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Ethnic studies is the interdisciplinary study of racialized peoples in the world in relation to ethnicity. It evolved in the second half of the 20th century partly in response to charges that traditional disciplines such as anthropology, history, English, ethnology, Asian studies, and orientalism were imbued with an inherently eurocentric perspective. Ethnic studies was created to teach the stories, histories, struggles and triumphs of people of color on their own terms.

History[link]

In the United States, the field of Ethnic studies evolved out of the civil rights movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which saw growing self-awareness and radicalization of people of color such as African-Americans, Asian Americans, Latino Americans, and American Indians. Ethnic studies departments were established on many campuses and grew to encompass African American Studies, Asian American Studies, Raza Studies, Chicano Studies, and Native American Studies.

The first strike for Ethnic studies occurred in 1968, (led by Third World Liberation Front,TWLF, a joint effort of the Black Student Union, Latin American Students Organization, Asian American Political Alliance, Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavor, and Native American Students Union at San Francisco State University); it was the longest student strike in the nation's history, and resulted in the establishment of a School of Ethnic studies, when President S.I. Hayakawa ended the strike by taking a hardline approach, appointed Dr. James Hirabayashi the first dean of the School (now College) of Ethnic studies at San Francisco State University,^[1] and increased recruiting and admissions of students of color in response to the strike's demands. In 1972, The National Association for Ethnic Studies was founded to foster interdisciplinary discussions for scholars and activists concerned with the national and international dimensions of ethnicity.

The University of California at Berkeley minority students united under their own Third World Liberation Front,the TWLF, and initiated the second longest student strike in the history of this country on January 22, 1969. The groups involved were the Mexican American Student Confederation, Asian American Political Alliance, African American Student Union, and the Native Americans. This strike at Berkeley was even more violent than the San Francisco State strike, in that more than five police departments, the California Highway Patrol, Alameda County Deputies, and finally, the California National Guard were ordered onto the Berkeley campus by Ronald Reagan in the effort to quash the strike. The excessive use of police force has been cited with promoting the strike by the alienation of non-striking students and faculty, who protested the continual presence of police presence on the Berkeley campus. The faculty union voted to join the strike on March 2, and two days later the Academic Senate called on the administration to grant an interim Department of Ethnic Studies. On March 7, 1969, President Hitch authorized the establishment of the first Ethnic Studies Department in the country, followed by the San Francisco State Ethnic Studies establishment on March 20, 1969.

Courses in Ethnic studies tried to address the criticism that the role of Asian Americans, Blacks, Mexicans, Latinos and Native Americans in American history was undervalued and ignored because of Euro-centric bias. Ethnic studies also often encompasses issues of gender, class, and sexuality. There are now hundreds of African American, Asian American, and Chicano/Latino Studies departments in the US, approximately fifty Native American Studies departments, and a small number of comparative Ethnic studies programs. Ethnic studies as an institutional discipline varies by location. For instance, whereas the Ethnic studies Department at UC Berkeley comprises separate "core group" departments, the department at UC San Diego does not do so. [2]

While early Ethnic studies scholarship focused on the previously repressed histories and identities of various racialized groups within the context of the U.S., over time the field of study has expanded to encompass transnationalism, comparative race studies and postmodernist/poststructuralist critiques. While pioneering thinkers relied on frameworks, theories and methodologies such as those found in the allied fields of sociology, history, literature and film, scholars in the field today utilize multidisciplinary as well as comparative perspectives, increasingly within an international or transnational context. Most recently, "whiteness" studies has been included as a popular site of inquiry in what is a traditionally academic field for studying the racial formation of communities of color. Instead of including whites as another additive component to the Ethnic studies, whiteness studies has instead focused on how the political and juridical category of white has been constructed and protected in relation to racial "others." Many scholars contend that while racism is a central subject to examine, one must pay attention to and interrogate the social, political and economic conditions which shaped and created race in the first place. Today, what constitutes Ethnic studies work is fluid as scholars have taken up the study of race and ethnicity across almost all disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. In general, an "Ethnic studies approach" is loosely defined as any approach that emphasizes the cross-relational and intersectional study of different groups.

Criticism[link]

Ethnic studies has always been opposed by different elements. Proponents of Ethnic studies feel that this is a reactionary movement from the right. They point out the rise of the conservative movement in the United States during the 1990s which saw the discipline come increasingly under attack. For proponents, the backlash is characterized as an attempt to preserve "traditional values" of Western culture, symbolized by the United States. For some critics, this actually is a slant by the proponents to disparage criticism by false association to right wing ideology. They have no objection about African, Latino or Native American culture being legitimate topics of academic research. What they object to is the current state of Ethnic studies which they see as characterized by excessive left wing political ideology, postmodernist relativism which, in their view, greatly undermined the scholarly validity of the research. However, Ethnic studies is accused of promoting "racial separatism", "linguistic isolation" and "racial preference".^[2] In addition, Ethnic studies is attacked for reinforcing stereotypes and offering simplistic explanations for the very deep fissures among different cultural groups in this country.

