We may be living through the most turbulent half decade in the history of the diversity movement that took off in the late 1960’s. In the process, the very idea of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has been taking a shellacking, including legislative restrictions on its very existence. Consider some of events.
The publication of The 1619 Project and the ensuing attack on Critical Race Theory. The police killing of George Floyd. The growing strength and virulence of the anti-diversity movement, ranging from President Donald Trump’s 2020 ban on federal diversity training through Florida’s passage of the Stop Woke Act to the national surge of diversity-related book banning. The 2024 presidential campaign, with inflamed and accusative proclamations about biracial identity, transgender rights, White nationalism, immigration, and, yes, tampons.
At this cacophonous moment, diversity adherents need to take a deep breath and ask: where to from here? For that reason I am launching a series of Renewing Diversity columns that address this question. This is not a series about Defending Diversity, which suggests going into a past-oriented protective crouch. Rather I am taking a future-oriented Renewing Diversity stance. I’ll begin by discussing one “renewal” effort in which I am currently involved: the development of required high school ethnic studies.
In 2021, the California State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 101 (the Medina Bill), making California the first state to require all high school students to complete a one-semester course in Ethnic Studies. This process has turned into a statewide donnybrook that continues to this day.
The donnybrook began officially in 2019. While the Medina bill was still being considered, the legislature passed a separate bill instructing the State Department of Education to develop an Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. The department formed a statewide committee, which in turned produced a draft that was posted online for public comment. By the time I became involved, this draft had generated more than 20,000 responses, the vast majority negative for a wide variety of reasons, ranging from outright anti-ethnic studies hostility to frustrations by ethnic organizations that their groups had been given insufficient or inappropriate attention.
The Model Curriculum impasse threatened to derail the Medina bill. Although the bills were not officially connected, some pro-ethnic studies legislators (and ultimately the governor) refused to support the Medina bill until the Model Curriculum was thoroughly re-written and approved. That’s where I came in.
To help break the impasse, the California State Board of Education asked me to propose a set of basic ideas for high school Ethnic Studies. I responded with a 12-page Suggested Basic Curriculum Principles for Ethnic Studies, drawing in part on my many years of involvement in college ethnic studies and other aspects of diversity. The State Department of Education then adapted my eight principles into eight outcomes, which appear on pages 16-20 of the final Model Curriculum, adopted by the California State Board of Education in March, 2021.
(1) Pursuit of justice and equity.
(2) Working toward greater inclusivity.
(3) Furthering self-understanding.
(4) Developing a better understanding of others.
(5) Recognizing intersectionality.
(6) Promoting self-empowerment for civic engagement.
(7) Supporting a community focus.
(8) Developing interpersonal communication.
Three years later I received an invitation to keynote an August, 2024, high school Ethnic Studies Summit. By that time individual districts had begun to design their differing approaches to fulfilling the ethnic studies requirement, while various organizations and individuals had put forth competing ethnic studies course designs. District-level controversies erupted, with at least one law suit accusing a district of antisemitism in its approach to ethnic studies.
Rather than wade into the curriculum design conflict, I decided to reframe the issue with the following student-centered question: how can the implementation of this new requirement best contribute to the future of California through the improved education of its high school youth? With that question in mind, I developed what I call a Bridge-building Mindset Framework for Student Understanding and Action. Bridge-building can take many forms, including the following:
***Bridges of better understanding from students to their individual ethnic heritages and experiences.
***Bridges of respectful curiosity among students of different ethnic heritages and experiences.
***Bridges to connect students to effective participation in American life, including civic engagement.
***Bridges between the past and the present.
***Bridges between the present and the future.
To help visualize this bridge-building pursuit, I created a nine-cell matrix based on six easy-to-recall words: I, You, We, Past, Present, and Future. I, You, and We form the horizontal top of the matrix:
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Bridge-Building Mindset Framework for Student Understanding and Action through High School Ethnic Studies |
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| I | You | We | |
| Past | |||
| Present | |||
| Future | |||
| Carlos E. Cortés 2024 | |||
***I — All students should be provided with opportunities to develop a deeper understanding of their individual places in the American journey. This robust “I” also embraces students’ families and communities, as well the experiences of the various ethnic groups that comprise students’ ancestries and identities.
***You — Ethnic Studies should also help all students develop a respectful curiosity about and deeper understanding of the journeys of other individuals, families, and communities, particularly ethnic groups other than their own. The state’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum emphasizes four major clusters: Native Americans; African Americans; Latinos; and Asian Americans/Pacific Island Americans. It should also provide opportunities to learn about groups beyond the Curriculum’s four main clusters, including groups in the past and present of local communities.
***We — Students should go beyond the I and You to the We. What has been the journey of the United States from the perspectives of the myriad ethnic groups that comprise its tapestry? How have different ethnic groups interacted? How have they contributed to our nation’s fabric? How have laws, institutional systems, social practices, and cultural developments influenced different ethnic trajectories? How have ethnic groups and individuals responded to these challenges and opportunities?
With I, You, and We forming the horizontal top of the nine-cell matrix, the vertical side of the matrix consists of Past, Present, and Future. The intersection of I, You, and We with Past, Present, and Future raises a series of basic questions for educators, students, and communities. Consider the following questions.
***Past –- How have I (including my family, community, and the groups that form my heritage) participated in our nation’s past trajectory? How have You, particularly those of the four major designated ethnic clusters, participated in that trajectory? How have We, the ethnic dimensions of the American collective, been affected by such historical factors as laws, governmental actions, institutional structures, social practices, and cultural developments?
***Present — Where do things stand today for I, You, and We? In what respects has the heavy hand of history influenced the shape of the contemporary United States where race and ethnicity are concerned? In what respects has that history helped us become a more equitable and inclusive society and in what respects has it obstructed that progress? In what respects can the We collective move toward greater inclusivity and equity by living up to the best in our nation’s founding principles?
***Future — Given our multiethnic past and present, how can we take action to address our multiethnic future? How can we build on past successes and failures to create a more inclusive democracy and a more ethnically equitable future? How can we expand individual opportunities, reduce structural and cultural barriers, and build intergroup bridges involving people of different ethnic backgrounds?
This nine-cell bridge-building matrix provides an easy-to-recall and readily-applicable template for developing Ethnic Studies course content, creating pedagogical strategies, and assessing student progress. This framework can provide an impetus for diversity renewal by enhancing self reflection, intergroup connections, institutional awareness, and empowerment for effective action. I hope that, by drawing upon this bridge-building framework, high school Ethnic Studies can help students learn meaningfully from history, better comprehend the complexities of the present, and develop the vision, skills, and commitment for fostering a more inclusive and equitable future.
He also edited the four-volume Multicultural America: A Multimedia Encyclopedia (2013).