Black History v. Ethnic Studies
By W. F. Twyman, Jr.
There is a distinction between Black History and Ethnic Studies.
No matter how many slogan words are deployed as manipulation like " liberation," "system," "oppression," "racist," and "stolen land," the self-evident truth remains that the teaching of history is fact-based. The teaching of ideology and conformist thinking is manipulation based. For this core reason, the State of California should applaud the teaching of rich and in-depth Black History while turning its gaze away from manipulations of Ethnic Studies. There is a fundamental principle of the human condition -- students are more uplifted and affirmed when they learn about the positive in our past. Public funds should not be invested in the negative and dispirit of curated Ethnic Studies. https://empowered-ed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Ethnic-Report.pdf
In the modern day and age of a focus on systems and structures, it is easy to forget the individual in Black History in California. Where is our faith in black individuals when we celebrate Malcom X and Black panthers at the expense of innumerable Californians of enterprise and high aim?
For example, opportunities have been so blessed for black Americans in California that the first black millionaire in U.S. History moved to the Bay Area and made his fortune. Born in 1810 in the Danish West Indies, William Leidesdorff immigrated to the U.S. He first became a naturalized citizen in Louisiana before sensing greater opportunity lay westward in California. And boy was it ever! Leidesdorff owned the first steamship in the San Francisco Bay area. He opened the first public school in San Francisco, the first hotel in San Francisco, and the first waterfront in San Francisco. Black Enterprise and the name of Leidesdorff became one. He had landed in California in 1841 and, before he died in 1848, gold was found on his property. William Leidesdorff - Wikipedia
William Leidesdorff - Wikipedia
California produced the first black millionaire in seven years (1841-1848). Isn't that a story we should praise to high heaven in any California curriculum? There is no mention of Leidesdorff in the proposed Ethnic Studies for California. A sickening omission.
And, if we are concerned about female representation, Leidesdorff was followed by a black woman who become a millionaire in the Bay Area, Mary Ellen Pleasant (1815-1904). Pleasant was born in 1815 but wouldn't move to San Francisco until 1852. There is no mention of Pleasant in the Ethnic Studies program. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ellen_Pleasant
The more one digs into our rich Black past in California, the more gold is revealed. It is truly amazing.
Did you know that the Tony Stark of Black America was one Mifflin Gibbs (1823-1915)? Born free in Philadelphia in 1823 as the son of a Methodist minister, Gibbs lost his father to an early death when Gibbs was twelve (12) years old. Forced to earn a living to support his widowed mother, Gibbs worked in the home of a prominent lawyer. He watched and observed and learned how successful men got on in the world. He transitioned into the building trades and became a building contractor. Always a titan of enterprise and self-reliance, Gibbs sought out opportunity in the Golden State of California. Did you know that he worked as a carpenter until white workers went on strike to protest his presence at the work site. Did Gibbs crumble, wither away and die in the presence of white prejudice?
Thank again.
Gibbs assessed the situation and went into the shoe business for himself with two white partners. By the time the 1850s came to an end, Gibbs was prosperous and affluent and owned The Mirror of the Time, California's first black newspaper. Only the prospect of even greater opportunity drew Gibbs away from California to British Columbia and entrepreneurial success in the railroad and mining industries. Black Californians perceived Gibbs as larger than life. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mifflin_Wistar_Gibbs
Only in California. Only in California.
Did you know that the famous Beverly Hills Hotel has an intimate connection to Black Enterprise in California? It was none other than famed Los Angeles resident Paul R. Williams (1894-1980) who designed the iconic signage for this hotel favored by celebrities and the famous. There is no mention of the inspiration, ambition and enterprise of Williams in the Ethnic Studies program. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_R._Williams
The omissions grow even more glaring. The famous Robinson Hotel in Julian, California is a testament to the American Dream of Albert Robinson, a former slave, and his wife, Margaret. Albert and Margaret started a bakery which turned into a hotel in 1897. There were few blacks in the back country mountains above San Diego. And yet the Robinson prospered in their hotel business and were beloved by townsfolks and travelers. Their hotel continues to operate as the longest continually operated black hotel in the state. https://www.julianhotel.com/history Do we see recognition of their prosperity and success in the Ethnic Studies program? No, we do not. History
History
A founder of the Congressional Black Caucus was the first black congressman from California, U. S. Representative Augustus Hawkins (1907-2007). Congressman Hawkins is well-remembered for the Humphrey-Hawkins Act and his service as Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. Any mention of the influential Congressman Hawkins in the Ethnic Studies curriculum so that children might come face to face with drive, talent and ambition in the pre-Civil Rights era? Once again, the Ethnic Studies program is strangely silent on California Black success.