In 2005, a professor of Ethnic studies at University of Colorado at Boulder, Ward Churchill, came under severe fire for an essay he had written about the September 11, 2001 attacks in which he argued that U.S. foreign policy was partly to blame for the atrocity. Conservative commentators used the Churchill affair to attack Ethnic studies departments as enclaves of "anti-Americanism" which promote the idea of ethnic groups as "victims" in US society, and not places where serious scholarship is done. "The epistemological nadir of any university is found in the wacky world of ethnic and gender studies: black studies, Africana studies, Chicano studies, Latino studies, Puerto Rican studies, Middle Eastern studies, Native American studies, women's studies, gay and lesbian studies, et al.," wrote columnist Mark Goldblatt in the February 9 online edition of the conservative magazine National Review. "The suggestion that 'studying' is involved in any of these subjects is laughable. they are quasi-religious advocacy groups whose curricula run the gamut from historical wish fulfillment (the ancient Egyptians were black; the U.S. Constitution was derived from the Iroquois Nation) to political axe grinding (the Israelis are committing genocide against the Palestinians; the U.S. is committing genocide against the people of Cuba)."^[3]

In the face of such attacks, Ethnic studies scholars are now faced with having to defend the field. In the media, this takes form of characterising the attack as right wing reactionary movement. For example, Orin Starn, a cultural anthropologist and specialist in Native American studies at Duke University, says: "The United States is a very diverse country, and an advocate would say we teach kids to understand multiculturalism and diversity, and these are tools that can be used in law, government, business and teaching, which are fields graduates go into. It promotes thinking about diversity, globalization, how we do business and how we work with nonprofits."^[4]

In reaction to criticisms that Ethnic studies academics undermine the study of a unified American history and culture or that the charge that they simply a "colored" version of American Studies, defenders point out that Ethnic studies comes out of the historically repressed and denied presence of groups within the U.S. knowledge-production, literature and epistemology. Efforts to merge Ethnic studies with American studies has been meet with fierce opposition as was the case at UC Berkeley. While the field is already decades old, the ongoing creation of new Ethnic studies departments is fraught with controversy. Administrators at Columbia University attempted to placate student protests for the creation Ethnic studies Department in 1996 by offering American Studies as a compromise.^[5]

Arizona Legislation[link]

On May 11, 2010 Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed House Bill 2281 (also known as HB 2281 and A.R.S. §15–112), which prohibits a school district or charter school from including in its program of instruction any courses or classes that

1. Promote the overthrow of US government
2. Promote resentment toward any race or class
3. Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of being individuals
4. Are designed for a certain ethnicity

But the law must still allow:

1. Native American classes to comply with federal law
2. Grouping of classes based on academic performance
3. Classes about the history of an ethnic group open to all students
4. Classes discussing controversial history^[6]

Coming off the heels of SB 1070, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne was adamant about cutting Mexican-American Studies in the Tucson Unified School District. He devised HB 2281 under the belief that the program was teaching "destructive ethnic chauvinism and that Mexican American students are oppressed." ^[7] In January 2011, Horne reported TUSD to be out of compliance with the law. In June of that year, the Arizona Education Department paid $110,000 to perform an audit on the TUSD's program, which reported "no observable evidence was present to suggest that any classroom within the Tucson Unified School District is in direct violation of the law." ^[8] John Huppenthal (elected Superintendent as Horne became Attorney General) ordered the audit as part of his campaign promise to "Stop La Raza", but when the audit contradicted his own personal findings of noncompliance, he discredited it. Despite a formal appeal issued on June 22, 2011 by TUSD to Huppenthal, Judge Lewis Kowal backed the Superintendent's decision and ruled the district out of compliance in December, 2011.^[9] On January 10, 2012 the TUSD board voted to cut the program after Huppenthal threatened to withhold 10% of the district's annual funding. Numerous books related to the Mexican-American Studies program were found in violation of the law and have been stored in district storehouses, including Shakespeare's "The Tempest", "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" by Paolo Freire, and "Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years" by Bill Bigelow.^[10]

