The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies

by Christine Sleeter

3 Talking Points

1. Through trial and error, Carlos was able to find his passion. I love that his community lead him to what he found moving. Seeing yourself aways makes it easier to learn. I wonder if Carlos never liked school because he never saw representation. This was not something I experienced, so it took me a while to make sense of it and realize the real problem.

2. "Students perceive racism as a tragedy of the past divorced from other historical issues" This is how I felt as a student. Things USED to be bad, but now they are better. This is a prime example of my white complicity. I still believe that schools today only discuss rasicm as a topic in history class, rather than contemporary affairs.

3. "In sum, it is important to recognize that ethnic studies grew from a desire to counterbalance both inaccuracies and the predominance of Euro-American perspectives that underlie mainstream curricula." This reminded me of the Providence Student Union's fight for ethnic studies classes in their schools. PPSD has yet to hear the student union and make a change. By doing this, they are continuing white complicitness. 

Argument Statement

Christine Sleeter argues that the lack of Ethnic Studies in schools teaches that racism as a "historic concept".