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.

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, 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.

Benjamin Aaron Shapiro (born January 15, 1984) is an American conservative political commentator, radio talk show host, attorney, and media consultant. A native of Los Angeles, Shapiro graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles and Harvard Law School. He has written four books, starting with Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth in 2004, and writes a column for Creators Syndicate.

Shapiro attended Yeshiva University High Schools of Los Angeles. He then enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), majoring in political science, and graduating summa cum laude in 2004. At UCLA, Shapiro lived off-campus. He also wrote a column for the Daily Bruin student newspaper at UCLA from 2000 to 2002. The Daily Bruin suspended Shapiro after he complained on radio talk shows that the newspaper refused to print his column accusing Muslim student groups of supporting terrorism. Shapiro was hired at age 17 to become the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in the country by Creators Syndicate. He received his Juris Doctor (J.D.), cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 2007. He formerly practiced law at the Los Angeles office of Goodwin Procter LLP, and was a Vice President at Talk Radio Network. He now does independent legal consulting for major media clients.

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

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.

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." 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." 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.

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

Boots Riley (born Raymond Lawrence Riley in 1971) is an American musician, vocalist, writer, and public speaker most known for being the front man and producer of The Coup as well as the front man for Street Sweeper Social Club.

Boots Riley was born in 1971 into a family of radical organizers in Chicago. The family later moved to Detroit and then to Oakland. His interest in politics began at a young age, inspiring him to join the Progressive Labor Party and the International Committee Against Racism.

In 1991 Riley founded the political hip hop group The Coup with fellow United Parcel Service worker E-roc. Pam the Funkstress, DJ for the group, joined in 1992. Boots was chief lyric writer and produced the music on the albums. They released a song on a 1991 compilation album called Dope Like A Pound Or A Key along with fellow former UPS worker Spice-1 and future Thug Life member Mopreme Shakur, then known as Mocedes. The album was released on Wax That Azz Records, which was owned by Pierre "The Beat Fixer" James, Too Short's DJ.