Black Americans for Inclusive Ethnic Studies
Community Quotes
“The push for an ethnic studies model curriculum is long overdue. However, it should not come at the expense of further erasure and marginalization of centrist Black voices... We do not want our kids force fed a Marxist, militant creed - we want them to learn pride in their ethnic history and accomplishments… We should not, do not, and will not support another “curriculum” that seeks to diminish the variety of our experiences or our stories, forcing them into a neat little box of someone else’s radical left wing ideology.”
— [Petition from Black Americans]
“This version depicts non-violent Black leaders as ‘passive’ and ‘docile,’ maintains an emphasis on Black accomodationalism, and allows the opportunity for one-sided examples in vague general categories like ‘African American Political Figures’ or ‘Evolution of Black Political and Intellectual Thought.’”
— [Petition from Black Americans]
ARTICLE: Ethnic studies should be honest and balanced, not ideological and divisive
“Sadly, the ESMC is doing just what it claims to be undoing: erasing and overlooking individuals and communities by upholding guiding principles and a framework that excludes marginalized voices and centers Whiteness. CES erroneously centers Whiteness into all conversations about non-Whites. Although White supremacy is a pivotal problem, this hyper-focus curriculum dominates the conversations and ignores the celebration of non-White experiences and contributions that are not rooted in actions of White people.”
– Op-Ed by Black Americans for Inclusive Ethnic Studies director Brandy Shufutinsky
Examples of Selected Black Neo-Marxist/Militant ‘Role-Models’ in the ESMC
The below list of figures is selected as ‘role-models’ for social change, rather than seminal non-violent figures who do not pass the ideological litmus test of the ESMC’s Critical Ethnic Studies framework. Amongst those NOT included are seminal non-violent Black leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis, who are dismissed as “passive” and “docile.”
Angela Davis (Sample Lesson 6: line 1012, p. 45)
Black Panther, Marxist and communist activist/author and professor, Communist Party Vice President
Assata Shakur (Sample Lesson 6: line 1027, p. 46)
Member of Black Liberation Army, an organization engaged in armed struggled against the U.S. government through tactics such as robbing banks and killing police officers
Assata was convicted of first-degree murder of a police officer
bell hooks (Sample Lesson 6: line 1016, p. 45)
Author whose writing focus has been the intersectionality of race, capitalism, and gender and what she describes as their ability to produce and perpetuate systems of oppression and class domination
Marxist advocate of class struggle
Bobby Seale (Sample Lesson 6: line 1026, p. 45)
Black Panther co-founder (“revolutionary front against racist, capitalistic system”); co-founder of Soul Students Advisory Committee (revolutionary goals with slogan of “Freedom by any means necessary”).
Associated with/implicated in several murders (of fellow Black Panthers Alex Rackley and Fred Bennett), but charges were dropped or not pressed.
Frantz Fanon (Sample Lesson 6: line 1123, p. 50)
French West Indian psychiatrist and political philosopher influential in fields of Marxism, post-colonial study, and critical theory.
Fanon argued that violence is a necessary tool of people’s political engagement. He scribed violence as the defining characteristic of colonialism and a cathartic reaction to the oppression of colonialism. He wrote about the liberation of colonial peoples.
Fanon inspired national-liberation movements and other radical political organizations in Palestine, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and the United States.
Black Skin, White Masks is one of Fanon’s important works. In it, Fanon psychoanalyzes the oppressed Black person; his work is especially influential on the American liberation struggle more commonly known as the Black Power Movement, the Black Panther Party, and anti-colonial and national liberation movements.
Influential in Black Studies and more specifically, in the theories of Afropessimism and Black Critical Theory
Mumia Abu-Jamal (Sample Lesson 6: line 1006, p. 44)
Convicted of first-degree murder of a police officer
In his youth was a member of the Black Panther Party; known for quoting Mao “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”
Prior to life imprisonment, he was a columnist for Junge Welt, a Marxist newspaper in Germany.
IN CONTRAST, the ESMC is missing figures such as:
Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, or any of the “Big Six” activists that organized the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court Justice
Frederick Douglass, an integral abolitionist known for his powerful antislavery writings and orations
W.E. Du Bois, one of the key founders of the NAACP and the first Black American to earn a doctorate. The landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 is known to be an embodiment of his advocacy and writings.
Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan; three Black female mathematicians and engineers at NASA who overcame racial and gender discrimination barriers to become integral parts of winning the ‘space race.’ Mary Jackson was also the first female Black engineer to work for NASA. The trio is featured in the Oscar-nominated film, Hidden Figures.
The Black Americans for Inclusive Ethnic Studies highlights their community’s concerns with the drafts of the ESMC in the following letter sent to the IQC:
Brandy Shufutinsky, director of Black Americans for Inclusive Ethnic Studies
We, Black Americans for Inclusive Ethnic Studies, are disappointed with the current draft being proposed as the foundation for California’s ethnic studies curriculum. We, and our foremothers and forefathers, have fought, struggled, and protested for inclusion—only to have many of our historical s/heroes and leaders erased from a curriculum that claims to elevate the study of Black people. Although the draft language released on July 31 is improved from the previous version in its specifics, the current model continues to represent Black people as a monolith, ignoring the diversity of our voices and experiences. It overlooks the accomplishments and methods of prominent Black leaders like John Lewis, Thurgood Marshall, Shirley Chisholm, Dr. King, and President Obama for the sake of elevating voices that derive from the Black Panther Party’s Marxist political stance and encouraged violent revolution. This is a disservice to our youth.
While many of the direct references to specific neo-Marxist revolutionaries fortunately have been removed from the current version, we are concerned that the bias is still likely to show up in our classrooms based on the current values and principles.1Indeed, this version depicts non violent Black leaders as “passive and docile,” maintains an emphasis on Black accomodationalism, and allows the opportunity for one-sided examples in vague general categories like African American Political Figures” or “Evolution of Black Political and Intellectual Thought.4The Principles need to be amended to require that all lesson plans include balanced perspectives and avoid any political indoctrination.
The push for an ethnic studies model curriculum is long overdue. However, it should not come at the expense of further erasure and marginalization of centrist Black voices, experiences, and her/histories. Our people are diverse. We are multihued and multilingual. We come from all stripes of the political spectrum. We do not want our kids force fed a Marxist, militant creed - we want them to learn pride in their ethnic history and accomplishments. Black Americans have participated in every aspect of American life—even under the threat of death. Our foremothers and forefathers have bled and died for us to live. We should not, do not, and will not support another “curriculum” that seeks to diminish the variety of our experiences or our stories, forcing them into a neat little box of someone else’s radical left wing ideology.
In summary, we ask that the curriculum be amended to remove support for a one-sided, neo-Marxist / revolutionary agenda, and add explicit safeguards to ensure a balanced curriculum which accurately portrays history, the roles of various ethnic groups, and the diversity of the Black American experience.
Thank you.
Black Americans for Inclusive Ethnic Studies