With California's controversial ethnic studies bill awaiting Governor Gavin Newsom's signature, a wide array of state residents are calling for him to veto the legislations.
Most recently, three thousand Californians signed a petition calling on Newsom to veto Assembly Bill 101 (AB 101) that mandates ethnic studies as a high school graduation requirement, while 74 Jewish groups wrote to Newsom urging him to do the same.
The ethnic studies curriculum has been widely panned as anti-Semitic, and critics of AB 101 have expressed “deep concern” about the measure’s graduation requirement.
The 74 Jewish groups, in a letter address to Newsom, “strongly urged” him to veto the bill.
The groups worry that due to the bill’s vague language regarding the possibility of the local use of previous drafts of the ethnic studies curriculum that were discarded due to findings of “bias, bigotry, and discrimination” as well as “inflammatory, overtly anti-Semitic” content, there is no way to prevent their use in place of the revised curriculum by local boards or schools.
They noted that the first ethnic studies draft was opposed by 20,000 residents of the state, including nearly every Jewish organization and the Legislative Jewish Caucus, out of fear that “such a curriculum would marginalize Jewish students and fuel hatred and discrimination against the Jewish community.”
“Alarmingly, however, there is compelling evidence to suggest that the anti-Semitic first draft of the [ethnic studies curriculum] – or more likely, the more extreme ‘Liberated’ version of it – will be adopted and implemented by many if not most school districts in the state if AB 101 becomes law,” they wrote, explaining that reinstating the first draft was supported by powerful groups including the California Teachers Association, the United Teachers of Los Angeles, most of the University of California and California State University ethnic studies departments and a significant number of school districts.
They added: “If AB 101 becomes law, hundreds of districts will have to quickly decide which curriculum to adopt as the basis for the new requirement, and although the bill encourages adoption of the [revised ethnic studies curriculum], the reality is that many, if not most, districts will prefer the highly problematic ‘Liberated’ curriculum because of its overwhelming support from major teachers unions and the higher education community.”
The letter organized by the AMCHA Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to investigating, documenting, educating about, and combating anti-Semitism at educational institutions, that was signed by 3,000 Californians, stated, “The Jewish community is simply not capable of challenging such an anti-Semitic curriculum in every one of the hundreds of school districts where it will likely be considered, and it is a moral outrage to expect Jewish parents to fight against anti-Semitism being taught to their children in a state-mandated course.”
“Despite new ‘guardrail’ language, AB 101 does not, and by law cannot, prevent a school district from adopting the overtly anti-Semitic first draft or an even more extreme Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum from being peddled to school districts by the first-draft’s authors. The ‘Liberated’ curriculum includes overtly anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist lessons and explicitly promotes student engagement in actions to harm Israel, especially BDS,” the letter stated.
“The Liberated group’s curriculum is anti-Jewish, anti-Zionist. It’s a ‘How-To’ for students to start a BDS movement on campus,” the AMCHA’s Tammi Rossman-Benjamin told the California Globe. “This will incite anti-Semitism. It is state-sponsored anti-Semitism. Californians should be very very afraid. Whenever anti-Semitism has prevailed, it is in a deeply dysfunctional society.”
The Jewish groups’ letter agreed with Rossman-Benjamin’s concerns, stating that with the current trend of increasing anti-Semitic worldwide, AB 101 would endanger the wellbeing of the state’s Jewish community.
“Especially now, as the recent conflict in the Middle East has spilled over into vicious attacks on Jews all over the world, including in California, we believe a bill that facilitates the widespread adoption of an overtly anti-Semitic curriculum in fulfillment of the mandated graduation requirement directly threatens the safety and well-being of Jewish students and the Jewish community. The only way to ensure that such a curriculum will not make its way into the majority of schools in the state is if this bill does not become law. We strongly urge you to VETO AB 101,” they wrote.