People of different races and cultural backgrounds don't always understand other peoples' cultures, which includes more than just different foods and races. Cultural differences also includes how people practice religions, view family structures, and practice religious beliefs. So, the importance of knowing about other ethnicities is important for society to get along and respect one another. Some people may view other people as being less important than others. I think all people benefit from learning about one another. I believe Ethnic Studies is basically the history and culture of the various minority groups in America, (Native Americans, Latinos, African-Americans, etc.). Most American history classes don't go in depth in teaching the many important, and detailed facts of how minorities helped build America. So, Ethnic Studies is a very important class to take.
I think Ethnic Studies was developed as a discipline to make sure there was a detailed understanding of how all people impacted America's development as a country. History classes seem to focus on Caucasians when trying to discuss events in our past. During the 1960's when the civil rights movement came to be, it helped ethnic studies develop as a class. It is one of the few areas of the university that focuses on minorities. I believe that ethnic studies was created as a discipline to help others understand the cultures of the many different ethnic races we have in America. Ethnic Studies differs from other academic classes such as Sociology, Anthropology, and Political Science, due to its focus on history and cultures of minorities in America, while the other classes are based around general human development and government. Ethnic Studies gives an in-depth look into how different cultures' histories have affected our growth as a people.
Sadly, some people do not approve of Ethnic Studies as being a qualified class subject. Arizona has a ban on Ethnic Studies classes with the House Bill that was put into place almost a year ago. In the House Bill, Ethnic Studies falls under the category as "causing hate" within schools and promoting resentment toward a race or class of people. Many people must think Ethnic Studies is designed or taught for certain ethnic groups or that it separates us from one another instead of treating people as individuals. To some people, Ethnic Studies may be an overwhelming controversial topic, while others may be racially ignorant or culturally uneducated. The Ethnic Studies course may seem like it is a big misunderstanding to some people for what the real meaning behind the class is meant to be.
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Word Count: 425
Hi Joe,
ReplyDeleteI think you are correct that learning about other people's cultures is important for fostering understanding, tolerance and respect. I hope this happens in this course! At SF State Ethnic Studies is broken down in 6 departments: Asian-American Studies, American Indian Studies, Africana Studies, Latina/o Studies, Arab and Muslim Ethnicity Diasporas and Race and Resistance Studies. Some of these departments are specific to a certain culture, and definitely teach that culture- but some are more general. What do you think ties all of these departments together? What might be some of the overlapping themes that these departments might discuss?
I think you may be right, that the people who are attacking Ethnic Studies are somewhat misinformed about what it actually might be- could you elaborate on what this misunderstanding might be? What do they Ethnic Studies is as opposed to what actually goes on?
also: In order to get credit for the blog, you need to have a word count on the bottom of the blog. I am letting people fix it this week, but in the future you need to publish the blog with a word count to get credit.
--eas