When Chicano history is ignored .

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    Aninteresting  and valuablepublication was released today, “Opportunities and Challenges for Youth CivicEngagement”, by the  CaliforniaCivic Engagement Project of the Center for Regional Change at U.C. Davis andfunded by the California Endowment, among others.  The Civic Engagement Project describes itself as  a “new, nonpartisan datarepository  and research initiativefor the State of California.Thanks for the good work.  If these organizations are indeed interested in improvingyouth engagement, they should look at the 48% of  public school youth who are Latino or descendents ofLatinos.   As CCEP PolicyBrief #1 says,  “ the proportion ofstate registration that is Latino and Asian has remained far below theproportions of these groups in the state’s overall population. “  Now, that is not new news.    Public schools,more than any other institution, reach these students.  Unfortunately due to past decisions andcurrent budget restraints, the public schools are not usually  promoting civic engagement.   How does that happen? When the 48.72 % of students who are Latino , and the 11.5 % who areAsian do not see themselves as part of history,  for many their senseof self is  marginalized.   Marginalizationnegatively impacts their connections with school and their success at school.School marginalization contributes directly to low level civic engagement.  It contributes to an nearly 50% drop out rate for Latinos and someAsian students.  An accurate history  would provide somestudents with a  a sense of self, of direction,  ofpurpose. History and social science  classes  should helpyoung people acquire and learn to use the skills, knowledge, and attitudes thatwill prepare them to be competent and responsible citizens throughout theirlives.   Instead, the current history textbooks tell a fairytale of what happened here in the Southwest.
      Asa consequence of the  outdated History Social Science  Framework for California PublicSchools, most schools, most teachers, fail to teach an accurate, complete, history of the Chicano- Latinopeople and of Asian Americans.  This essentially means that thewriters are choosing not to recognize reality. – not to tell the fullstory.  This  a problem created  in part bythe failure to revise the history/social science framework.     Textbooks for  California schools areselected by the State Board of Education based upon recommendations of theirCurriculum Committees and the state frameworks and standards.  The currentFramework was written in 1986 by neo conservative scholars.  It needs revision. It is urgent thatthe History-Social Science Framework be revised to provide an accurate historyof the contributions of Mexicans, Mexican Americans, Latinos and Asians to thehistory of the state and of the nation.     For this reason, further work on the frameworks for history-social science,science, health, and mathematics has been stopped. On July 17, 2009, theCurriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission (CurriculumCommission) approved the draft update of the History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools forfield review. The draft framework has been posted on the CDE Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/hs/cf/, but the actual field review and online survey will not occur at thistime. For more information go to the Curriculum Frameworks and InstructionalMaterials Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/index.asp.
      When  studentsdo not seem themselves as a part of history, their sense of self is limited.  Marginalization negatively impactstheir connections with school and their success at school. It dis-empowers. An  accurate historyprovides a sense of self, of direction, of purpose.  Lack of history ofself, does not commit students to democratic participation in the society.       Anoutline of Latino history is on the Chicano/Latino Digital History Project.  Here. https://sites.google.com/site/democracyandeducationorg/chicano-mexican-american-digital-history-project. I urge  teachers to teachyour students the truth- Yes, some inconvenient truths, not justmyths.  For example, if a person is going to understandour  society and the economy, they need to understandimmigration.   The history of Chicano/Mexicano people inCalifornia exists – but it was ignored by the writers of the  currentState Framework and the current textbooks. History classes  should help young people acquire and learn to usethe skills, knowledge, and attitudes that will prepare them to be competent andresponsible citizens throughout their lives.  History classes should encourage civic engagement.  They can’t do this if they ignore halfof the students.