Armenian, Hellenic, Hindu, Jewish, and Korean Civic Groups Issue Joint Statement condemning California ethnic studies Curriculum

Its not just the Jewish community that  feels left out of the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum.   The Armenian Assembly of America, Armenian National Committee of America -- Western Region (ANCA-WR), American Hellenic Council (AHC), American Jewish Committee (AJC), Hindu American Foundation (HAF), and the Korean American organization FACE (Faith and Community Empowerment) have showed the state Department of Education just what solidarity looks like:

From the AJC:

Diverse Coalition Urges Department of Education to Rewrite Ethnic Studies Curriculum

Los Angeles – August 13, 2019 – Six major organizations, representing a very large and diverse constituency across California, today called on the state’s Department of Education to set aside the draft Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum and rewrite the document.

The Armenian Assembly of America, Armenian National Committee of America -- Western Region (ANCA-WR), American Hellenic Council (AHC), American Jewish Committee (AJC), Hindu American Foundation (HAF), and the Korean American organization FACE (Faith and Community Empowerment), issued the following joint statement:

“California high school students deserve an opportunity to learn the role of ethnicity, race and religion in the life of all its citizens, including those previously ignored. But the proposed Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, in its current form, does not come close to achieving this admirable goal."

“The draft lacks cultural competency, does not reflect California’s diverse population, and advances a political agenda that should not be taught as unchallenged truth in our state’s public schools."

“We urge the California Department of Education to completely redraft the curriculum, which is replete with mischaracterizations and omissions of major California ethno-religious groups. The groups highlighted in the current draft should be recognized, but not at the expense of everyone else.

From the GV Wire

Armen Sahakyan, executive director of the western region of the Armenian National Committee of America, said the exclusion of his group is troubling.

“It’s certainly concerning to us that this proposed model curriculum has omitted some of the groups that have been living in the state for over 100 years, including Armenians who first settled in California in the Fresno area and have been an integral part of the society of California for over a century,” Sahakyan said.

The California Legislative Jewish Caucus issues a statement against biased model curriculum

The California Legislative Jewish Caucus  has issued a statement regarding the initial draft of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC), which will be open for public comment until August 15, 2019.  

From the Caucus: 

Once revised and approved, California’s ESMC will serve as the standard for public classroom instruction across the state. In its current form, the draft curriculum is inaccurate and misleading in several critical respects and reflects an anti-Jewish bias.

We are working with our allies in the legislature and our Jewish organizational partners to improve the current ESMC draft so that we may adopt a curriculum that is appropriate for all of California’s children.

According to the statement, the current draft curriculum effectively erases the American Jewish experience, omits any meaningful discussion of antisemitism, denigrates Jews, and singles out the state of Israel for condemnation

The California Legislative Jewish Caucus concludes:

It would be a cruel irony if a curriculum meant to help alleviate prejudice and bigotry were instead to marginalize Jewish students and fuel hatred against the Jewish community.  Without significant edits the ESMC will do just that.

View the  full statement here.

The community unites against biased ethnic studies model curriculum

A draft of the the first state level curriculum on ethnic studies in the country is now available on line through the Department of Education.  Public comment will be open until August 15.

From the JNS:  Proposed anti-Israel ethnic-studies curriculum in California has Jewish community on alert

Tammi Benjamin, tireless fighter against anti-Semitism on campus has weighed in already:  

“[It] is deeply troubling—not only for its shocking omission of any mention of Jewish Americans or anti-Semitism or its blatant anti-Israel bias and praise of BDS, but for its clear attempt to politically indoctrinate students to adopt the view that Israel and its Jewish supporters are part of ‘interlocking systems of oppression and privilege’ that must be fought with ‘direct action’ and ‘resistance.’

From Central pacific regional director (ADL) of the the Anti-Defamation League Seth Brysk:

“This is nothing more than an attempt by fringe activists to highjack the model ethnic-studies curriculum for California high schools in the service of radical political goals.”

From Masha Merkulova the executive director of the nationwide Zionist youth group, Club Z:
|“The proposed California curriculum intentionally excludes Jews as an ethnic group that has faced oppression; presents a one-sided narrative of the only Jewish state; and provides a mouthpiece for the bigoted BDS movement"

From the executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, Asaf Romirowsky, the draft represents a “one-sided politicized curriculum, especially as it relates to Israel and the Middle East.”

From the LA Times:   California’s proposed new ethnic studies curriculum is jargon-filled and all-too-PC.

....a current draft of the model curriculum, drawn up by a committee of teachers and academics and headed to the State Board of Education, is an impenetrable melange of academic jargon and politically correct pronouncements. It’s hard to wade through all the references to hxrstory and womxn and misogynoir and cisheteropatriarchy.

From the Progressive Zionists of California:
PZC Calls for Significant Changes to Antisemitic Ethnic Studies Sample Curriculum

...We are deeply disappointed that the current draft promotes the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and other anti-Israel narratives, while excluding the Jewish community as a diverse and frequently targeted ethnic group.

Its no surprise that  at least some of the drafters of the model curriculum, Theresa Johnson, Theresa Montano and Samia Shoman have a history of anti-Israel agitation and bias.

Outraged?  Stand With Us has some practical suggestions for action

Stop Anti-Israel Hate in California Public Schools

To submit feedback about the curriculum, follow these steps: 

Download the public input form here.
Fill out the form, respectfully requesting the removal of BDS and other anti-Israel bias from the model curriculum.
The form asks for references to specific pages, so please include page 2 of this document, as well as pages 234, 237, 242, 256, and 264-269 of this document.
Add a general comment to the form urging the state to add lessons about American Jews as an ethnic group, including those who fled the Holocaust, oppression in the Middle East, and discrimination in the former Soviet Union.

Email the form to ethnicstudies@cde.ca.gov

Consider signing this petition at change.org  

Stop institutionalized bigotry in CA public schools