1.4: Takeaway

Last updated
Save as PDF

Page ID: 143275

Kay Fischer

\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

Concluding Thoughts

We hope that this OER titled “Introduction to Ethnic Studies” will be the first of many in our disciplines, including the four traditional disciplines of Africana/African American/Black Studies, American Indian/Native American Studies, Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies, and Chicanx/Latinx Studies, as we continue to develop and expand learning materials that are free and more accessible to our students and instructors. We hope that instructors and students alike will find in this text something similar to what one of my former students shared in a letter to the California Department of Education in support of the original Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum draft in 2019:

Ethnic Studies is literally my life. It’s helped me understand my life. Seeing that my challenges and my mother’s challenges were mirrored in the classroom, I began to understand that the hardships I’ve endured as a woman of color is not mythical (it can feel that way when it’s not legitimized, because our society acts like we’re past issues of racism, sexism, and so forth). In navigating my own life, Ethnic Studies taught me how to decide for myself. As an ally and a person of color, I’ve learned how I could create change for myself and my community. I wouldn’t survive in our society if it weren't for ethnic studies.