill’s author said she introduced AB 1460 because several CSU campuses had not complied with a 2017 executive order from Chancellor Timothy P. White making Ethnic Studies a graduation requirement.

“I’ve been in the Ivory Tower and tried to paint it multiple colors, and it has not worked,” said Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), who has been planning the proposed directive since she was elected to the Assembly seven years ago.

“Some opponents of the mandate perceive Ethnic Studies as dominated by one-sided, insular political correctness and separatism.”

Dr. Weber, who once taught in the CSU system, also spent 40 years as a professor of Africana Studies at San Diego State University. At a hearing earlier this summer, she testified that “Ethnic Studies has a demonstrated benefit for all students – students of color and white students.”

“Ethnic Studies enable students to succeed academically, professionally, and socially, resulting in them making valuable contributions to the community, the country, and our democracy.”

The Los Angeles Times notes that some opponents of the mandate perceive Ethnic Studies as “an academic field dominated by one-sided, insular political correctness and separatism.” But community organizers like Dr. Abdullah have long credited the discipline’s teachings for giving her life direction and purpose.

“Black Studies transformed me from one who dropped out of traditional high school and was losing her way to one who earned her PhD and became a professor and activist/organizer,” Abdullah revealed to her followers on social media. “There are countless others like me whose lives have been saved by ethnic studies.”

If AB 1460 becomes law, it would require CSU students to take one 3-credit unit of any accepted Ethnic Studies class. According to CBS 13, “the courses would need to be approved by a curriculum committee on a campus by campus basis.” The new mandate would be implemented starting with the 2020-2021 school year.

Jeffrey Cawood can be reached on Twitter @JeffreyCawood.

This article previously appeared on the Daily Wire.

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at [email protected]

Black Studies

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles. Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: The New Pimps or, It’s Hip to be Black: The Failure of Black Studies, Don L. Lee, 1971
04 September 2024
Was Black Studies doomed to fail?
National Planning Conference
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
DECLARATION: A DECLARATION AGAINST IMPERIALISM, Adopted at the National Planning Conference PULL THE COVERS OFF IMPERIALISM PROJECT Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, 1975
07 February 2024
A 1975 “Declaration Against Imperialism” provides a blueprint for the anti-imperialist Black Studies of the future.
Counter-insurgency and Black Studies: An Interview with Tea Troutman
Tea Troutman , Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
Counter-insurgency and Black Studies: An Interview with Tea Troutman
30 August 2023
ESSAY: New Creation or Familiar Death? An Open Letter to Black Students in the North: Vincent Harding, 1969
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: New Creation or Familiar Death? An Open Letter to Black Students in the North: Vincent Harding, 1969
05 April 2023
Vincent Harding’s reflections on the expansion of Black Studies in the 1960s offers an ominous warning on the hiring of Black faculty and admin
ESSAY: Black Studies in the Age of Obama: John H. Bracey, Jr. 2011
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: Black Studies in the Age of Obama: John H. Bracey, Jr. 2011
08 February 2023
The late John H. Bracey, Jr.
BAR Book Forum: Interview with Tyrone S. Palmer
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Interview with Tyrone S. Palmer
23 February 2022
As part of the Black Agenda Report Book Forum, we interview scholars about a recent article they’ve written for either an academic journal or p
BAR Book Forum: fahima ife’s “Maroon Choreography”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: fahima ife’s “Maroon Choreography”
26 January 2022
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
STATEMENT: Black Caucus Protest at the African Studies Association, Montreal, October, 1969
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
STATEMENT: Black Caucus Protest at the African Studies Association, Montreal, October, 1969
13 October 2021
Black challenges to white control of African Studies at the 1969 African Studies Association meeting in Montreal exposed the deeply entrenched
What I Fear About University Actions in the Context of Black
P. Khalil Saucier
What I Fear About University Actions in the Context of Black Lives Matter 
19 August 2020
White folks at the university decided to set things right on race – without consulting Africana Studies.

More Stories


  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio May 23, 2025
    23 May 2025
    In this week’s segment, we discuss the legacy of Malcolm X and the state of the political party that many Black people feel trapped in. We are joined by a guest in Libya who explains the lasting…
  • Richard Medhurst
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Independent Jourmalist Richard Medhurst Targeted by Western Governments Acting on Israel's Behalf
    23 May 2025
    Our guest is Richard Medhurst. He is an independent journalist whose work has been severely impacted by state repression in the UK and Austria. He was arrested and detained in the UK in August 2024…
  • Malcolm X
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Malcolm X Legacy and Politics Today
    23 May 2025
    Anthony Rogers-Wright is a Black Agenda Report contributor and host of the WPFW program Full Spectrum, where Margaret Kimberley was recently a guest. They discussed the legacy of Malcolm X on the…
  • Libya
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    How the Libyan People Are Still Impacted By the U.S./NATO Destruction of Their State
    23 May 2025
    Our guest is Dr. Abdelkarim Kashkar. He is a physician and author who writes about politics in Libyan newspapers. He joins us from Benghazi, Libya, to discuss how the United States impacts the people…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Biden's Fate and Israel's Sadistic Revenge
    21 May 2025
    Israel is starving Gazans to death and continuing its bombing attacks on civilians. Israel also specializes in personal revenge, targeting men, women, and children who might be the subject of…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us