It is perhaps the last place you would expect a backlash against a ‘left-wing agenda’.
But a “radical” new ethnic studies course is proving too much for liberal Bay Area parents, who have rebelled against the introduction of what they call “Marxist” lessons in local schools.
Opponents of the plans say children, sometimes as young as 14, are being “indoctrinated” by an ideology that is not representative of their community.
The fierce backlash in Palo Alto, the birthplace of Silicon Valley, is part of a new culture war raging in California, which has become the first state in the U.S. to require all students to take an ethnic studies class.
Even lifelong Democrats have formed lobby groups to oppose “ideological” classes that they say “sow intolerance,” “glorify violent movements,” and “equate capitalism with racism.”
Pictured: Downtown Palo Alto, where liberal parents have rebelled against the introduction of what they call “divisive” ethnic studies classes in local schools.
Palo Alto High School will offer a pilot course in ethnic studies next school year in preparation for a district-wide rollout in 2025-26
Palo Alto Assistant Principal Guillermo Lopez has defended the classes, saying they should be “inclusive to all communities.”
They have also been embroiled in accusations of anti-Semitism.
At a Bay Area school, an ethnic studies teacher drew outrage after teaching a lesson that falsely claimed the United Nations considered the creation of Israel illegal.
There was also a slide showing a hand manipulating a puppet, a slide that evoked anti-Semitic clichés about secret Jewish control over government, media and finance.
Linor Lava, a founding member of the Palo Alto Parent Alliance, whose son will soon be a senior, told DailyMail.com that the proposed curriculum was “downright frightening.”
She said that while the Bay Area is liberal, most parents disagree with the “extreme ideologies” being taught in schools.
“It doesn’t represent a huge portion of the community,” she added.
The dispute is a taste of what’s to come in America, as states like Oregon, Vermont and Minnesota plan to incorporate ethnic studies into K-12 education in the coming years.
It revolves around different interpretations of what ‘ethnic studies’ is.
One is the “inclusive” approach. Proponents say this approach offers students the opportunity to learn more about the contributions and issues of California’s ethnic groups, but most importantly, it prevents communities from being pitted against each other.
It is this form of ethnic studies that is supported by Governor Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers.
But parents in Palo Alto and elsewhere fear that out-of-touch teachers are, in effect, ushering in an ideological and “divisive” version of history that reduces history to “oppressors versus oppressed” and “seeks to create a generation of activists.”
These “liberated” ethnic studies have their origins in the neo-Marxist critical race theory of the Black Power movement of the 1960s. This theory has been criticized by critics for labeling all white people as oppressors.
Advocates of liberated ethnic studies say racism and white supremacy are real and should be addressed in the classroom.
According to Education Week, teaching this discipline is restricted or banned in 17 states, but only one of them, Virginia, voted Democratic in 2020.
But now it appears to be infuriating California’s moderate population.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill that requires high school students to take ethnic studies classes to learn about the contributions and oppression of people of color in America.
But some of the course content has been mired in accusations of anti-Semitism. An ethnic studies teacher at Menlo-Atherton High School in Sequoia drew outrage after her class falsely claimed the United Nations considered the creation of Israel illegal (pictured)
Parents worry that educational groups like the Berkeley History Social-Science Project are encouraging schools to teach controversial material that encourages violent revolution and creates a “generation of activists.” Pictured above: A Berkeley Project lesson plan includes the Communist Manifesto and literature from the Cuban Revolution
Lifelong Democrat Elina Kaplan co-founded the Alliance for Constructive Ethnic Studies to challenge the use of “liberated” ethnic studies in California.
The campaign slogan is: “Don’t let ethnic studies be hijacked by a narrow ideological agenda.”
In Palo Alto, parents have expressed concern that the school district has enlisted an education organization whose logo is a tombstone with the words “Here Lies Buried Capitalism and Control” as curriculum advisors.
The Berkeley History Social-Science Project has partnered with the district to launch a pilot course in ethnic studies this fall, before rolling out the required course next year.
In May, the Palo Alto Parent Alliance distributed a letter highlighting lesson plans and texts previously advertised by the Berkeley Project.
One such book is the groundbreaking book on “liberated” ethnic studies, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which calls for a “cultural revolution” that “includes gunpowder.”
One presentation under the lesson ‘Manifestations for a Just Society’ includes the Communist Manifesto and literature on the Cuban Revolution.
The school district has indicated that the material on the Berkeley Project website is not applicable to the course being taught to the Palo Alto children.
Associate Superintendent Guillermo Lopez said The San Francisco Chronicle that the aim is ‘to be inclusive of all communities’.
However, parents have responded, saying the school district has not been transparent about what the course entails, despite repeated requests for clarity.
Sarith Honigstein, 47, said teachers refused to talk to parents or provide more details than just the titles of the lessons.
“That’s the crazy thing,” she told DailyMail.com. “There’s little to no transparency.
“There is no opposition to ethnic studies at all. We hope it will cover the very real hardships that ethnic groups have faced, such as slavery and racism.
“But the key is balance. A course that degrades groups to oppressors and oppressed is problematic for us.”
“Liberated” ethnic studies has its roots in the neo-Marxist critical race theory of the 1960s Black Power movement, which has been attacked by critics for casting all white people as oppressors. Its teaching has been restricted or banned in 17 states.
A petition by the Palo Alto Parent Alliance to pause the rollout of the ethnic studies pilot project has garnered 1,400 signatures.
Jason Muñiz, director of the Berkeley History-Social Science Project, said the idea wasn’t to tell teachers to favor one curriculum over another, but to help them tailor lessons to their own districts.
Similar debates are playing out across the state. For example, last year, officials in San Mateo received hundreds of emails from parents reporting that the district’s ethnic studies course was pushing a left-wing agenda on students.
Superintendent Randall Booker refuted the claims.
Meanwhile, the nonprofit Deborah Project, which represents Jewish and pro-Israel interests, has filed a lawsuit against the Los Altos High School District demanding that it release documents related to its ethnic studies curriculum.
The issue was raised by the Newsom administration itself, with an education adviser Brooks Allen writes to school leaders in August last year, which highlighted how some courses offered material that encouraged prejudice, intolerance and discrimination against certain groups.
And an editorial in The Los Angeles Times warned that the new curriculum “seems more about imposing biased political views on students than broadening their perspectives.”
Ethnic studies will be taught in all California high schools beginning in 2025-2026 and will become a graduation requirement in 2030.
Governor Gavin Newsom has invested $50 million in curriculum development and teacher training.
DailyMail.com has contacted the California Department of Education for comment.
