In November 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation (AB101) making California the first State to require all students to complete one semester of ethnic studies to graduate high school.
It will require that all high schools provide a course in ethnic studies beginning in 2025-2026 and those students graduating 2029-2030 having completed a one-semester course in ethnic studies.
If this were ten years ago, I wouldn’t have given it much thought, but yesterday my daughter, in her second year of college, showed me her completed assignment from her ethnic studies class and an email from her professor in response to the assignment she submitted.
With permission from my daughter, I'll share a snippet of her email.
“Great first attempt… Number one, yes, we are all the human race, so we should be treated equally. Unfortunately, that is not the case… hope we can learn together how… American institutions were not created with people of color in mind, and continue to perpetuate inequality.”
You can take it as it is from a college professor, but as a parent and Christian, the educator's response is far more sinister.
Today I watched a 25-minute video lecture by this professor titled “The Invention of Race and Politics.” The lecture starts with the history of Marco Polo, the Spanish Conquistadors, the English conquest of the Americas, the slave trade, Jim Crow, white supremacy (western frontier), indigenous people, and Asians. The subjects are interesting and worth learning, but the narrative of the lecture is troubling.
When I use the word sinister, I mean it to the very definition.
Every topic of the educator's lecture was eloquently spoken, brilliantly executed, alluring, and potentially convincing. Topic after topic alluded to “whiteness,” and the evils of white institutions, and the lingering effects of American colonization - implying that vaccinations and death by diseases today are a result of the colonists colonizing America.
I am disheartened that the very institutions that this educator claims of “perpetual inequality” is using our education institution as a platform and being paid by taxpayer dollars to teach hate, discrimination, prejudice, anti-white, anti-America, and undermining the intelligence of non-whites.
To make matters worse was reading the students' comments for the discussion, as they dialogue over one word - white(ness). That word came up over 240 times, and the narrative was nearly identical. Privileged, supremacy, domination, power, and evil.
Non-white students are entirely unaware of how they are being demoralized by the assignment and the course. The comments reflect victimhood, loss of hope, and fear, expressing a tone that they cannot move ahead in life in America.
Standing on a platform attacking whiteness is excellent for garnering large groups of people for your interest, but what does it do for the people you intend to help?
It does plenty! It indoctrinates students to believe and act in a mentality of victimhood, perpetuating hatred and fear toward whites, followed by controlling and steering them to their ideology.
As a Christ-believing father, my daughter's ethnic studies class in this particular college is not advocating inclusiveness or forgiveness but blame and shame. Christian parents and college students need to be grounded biblically, not swayed into theories of racism in America as what is being taught in our educational institutions today.
Unfortunately, the California Department of Education's model curriculum for K-12th grade parallels my daughter's ethnic studies course in college. The tone and the language of whiteness as supremacy and non-whites as marginalized reverberates throughout the outline.
learn the value and strength in diversity; develop a rigorous historical understanding of the development of racial and ethnic identities in the United States; and engage in civic action, community service, and/or community education to bring positive change that helps build a future society free of racism and other forms of bigotry associated with white supremacy, white nationalism, and institutional racism. (Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Chapter 3: Instructional Guidance for K–12 Education)
If you're curious about who is behind the curriculum of ethnic studies in California schools and why Gavin Newsom would sign and give his blessings on such a divisive course, look no further - Melina Abdullah Ph. D. Professor, was one of the original members to form Black Lives Matter. Read her bio from Cal State L.A.
Parents, educators, and leaders of our States, Counties, and cities have a moral obligation to provide an ethical source of education for our young generation. An education that should be inclusive, encouraging, empowering, and foster God-given talents within every student. But instead, our education system is endorsing divisive studies that perpetuate hate and fear.
In the bible, Jesus said, “let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them.”
Christian parents must be cautious in what their children learn in our schools and colleges. Will the teaching of ethnic studies with the narrative of whiteness strengthen their walk with Christ, or will it be just another blow to their faith?
It is a fact that many Christian professing students entering college leave the faith, and we can’t blame the education system alone. Our middle and high school kids need to be grounded in the Word of God, which happens not only in the home but also in the church you attend. Our kids will never survive off fun activities, snacks, and a few verses in their youth services - they need to be grounded and taught in the bible in a biblical worldview.
God forbid we hinder our children from ever seeing the Lord because of our false narrative of ethnic studies.
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matthew 19:14
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