Ethnic Studies, in the United States, is the interdisciplinary study of ascribed differences such as race and ethnicity, but can also include sexuality and gender, as they relate to power(Hu-DeHart,1993).
Ethnic Studies first emerged in higher education as an interdisciplinary field in 1967 at San Francisco State University in response to student protests (Molefi, 2005). The social climate at the time was undergoing major reformation as liberation movements progressed. As a result,there were many student protests all over the country fighting to implement Black Studies in higher education. This movement paved the way for other ethnic groups’ histories to be studied as well. During this time Native American Studies, Latino Studies, and Asian American Studies were beginning to be offered at some colleges and universities.
Ethnic Studies plays a crucial role in higher education. For students whose ethnic background is the focus, it gives them a sense of belonging and further understanding of their roots and history in American society. Ethnic Studies is also highly beneficial when other students learn about other cultures' history and contributions in American history. An important goal in Ethnic Studies is to enlighten students’ cultural understandings and end prejudices and racial conflicts (Ward, 2019).
What differentiates Ethnic Studies from other social sciences and humanities is how it took root as an academic discipline. In many ways it began in response to charges that traditional social science and humanities disciplines were conceived from a Eurocentric perspective (Chapman 2013).
Ethnic Studies departments face challenges such as underfunding, high turnover rates, understaffing and lack of autonomy. For example, Northwestern University has a 100 percent turnover rate due to not offering tenure to Ethnic Studies professors that do not commit to sharing appointments in another department, a tenure home, essentially double the work (Baskar, 2019). In August 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill AB 1460,that requires all undergraduates attending California State Universities to enroll in an Ethnic Studies course to graduate (McKenzie, 2020). With this new requirement in California, it will prove difficult for universities to try to dismantle the discipline, which has been an issue in the past. Despite its origins, Ethnic Studies is not immune to structural racism. For example, at CSU Long Beach, administrators failed to hire professors for the Department of Africana Studies for 8 years, then strategically suggested replacing the department with only an Africana studies program falling under another department, claiming that the department did not have sufficient tenured faculty (McKenzie, 2020). Departments allow faculty to coordinate to make decisions such as hiring, so by dismantling a department, there would be no faculty organization of the discipline, contributing to less hiring and promotion. This is a common tactic used by universities to reduce the autonomy of Ethnic studies departments, as well as other departments (McKenzie, 2020).
The study of Critical Race Theory (CRT) has recently come under scrutiny, mainly from the conservative right wing claiming the study perpetuates divisiveness. The benefit of studying CRT is not to delve into individuals who may be racist, but to better understand racial disparities in the institutions and systems within the United States that persist and cause harm (Fortin, 2020). Derek Bell, the late Harvard professor known as the father of critical race theory, developed the course after trying to understand how race and American law interact (Harris,2021). In 1981, Kimberlé Crenshaw was enrolled at Harvard Law but felt there was avoid after Bell, the only Black professor at the time, resigned when he discovered the institution's discriminatory hiring practices (Harris, 2021). Crenshaw and other students asked 12 scholars of color to lead discussions about Bell’s book,Race, Racism, and American Law after they realized the Harvard Law administration did not understand the importance of race and law (Harris,2021). This was the beginning of CRT, examining how our “nation’s sordid history of slavery,segregation, and discrimination is embedded in our laws, and continues to play a central role in preventing Black Americans and other marginalized groups from living lives untouched by racism” (Harris, 2021). CRT does not teach young Americans to hate America or promote divisiveness, but to explore how inequality today is rooted in our past foundations. Ethnic Studies continues to evolve and shift perspectives, so it’s time other disciplines do the same to implement an effective, inclusive curriculum.
