Post Read Week 1

-What students were faced with in 1968 is very different from what they face today. The amount of racism that students of different color faced back then was incredibly higher than what people face today. While racism hasn’t been completely erased from society, what students face current is “classism”. It’s not that students aren’t being accepted based on their ethnicity but students can’t afford to attend the colleges that accept them. Students in 1968 and students in 2012 face similar setbacks but not at the same intensity level.

-I suppose the strikers in 1968 wanted Ethnic Studies to provide ample opportunity to students of different ethnicities to attend what was then called, San Francisco State College. They fought for the right of all applications sent to San Francisco State College be accepted and reviewed. The Third World Libertarian Front also wanted a School of Ethnic Studies set up for the ethnic groups involved in the Third World and that the power to hire/retain any faculty member, director or administrator was in the hands of the School of Ethnic Studies.

-I think that the strikers would find it offensive that the idea of informing students on the different races and ethnicities of the world would promote the hatred or resentment toward other races. The legislators might defend themselves by imposing the idea that some teachers might include some of their biases towards other races influencing the students to lean towards certain beliefs. In which strikers would respond that that kind of statement as being “bullhockey,” it’s completely ridiculous to think that having an ethnic studies program would do anything other inform students on the different people that also live on this earth.

-In high school I was required to take a year of World History and one of U.S. History. In my World History class we spent a long time going over the Holocaust, a long time. If I’m comparing my class to what the four criteria I would say that it bordered on the line of crossing Rule Two: Promote resentment toward a race or class of people. I only say this because when you hear about the Holocaust, genocide, and the civil rights movement, some people can’t help but resent the actions of their ancestors. But, I think this has to do more with being disappointed the close-mindedness of some people, not a particular resentment or hatred towards a particular race or class of people. It more so made me feel sorry and empathetic to what people had to endure during such a terrible time in the world. If they were to omit what they had taught me in high school I would not be as informed as I am on the history of certain races, including white Americans.

-Horne argues that by offering Ethnic Studies students are being separated based on their race and he believes that by doing that students are being segregated.

-Dyson argues that that’s ridiculous. White Americans should take the courses as well as the other students of different ethnicities. Students should take courses that inform them on the history of other races as well as their own. They should be informed on the good and bad of what’s happened in history to races.

-Students would benefit from taking an ethnic studies class different from their own heritage because it would enlighten them on what other people had to endure during certain time periods. People might learn how to be more open-minded if they took classes that focused on other cultures. People would see different views on worldwide issues and maybe learn something that would change their view on the world.

-I would say that this shouldn’t even be an issue. People should be allowed the opportunity to learn about other cultures, and see our history in a 360 view. They should learn all the angles and parts of events that took place in our history that shaped the world as it today. 

Word Count- 659