Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a bill requiring all 430,000 California State University students to take ethnic studies, a notable dismissal for the university’s board, which had passed its own, much broader requirement last month.
The decision comes amid growing pressure for ethnic studies in public education following protests by Black Lives Matter and calls for dismantling systemic and unconscious racism, starting in schools.
The bill signed by Newsom, AB 1460, requires all CSU students to take at least one three-unit course in ethnic studies, defined as having a focus on African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos / Americans, and Indians.
Written by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus and a longtime professor of Africana Studies at San Diego State University, the legislation will take effect from students graduating in the 2024-25 academic year.
“We are excited,” Weber said by telephone Monday night. “It’s been a long journey, and we’ve sighing with relief that that journey is over.”
The bill replaces a related mandate passed by the Cal State Board of Trust. That mandate, favored by the Chancellor’s office, called for a three-unit course on ethnic studies and social justice, broadly defined to include Jewish, LGBTQ, and disability studies. Students could be satisfied by taking a class that focused solely on social justice as well as social movements – a point of concern for purists of ethnic studies.
Newsom certainly managed to make criticism, despite his decision. Cal State Chancellor Timothy White, members of the university’s council and the university’s systemwide academic senate were opposed to Weber’s bill, and expressed concern about legislative interference in curriculum matters. White’s office had also estimated the cost of the legislative requirement at $ 16.5 million each year, compared to $ 3 million to $ 4 million for its version of the proposal.
The legislation was also opposed by some Jewish groups who said they feared it would encourage “anti-Zionist advocacy and activism” on the CSU, although they did not provide specific examples.
But students, faculties and allies of ethnic studies said the time is over for the CSU, the birthplace of ethnic studies and where Latino, Black and Asian American students are the majority, to make a dedicated claim. They said California law similarly requires students to take a course in American institutions and ideals. And they criticized the office for developing too broad a proposal without consulting experts.
“We saw it as an attempt to dilute the real issue of and not address the need for ethnic studies at the CSU,” Weber said. “It was also a proposal that came from those who are not even scientists in the field.”
Melina Abdullah, a Pan-African studies professor at Cal State LA and a leader of Black Lives Matter, said at a news conference this month that Black studies “literally saved my life” as a young person who grew up in East Oakland.
She said Weber’s bill was one of only three tickets that Black Lives Matter California supported. She called on the mayor to sign it to create a required “authentic ethnic studies” at the CSU.
“We are in a moment of the movement of the cause of black life, and the intention behind that moment is to say let’s break white supremacy,” Abdullah said. ‘The idea that someone without a background in ethnic studies could define it and make it so broad that it is meaningless …. It is the equivalent of saying,’ All life’s goals. ‘Either you believe Black lives matter, or you do not. ‘
Mike Uhlenkamp, a spokesman for the chancellor’s office, said: “The university will start working to implement the requirements of the new legislation.”
A separate bill, expected to be passed by the legislature this month, would make ethnic studies a requirement at all public high schools. State officials last month unveiled a new draft of a ‘model curriculum’ for the course, almost a year after the first draft was scrapped over controversy over which groups were included and excluded. The latest concept again puts a focus on African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and Indians.
At Los Angeles community colleges, where the vast majority of students are also Latino, Black and Asian American, faculties recently convened the pulpit office to create a special task force for ethnic studies.
