Third Way: TEAACH Ethnic Studies And History To American Students
Michele D'ottavio / EyeEm
The Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History Act – TEEACH – was passed in the Illinois state legislature at the end of May. This legislation would require that Asian American history, which includes the unlawful and incredibly immoral internment camps as well as the Asian American soldiers and military units that were comprised of Asian Americans during WWII, be taught in schools. The average school curriculum typically includes some mention of the Japanese-American internment camps – although I would argue that not enough attention is dedicated to how truly wrong they were – but practically no other material regarding Asian American history.
TEEACH is part of a new movement called ethnic activism, which advocates for ethnic and racial groups who have been systematically marginalized and oppressed by our society and government. Although several other states are considering similar pieces of legislation, TEEACH is the first bill passed as a part of the ethnic activism movement. Ethnic studies are an invaluable aspect of education that has long been missing from core requirements. The National Education Association (NEA) has compiled an extensive amount of research regarding the importance and benefits of these kinds of studies. For instance, these studies found that ethnic study classes resulted in higher levels of self-esteem in marginalized ethnicities, as well as developing stronger cross-cultural relations and democracy outcomes. In short, the NEA found that there are no drawbacks to requiring ethnic study classes and they benefit minority and white students alike.
However, Republicans, particularly Trump’s supporters, have still found a reason to speak out against these classes and the new kind of education that accompanies them. On January 18, 2021, the report of Trump’s 1776 commission was released. Trump established this commission Trump while he was still in office in direct response to the New York Times’ 1619 Project. The purpose of the 1619 Project is to encourage a reframing of the history lessons taught in schools to have more of a focus on Black Americans’ history, the legacy of slavery, and how systemic racism is at work in our society. To counter this, the 1776 Commission called this a false revision of history and likened it and the progressive movement backing it to fascism. The ironic aspect is that this supposed history-based commission did not include historians but consisted solely of conservative politicians and activists.
These beliefs are not held only by the members of Trump’s 1776 Commission. Mitch McConnell and other Republican senators have also spoken against the 1619 Project and the educational priorities that it advocates for. Moreover, Oklahoma is currently trying to pass a law that directly opposes Illinois’ new TEEACH bill. The law states that schools cannot teach lessons that suggest that a person “by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.” This would prevent most critical race theory or ethnic study and history classes from being taught. Arkansas and Idaho have passed similar laws, prohibiting schools from teaching any sort of lessons that would make students feel as if they are inherently responsible for the past actions of other members of their race or ethnicity. While the 1776 Commission backs laws like this, stating that they support a patriotic education, in reality, the only thing that these bills further are a divided and unpatriotic country.
In contrast, the Biden administration took office with an extremely different view from Trump and the Republican party. Biden has continually stressed the need for greater equity within the country and has discussed several proposals. One of his major actionable policies to support his view is his infrastructure plan, to help combat the bias, racism, and systemic discrimination that exists in America. Another relevant policy from the Biden administration is proposing a grant for the American History and Civics Education program. This would promote education that discusses systemic discrimination and discriminatory policies, the same kind of education program that the 1619 Project advocated for and the Republicans so harshly condemned.
The education system in America currently teaches a white-washed version of history that glosses over the harder parts of history – the parts in which the white colonists, tortured, abused, and killed multiple different racial-ethnic groups, including Blacks, Native Americans, and Asian Americans. The only aspect of Native American history taught in my school, similar to many across the country , was that of the first Thanksgiving, which was portrayed cheerfully and friendly, and made little to no mention of the more than 3,000 Cherokee people who died on the Trail of Tears due to the Indian Removal Act. Similarly, more attention is given to the racist Confederate generals who have been forever memorialized by larger-than-life statues as opposed to the Black people who were tortured and abused for decades by slaveowners. Although slavery cannot be likened to the Holocaust, Germany has no memorialization to their Nazi soldiers who played a part in the abuse and killing of millions of Jews.
Providing students with an accurate, detailed, and complex education regarding the different ethnicities that live within the United States is incredibly important. As stated above, the NEA has found many positive benefits that come from these classes. It is also clear that our nation, which was built on the back of racism and mistreatment of ethnic groups, has proven unable to grow and move past our history. Racist acts continue to occur and even surge, as is the case with Asian American hate crimes this year. Education would begin to make some of the changes that are necessary in order to combat and heal our country from its racism and systemic discrimination. Without being able to learn about past problems, how can anyone ever be expected to grow and improve?
