Opinion: Ethnic Studies is Valuable for All Americans: It’s widely known that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer recently signed legislation that bans ethnic studies in public schools throughout the state. The ban highlights the misunderstanding of and hostility toward any educational strategy or method that sheds light on the complexity of American history. The relationship among culture, politics and identity in the United States is rich and problematic. Ethnic studies is an educational response to our nation’s full history and is intended to provide greater understanding of all the peoples that make our nation what it is today.Contrary to the fears and charges that ethnic studies divides and incites the overthrow of our government, it attempts to critically examine the nexus of events, peoples and consequences of actions by individuals, states and the nation itself. In doing so, ethnic studies offers students the opportunity to explore and discuss a range of topics, issues and questions that every American should consider.
