Why Ethnic Studies is Good For All Americans, Including White Folks

There's a proverb that says, "Until the lion tells his own story of
being hunted, history will always glorify the hunter." This, in
essence, is the reason for ethnic studies.

The wonderful thing about America is that we are and have always
been a nation of many stories coming together as one. But an
unfortunate fact of our history has been that, for too long, certain
parts of our collective have been overlooked or excluded. Most American
children know about Lewis and Clark but not Sacajawea. They know about
Thomas Jefferson but not Sally Hemmings. Because of who has
traditionally held the microphone (and power) in American history,
certain perspectives are amplified more than others.

Wait, you say. I know who Sacajawea and Sally Hemmings are! Well then, good for you -- you have ethnic studies to thank.

The fact is that in our increasingly racially and ethnically diverse
nation, we are not preparing our children for the future they face if
we do not teach them a history that includes the many communities that
make up our nation.

But practical arguments aside, there is a profound, moral imperative
to tell the full truth of America's history. I don't want my daughter
growing up to think that slavery and colonialism -- which are indeed
parts of her heritage -- are anything other than unjust and inhumane,
lest her generation go on to repeat the mistakes of the past.
Unfortunately, the way American history is taught often excuses such
indiscretions for the sake of tidy nationalism, the naive notion that
one cannot be a proud of America and critical of America at the same
time. That's not patriotism. That's fascism -- enforced subtly through
textbooks and lesson plans.

It is offensive to the independent and revolutionary history of
America to not teach the inheritors of that history to think
independently and critically for themselves. After all, in the earliest
classrooms of our democracy out of which patriots like Sam Adams and
Thomas Paine emerged, folks weren't just talking deferentially about
the history of the British crown. The full history of the world,
including various perspectives on the American colonies, was essential
to the critical consciousness that birthed our nation. To whitewash
that history now -- as though, for instance, our Founding Fathers were
not oppressive in their own right with respect to slaves and women --
dishonors the legacy they sought to create of an independent,
free-thinking nation. In fact, were they alive today, I think our
Founding Fathers would be the first to see how the world has changed
and acknowledge how biased and incomplete their perspectives were so
many centuries ago. They would be proud of the America we have become
and want our full history taught, warts and all -- for the sake of
continuing our national legacy of freedom and justice, rather than
stagnating.

Some opponents of ethnic studies say that it teaches our children to
resent government and America's history. Nothing could be further from
the truth. That's like saying you inherently trust a sleazy used car
salesman more than a reputable dealer. Who are you going to want to do
business with? The guy who tells you that the clearly imperfect and
slightly dented car has never been in an accident and runs like new? Or
the guy who says, "Yeah, there have been a few bumps here and there but
the mechanic tuned her up and she's got a lot of miles still to go."

By the same token, President Obama isn't weakening America when he
acknowledges our less-than-perfect past -- he is being honest and
modeling for the world a new kind of diplomacy where the motivation
isn't the size of your missile silo but the desire to be part of the
world community and global economy rather than left by the side of the
road. Our President knows that, in an increasingly complex world in
which American might alone can no longer govern, we will have more
influence through being liked than being feared.

It's ironic that these critics who think ethnic studies and honesty
about America's dark past are ruining the credibility of our government
are precisely the same people who have been holding government's head
under water for decades. Do not be fooled into thinking they now want
to protect government. They want to protect the power structure in
which a small group of elites continue to dominate and manipulate our
economy and our government to their exclusive benefit.

Pulling the curtain back to reveal the full story of that history of
exploitation doesn't hurt everyday Americans -- it hurts those elites,
who have benefited from a one-sided story for far too long. Yet now
they're trying to manipulate us once again, arguing that teaching all
Americans about our shared history -- a history that includes whites and
Latinos and African Americans and American Indians and men and women,
all of us -- will some how divide us rather than unite us. The truth is,
learning about what we have in common, the 360 degree history we
ultimately share, can only bring us closer together as a nation -- and
help us all better understand the real problems and injustices that
still plague us as a people. And let me tell you, with skyrocketing
rates of unemployment and foreclosure and stagnant wages and rising
costs of health care, ethnic studies is definitely not the problem we
face as a nation. It's a distraction. The sooner we realize that, the
sooner we will al stop being innocent prey erased from our nation's
history and prosperity.