One of the first black Lieutenant Governors in American history was California Lieutenant-Governor Mervyn Dymally (1926-2012) from Los Angeles. A racial pioneer for the ages and no recognition in the Ethnic Studies program for California students.
Mervyn Dymally - Wikipedia
For many years, the most powerful politician in California politics was Speaker of the California House Willie Brown (1934- ?). Few dared to cross Speaker Brown in California. Wouldn't you think Speaker Brown would be a source of pride all California students should learn about? One will not find Speaker Brown in the Ethnic Studies program. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Brown_(politician)
One of the first black big city mayors was Mayor Tom Bradley (1917-1998) of Los Angeles. Bradley nearly became Governor of California, save for 50,000 votes. It is as if Mayor Bradley did not exist when one turns the pages of the Ethnic Studies program. Tom Bradley (American politician) - Wikipedia
Tom Bradley (American politician) - Wikipedia
What one does find are a slew of manipulations and slogan words.
To repeat, Black History is not Ethnic Studies.
Education is not a "tool for liberation." Education is a vehicle for learning about the world one has inherited . Education serves as a shepherd for understanding the human condition, the nuance and complexity of life. Education is not pedagogy of the oppressed. So oftentimes, we heard the mantra that Blackness is Oppression. Nothing else matters. To achieve its goal of liberation, the Ethnic Studies program would erase epic stories of giant figures in California. Giants and heroes would be replaced with tales of oppression, permanent racism at the bottom of the well. No good and only disempowered souls would be the result in California classrooms.
Suppose the individual in the Black Experience does not feel oppressed? Suppose the descendant of an upper-middle class black American family wants to see their life stories reflected in the curriculum.
This will not happen. Instead, a hyperfocus on oppression and underrepresentation will abuse and manipulate legacy American black students in classrooms throughout schools in California. This outcome is abominable and cries out for redress.
Ultimately, the push for Ethnic Studies runs afoul of the law. In the recent case of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, 600 U.S. _____ (2023), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the use of race for affirmative action is unconstitutional in college admissions. The rationale is that the use of race is odious to the colorblind dictates of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th U.S. Constitution. The die has been cast in that the vote was 6 to 3 against race consciousness and the holding will logically expand over the coming years.
If it is unlawful for Harvard as the recipient of federal funds to use race conscious measures in college admissions, the logical next step would be for a hungry law firm to find a client who feels abused, coerced and discriminated against by the Ethnic Studies program. The legal argument would be that the rationale under Students for Fair Admission logically applies as well to the use of race conscious measures under California state law.
What are the race conscious measures in the Ethnic Studies program?
First, the Ethnic Studies integrates Critical Race Theory's idea that the U.S. is oppressive and racist in its teaching. "Racism is endemic in the United States." In other words, the curriculum says the silent part out loud. Few measures are more race conscious than Critical Race Theory. On this basis alone, the use of race conscious measures is subject to constitutional challenge under Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment does not recognize racial oppressors and racial oppressed classes. The Equal Protection Clause per Chief Justice Roberts is color-blind.
Even if we accept the dictates of Critical Race Theory, the ideology requires that Blackness be centered in the public discourse. Blackness trumps Brownness in the Oppression Olympics. A review of the Ethnic Studies program suggests a majority of the curriculum centers the Brown experience in California which is in direct violation of the prime directive to center Blackness. See Derrick Bell's Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism.
Finally, do we really want to glorify thugs and murderers in our public schools? Once upon a time, school children thrilled to the exploits of Patrick Henry (Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!), Thomas Jefferson (We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident that All Men Are Created Equal), John Adams (Liberty Once Lost, Is Lost Forever), Ben Franklin (Honesty is the Best Policy), and George Washington (Anything the Man said).
Today, the Ethnic Studies program would treat our school children to stirring paragons of virtue such as bomber Oscar Lopez Rivera, Maoist activist Yuri Kochiyama, criminal George Jackson, and criminal Leroy Eldridge Cleaver.
We can see the road ahead and there is nothing uplifting about Ethnic Studies compared to straight Black History. That is the line in the sand which the State of California should not cross.
And here’s another one I want to listen to about Hattie McDaniel, who won an Oscar best supporting actress in Gone With the Wind. There are quite a few on back women!
https://thehistorychicks.com/hattie-mcdaniel-minicast/
I found the podcast! There are others, but I especially enjoyed this one. The link gives a description, and that’s also interesting.
https://thehistorychicks.com/episode-67-madam-cj-walker/