Talking Points for Emails to the CDE

on Ethnic Studies Curriculum 


 

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Directions:

1. Introduce yourself ("Hi, my name is ____, and I live in _____") 
2. Select any/as many of the talking points below and either copy/paste them into the body of the email or use them to write your own commentary. 

3. Send the email to: ethnicstudies@cde.ca.gov 

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Talking Points:

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• Issue of Transparency

  • fully transparency is expected where it is supposed to be given in curriculum development and implementation

  • Unfortunately, we have felt a breech in this supposed-to-be communicative relationship when we were sprung with last-minute decisions.

  • The announcement of an additional chapter was announced just hours prior to the IQC meeting on August 13th.

  • The public commenting period which commences on September 1, is meant to give the community the opportunity to provide feedback on any issues it has with the curriculum prior to its final round of revisions.

  • However, how can we do so if we are not given this supplemental content in time? Why is it being hidden? These factors only further my community’s uneasiness to the intentions behind it. I am worried this chapter will be the source of more BDS.

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• Problematic Citations

  • Many of the citations in this curriculum are from sources that promote BDS/anti-Israel authors.

  • Raises concerns on what teachers will find when they use the sources for supplemental content

 

• American Jews Chapter

  • compares American Jews to Irish Americans

  • teaches how Jewish Americans have become a privileged ethnicity.

  • terrifying as a Jew due to the rise in antisemitism during the last year because Jewish Americans are compared to white supremacists and blames Jews for racial injustice in America.

  • Jews have never stopped being discriminated against, hated, and of course, the target of several violent and deathly attacks.

  • For a curriculum whose goal it is to educate about minorities and their struggles, this would in fact be doing the opposite by contributing to the misunderstandings of Jewish Americans and thus fueling the targeted hatred we experience.

 

CALL TO ACTION

I urge you to understand the power and consequences in your decisions by​

1. Removing all citations that include anti-Israel sentiment

2. Rewriting the chapter on Jewish Americans to reflect a more accurate and inclusive Jewish narrative

3. Ensure that any additions to the curriculum will remain free of discriminatory content, such as antisemitic rhetoric, including but not restricted to mentions of BDS.

4. Thank you.