The Wrong-headed, Short-sighted Attack on Ethnic Studies

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Arizona’s ban on ethnic studies curricula makes one thing supremely evident: no one in favor of the ban has ever taken an ethnic studies course. The ban, most recently passed in Tucson, assumes that “classes primarily designed for a particular ethnic group,” by their very existence, promote “groupthink and victimhood.” This is the opposite of what good ethnic studies courses do. Arizona state superintendent of public instruction John Huppenthal insists that ethnic studies “promote[s] resentment towards a group or class of people.” However, the history of ethnic studies in the United States is one of inclusion not division.