Supporters of MAS see HB 2281 as another attack on the Hispanic population of Arizona. This is due partly to the fact that none of the other three Ethnic Studies programs were cut. A 2011 documentary, Precious Knowledge directed by Ari Palos and produced by Eren McGinnis for Dos Vatos Productions, argues that while 48% of Hispanic students drop out, TUSD's program had become a model of national success, with 93% of enrolled students graduating and 85% going on to college. ^[11] The film shows a 165-mile community run from Tucson to Phoenix in protest of the state's decision, as well as student-led marches and stand-ins. In one instance, students overtook a board meeting by chaining themselves to the board members' chairs. ^[12] A student protest group, UNIDOS (United Non-Discriminatory Individuals Demanding Our Studies), has remained active speaking out before legislators and school board members on behalf of the program. ^[13] In a separate case, two students and 11 teachers sued the state, contending that the law is unconstitutional. The teachers, however, have been denied standing in the lawsuit as public employees. ^[14]

See also[link]

• Area studies
• Black and Asian Studies Association
• Cultural studies

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ethnic studies at the Open Directory Project
• Arizona Students Protest New Law Banning Ethnic studies Classes – video report by Democracy Now!
• National Association for Ethnic studies [3]

Richard Aoki
Born	(1938-11-20)November 20, 1938 San Leandro, California, United States
Died	March 15, 2009(2009-03-15) (aged 70) Berkeley, California, United States
Cause of death	complications from dialysis
Nationality	United States
Education	Merritt College University of California, Berkeley
Occupation	civil rights activist

Richard Aoki ( /ɑːˈoʊki/ or /eɪˈoʊki/; 20 November 1938 – 15 March 2009) was an American civil rights activist. He was one of the first members of the Black Panther Party and was eventually promoted to the position of Field Marshall. Although there were several Asian Americans in the Black Panther Party, Aoki was the only one to have a formal leadership position.^[1][2]

Life[link]

Aoki was born in San Leandro, California in 1938 to Japanese parents. He and his family were interned at the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah from 1942 to 1945. They moved to Oakland, California after World War II ended. Aoki spent eight years serving in the United States Army, first as a medic and later in the infantry. He attended Merritt College for two years, where he became close friends with his longtime acquaintances Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, the founding members of the Black Panther Party; the organization was founded in October 1966, one month after Aoki transferred to the University of California, Berkeley. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in sociology in 1968 and a Master of Social Work degree in 1970.

Aoki died at his home in Berkeley from complications from dialysis.^[3] His life was chronicled in the 2009 documentary film, Aoki.^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website for Aoki, A Film Documentary (includes video clips from film)

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Tom Horne
25th Arizona Attorney General
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Terry Goddard
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction
In office January 1, 2003 – January 1, 2011
Preceded by	Jaime Molera
Succeeded by	John Huppenthal
Personal details
Born	(1945-03-28) March 28, 1945 (age 67) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Marty[1]
Children	Susan, Mary, David, and Mark[1]
Residence	Arizona
Religion	Jewish

Thomas Charles "Tom" Horne (born March 28, 1945)^[1] is the current Arizona Attorney General. He served as the Arizona Department of Education Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2003 to 2011.^[2]

Early Life and Education[link]

Horne was born March 28, 1945, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to George Marcus and Ludwika Horne who had immigrated to Canada from Poland in fear of German invasion in the late 1930s.^{[citation needed]} Horne became a U.S. citizen at age 9 when his parents gained U.S. citizenship in 1954.^{[citation needed]} Most of his parents’ friends and extended family did not leave Poland and died in the Holocaust.^{[citation needed]} As Jews, his parents escaped this fate by moving to Canada.

He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.^[2]

Horne was the president of T.C. Horne & Co., an investment firm he founded in the late 1960s. The firm went bankrupt in 1970 and led to him "receiving a lifetime trading ban from the Securities and Exchange Commission." ^[3] The 1973 SEC report alleged that as president of T.C. Horne & Co, Horne "among other things, violated the record-keeping, anti-fraud, and broker-dealer net capital provisions of the federal securities laws and filed false financial reports with the commission."^[3] Horne was a student at the time, working to put himself through school, and was caught in a market crash that caused many similar businesses to fail. When this 40 year old incident was attempted to be used against Horne in his 2010 successful race for Attorney General, the Arizona republic did historical research and found that there had been no deliberate fraud. ^[4]

During his 30 years of law practice, Tom Horne served as Special Assistant Attorney General and a Judge Pro Tem in Maricopa County Superior Court and Maricopa Court of Appeals. Horne served as a teacher of Legal Writing at Arizona State University Law School and is the author a legal text published by the State Bar of Arizona. He was annually rated as "Very Ethical" by his fellow lawyers, receiving 5.0 out of a possible 5.0 in Martindale, the most frequently used survey for peer ratings. He is also rated a "Preeminent Attorney" in Martindale.^[5]

Arizona House of Representatives[link]

Horne served in the Arizona House of Representatives from 1997 until 2001.^[6] He chaired the Academic Accountability Committee and served as vice-chair of the Education Committee.

