¡Viva la revolución de la educación!

This week, we watched Precious Knowledge, by Ari Palos and Eren Isabel McGinnis, a documentary about Mexican-American students and their Ethnic Studies courses in school.
It definitely took me a few minutes to pull myself together after watching this documentary,
because to me, it ended on a sad note for these students when the law was passed to ban
Ethnic Studies. Although the ban was passed, the students and teachers were also hopeful.
It showed students during their last days of school talking about how their revolution for change
is just beginning.

As educators, what more would we want for our students than for them to have a good

relationship with school? The documentary followed Crystal, Priscila, and Gilbert, three

Mexican-American students in Tucson and initially displayed their lack of interest in school,

explaining how they were disengaged and bored, finding little to no reason to attend. Crystal

had to care for her siblings while Priscila did not even attend her freshman year while her

dad was arrested and jailed for being an undocumented immigrant. Gilbert lived in a packed

house with no father and had a constant feeling of hate towards education. He says, “I feel

like it’s against me.”

With the dropout rate for Mexican American students at 50%, it's no wonder educators felt

the need to make a change and create class curriculum geared toward Mexican-American

students. Dr. Jeff Duncan-Andrade, an Ethnic Studies advocate stated, “There’s nothing

wrong with kids. I’ve never met a kid with a dysfunctional relationship towards learning, I

have met lots of kids with a dysfunctional relationship towards school.”  

When the curriculum was created and students elected to be in Ethnic "Raza" Studies, their

attitudes towards school began to shift. The students in this documentary were saying, “I

want to go to this school” and “I hate it when I can’t be here.” It reminded me of Neason's
How Hawaiian came back from the dead. Students want to and should feel a connection to
their learning. If interest and engagement rise, student achievement will rise. Dr. Augustine Romero,

Director of Student Equity, TUSD asks an important question, a question that we have been

examining throughout our studies in this class as well when we looked at the work of Jean

Anyon, Grace Boggs, and Dr. Goss. He asks, “Do our schools inspire the community or

does the community inspire our schools? We choose the latter.” The community should

inspire the schools and the work that is happening daily in classrooms. This program is a

perfect example of that work.

If students were engaged and interested in what they were now doing in schools, why mess

with it? Why fix something that isn't broken? Well, the Superintendent of schools at the time

accused them of being tribal, racist, and rude. Many people were saying the Raza Studies

students were preparing for “la reconquista” and were learning hate speech and how to be

Anti-American. Some media avenues even went as far as comparing them to the KKK. The

politicians and administration were discussing the elimination of these classes without ever

personally witnessing what happens in them. Richard Miranda, State Senator, says, “You’re

trying to eliminate Ethnic Studies without even going to the classrooms.”  This is a problem

with many educational policies even today, as we have discussed in class. The people who

“make the rules” (the “higher ups”) and are those who are furthest away from the actual

classroom setting itself.

In the end, Gilbert’s quote really echoed in my mind. He says, “Think about it, I mean, we’re

all human, we all got hearts that beat, we all got, you know, minds that think. And people

don’t treat each other like we’re humans. They treat others like they’re animals like they

shouldn't be a part of this society but you know We create a society, a Dystopia, where we

oppress each other and we don’t really appreciate one another.  But you know, we’re all

human, what’s the big deal… I just believe in one race, the human race.”

I couldn’t agree more with Gilbert. The students, teachers, and classes represented in this

video gave me hope. It made me feel the need to inject more culture into my Spanish

classes and to ask my students more about their own cultures and bring that to life in the

classroom everyday. Ron Espiritu gave a TED talk on “Why Ethnic Studies Matter” and

explains it here.

He asks “Why do we have to wait to college until we have these experiences? Shouldn’t it

be available for our young people in high school and elementary schools across the nation?

I think so.” (Espiritu)  Yeah, why do we? We should push to incorporate this curriculum in

secondary schools.

I also found an interesting article debunking Ethnic Studies Myths. In one myth, the article

highlights, Nolan Cabrera, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona and a

supporter of the Raza Studies program where he says, "There is no Chicano-studies math,

but those gaps began to close, too," he says. "That tells me it's not just about teaching the

student, but changing their orientation to school in general." (Herreras)

While watching this documentary I faced a roller coaster of emotions. Disheartened that

students were disengaged and uninterested in school, happy and ecstatic they finally were

passionate about learning, and devastated that had it all taken away. However, the students

positive attitudes and what they took away from their learning was something they will carry

with them for life. The life lessons they learned in those classes can never be taken away. I

wanted to be a part of this class! The passion the educators have in that school and Ethnic

Studies program are immeasurable. The documentary was so moving to me and I am

thankful we had a chance to watch this for our course. Almost ten years later we are still

facing some of the struggles that were presented. We must embrace the challenge and

continue to fight for the needs of all students.