During his campaign for State Senate in 2000, the Arizona Republic wrote that Tom Horne, "raises the level of debate at the state Legislature by several notches all by himself." Horne was called, "An intelligent and thoughtful lawmaker for four years in the state House of Representatives" ^[7]

State Superintendent[link]

Horne served as the elected Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2003-2011.

Among his earliest acts in office was to push for a strengthening of Arizona’s social studies standards so that instruction on topics such as the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and the Greco-Roman basis of western civilization would be emphasized not only in elementary grades, but reiterated at later grade levels.^[8]

Horne also made a priority of enforcement of Arizona’s voter-approved law mandating that English be the language of classroom instruction (with the exception of foreign language classes).^[9]

He also pushed for nutritional standards that removed junk food from schools in the elementary grades and created incentives for secondary schools to do so on a voluntary basis.^[10]

Testing protocols were also significantly changed during Horne’s administration. He oversaw the development of a dual-purpose assessment that was unique in combining assessments on both state and nationally-defined standards. This cut standardized testing time in half, restoring that time to classroom instruction.^[11]

Controversy arose when Horne sought to address curriculum matters as they related to racially-based studies. Horne was alerted to a race-based program in the Tucson Unified School District and, based on a review of the curriculum, championed a law to address the problems these materials presented. A state law was passed that prohibited curricula that either: 1) Promote the overthrow of the United States government. 2) Promote resentment toward a race or class of people. 3) Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group. 4) Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.^[12]

In his final act as Superintendent Horne found the Tucson district’s Ethnic Studies program, specifically the Mexican American (Raza) Studies component, to be out of compliance with this law.^[13]

Horne was also successful in implementing the Arizona Instrument to Measure Success (AIMS) test, which was approved by the legislature in the 1990s, but did not go into effect until 2006. Despite some controversy over the requirement that students pass the test before graduating high school, the test is now an accepted part of the state education system. Horne created an incentive program whereby students who exceed standards on the AIMS test and meet other criteria receive tuition scholarships to Arizona’s public universities.^[14]

Attorney General[link]

On November 2, 2010, Horne defeated Felecia Rotellini in the race for Arizona Attorney General in the 2010 elections.

In early 2011, Horne delivered a seminal policy statement to the Border Security Expo in Phoenix and outlined his grave concerns that Mexico risks failure as a state unless the U.S. and Mexico cooperate to combat drug violence and economic upheaval. Horne reiterated this argument in testimony before the U.S. House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Management. The full statement can be found here: AZ Attorney General Press Release and a copy of Horne’s congressional testimony is here: Attorney General Tom Horne Oral Testimony

Horne also initiated legal action designed to defend Arizona’s border enforcement law, commonly known as S.B. 1070. Taking the opposite approach of his predecessor, Horne filed an action in federal court calling on the Obama administration to drop its challenge of S.B. 1070.^[15]

Attorney General Horne joined the multi-state effort to challenge the constitutionality of the Obama national health care plan. Horne is arguing that the plan’s individual mandate is an unconstitutional exercise of Congress’ authority under the commerce clause, and the expansion of Medicaid as well as the program’s cost to the states are an unconstitutional coercion of the States at the hand of Congress.^[16]

Horne personally argued at the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of Arizona’s law that requires proof of citizenship to vote. A three-judge panel had ruled that federal law preempts the state requirement. Horne successfully petitioned for en banc review and made the case before the full court late in FY 2011 that it is a basic right of Arizona to ensure that everyone who votes is in fact a citizen.^[17]

During 2011, the Attorney General’s Office concluded a number of major consumer settlements. Among them was the largest pharmaceutical payout in Arizona history in the amount of $2.1 million, which is part of a record $68.5 million settlement between AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP and 37 states.^[18]

Another major pharmaceutical settlement was reached with another 37 state Attorneys General in FY 2011 in which GlaxoSmithKline, LLC and SB Pharmco Puerto Rico paid a total of $40.75 million arising from allegations of substandard manufacturing processes.^[19]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Simpson, Michael W. Tom Horne, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Verse Tucson Unified School District's Ethnic Studies: A Critical Discourse Study. (April 2, 2009).

External links[link]

• Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne official state government site

Richard C. Martinez is a Democratic member of the New Mexico Senate, representing the 5th District since 2001.

External links[link]

• New Mexico Legislature - Senator Richard Martinez official NM Senate website
• Project Vote Smart - Senator Richard C. Martinez (NM) profile
• Follow the Money - Richard Martinez
  • 2008 2006 2004 2002 2000 campaign contributions

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