A Minnesota mother resists Liberated Ethnic Studies
Kofi Montzka
Editors’ note: There are two models of Ethnic Studies curricula. “Liberated Ethnic Studies” (sometimes called “Critical Ethnic Studies”) presents the experiences of various ethnic groups in the USA in terms of “oppression” and endorses “resistance” by way of far-left political activism. In contrast, “Constructive Ethnic Studies” (sometimes called “Inclusive Ethnic Studies”) presents the contributions and accomplishments of ethnic groups without shying away from racism and bigotry but also without advocating any specific ideology or practice as the only appropriate response to such challenges. (For more on these two models of Ethnic Studies, see our discussion here.)
The “liberated” model of Ethnic Studies is currently being considered for adoption in Minnesota. Earlier this year, two bills, HF 1502, authored by Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party), and HF 1476, authored by Rep. Mary Kunesh (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party), were introduced in Minnesota’s legislature. These bills would mandate Ethnic Studies in elementary schools and middle schools and as a condition for graduation from high school and set up an Ethnic Studies Working Group to devise an Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. A third bill, HF 1269, proposed by Governor Tim Walz (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party), would require Ethnic Studies to be integrated into existing K-12 courses or to be the subject of new courses.
All three bills define Ethnic Studies in identical language (see below). This language is taken, with minor adaptations, from a definition supplied to the MN Department of Education by the Minnesota Ethnic Studies Coalition (MESC). MESC along with coalition member Education for Liberation Minnesota supportthese bills. Among other things, the latter organization publishes a resource for teaching police abolition in K-12, “Teaching Abolition in the Classroom.”
The definition of Ethnic Studies used in these bills, not to mention the aspirations of the organizations that provided the language for that definition and that support the bills, suggests that the bills envision a liberated Ethnic Studies model.
In this post, Kofi Montzka urges state lawmakers to vote against HF 1269.
My name is Kofi Montzka. I'm an attorney, wife, and mom to three boys, two of which are in high school. This bill requires that schools teach Ethnic Studies starting in kindergarten and I'm against this. You might ask, “Why in the world would a black person speak against Ethnic Studies?” Because not everything that sounds good is good.
The definition of Ethnic Studies right there in the statute says that there’s a connection between a person’s “race” and their “stratification.”
From Minnesota HF 1269, a bill introduced in the MN state legislature in March of 2023
The bill tells kids of color that they are stuck in a caste system based on their race. It also tells kids, and I quote, that institutions “chronically favor white people and disadvantage people of color.”
From Minnesota HF 1269, a bill introduced in the MN state legislature in March of 2023
I'm sick of everyone denying the enormous progress we made in this country, acting like it’s 1930. We used to have a race-based system. We got rid of it and now you're all trying to bring it back.
This curriculum will not help kids of color succeed. All it does is remove any reason to try, and I repeat that: it removes any reason to try.
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And this is not some theoretical crap. This stuff happens. These messages are very harmful. Just last month in my high schooler’s band class the teacher took 20 minutes at the beginning of class to talk about “antiracism.” He told the kids to look around, and then he said, the black boys in the school would likely not live to retirement because of racism and the police. Another furious kid of color recorded this conversation, so I was able to hear for myself with my own ears.
If this law is passed, teaching this hopelessness to kids of color will be mandated starting in kindergarten. And I can see why you white proponents of this bill might support it. It's not your kids being told that they can’t succeed and you get to shed some of your white guilt in the process. But you legislators of color, how can you? You made it despite the invisible Boogeyman of systemic racism. You were voted in by a majority of white people. You hold some of the most powerful positions in this state.
Yet you want to tell my kids and other kids of color that they can’t succeed? It's shameful. It's terrible. I ask that you please vote against this bill. Thank you for this opportunity.
Watch:
Kofi Montzka is a wife, mom, and attorney. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Law and Diversity from Western Washington University and a Juris Doctor from Hamline University School of Law. She is a part of TakeCharge and The Exodus Minnesota, organizations that seek to make a difference through faith, family, and education.
Journal of Free Black Thought is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Back in the early 1970's, I worked for a major anti-discrimination organization in Los Angeles. I avoid using the name since the story is over 50 years old, and if I use the name, I know people's minds will apply it to that organization today. In fact, the organization itself did not adopt the belief which I encountered. There had been some incident of a teacher in South Central saying racists things to her classroom of Black students. One of our white supporters who lived in Beverly Hills remarked that incident showed why Blacks students could not learn. The racism, she asserted, was debilitating. I asked if her son had faced anti-Semitism in school, if it would be OK for him not to do his homework. She looked at me as if I were insane. "Of course not," she retorted. She got my point.
Even back in the 1960's and the 1970's, the Philosophy of Victimization had become so strong that it had become PC -- Blacks were permanent victims. The Dems have promoted the concept that Blacks are victims, and hence, need Dems to de-racialize society for them. The Blacks' role was to always vote Dem. Today, the same concept is found in Identity Politics and Wokeism.
On the decent side, the Dems did allow Blacks to participate and it does not take that long working with individuals to see who is competent, who is decent, and who is not. As I've said about LA City Council, "It does not discriminate against anyone of any race, ethnicity, color or gender preference provided they're crooked."
I am teaching a college course Contemporary Issues in Economics. Given the scarce resources devoted to enforcing DEI and its impact on the labor market, I decided I would have one class day devoted to the topic of DEI. I already had three essays related to the topic but will include this essay as well.
No doubt, some students and faculty will object . History as my guide, some people will, rather than accept my offer to publicly discuss the issue, instead accuse me of racism. Some might even call for me to be fired. This is a sad commentary on the state of affairs on so many college campuses.
Colleges should not be where viewpoint diversity goes to die. Too often that is the case.
I thank the author for this excellent, important essay.
Back in the early 1970's, I worked for a major anti-discrimination organization in Los Angeles. I avoid using the name since the story is over 50 years old, and if I use the name, I know people's minds will apply it to that organization today. In fact, the organization itself did not adopt the belief which I encountered. There had been some incident of a teacher in South Central saying racists things to her classroom of Black students. One of our white supporters who lived in Beverly Hills remarked that incident showed why Blacks students could not learn. The racism, she asserted, was debilitating. I asked if her son had faced anti-Semitism in school, if it would be OK for him not to do his homework. She looked at me as if I were insane. "Of course not," she retorted. She got my point.
Even back in the 1960's and the 1970's, the Philosophy of Victimization had become so strong that it had become PC -- Blacks were permanent victims. The Dems have promoted the concept that Blacks are victims, and hence, need Dems to de-racialize society for them. The Blacks' role was to always vote Dem. Today, the same concept is found in Identity Politics and Wokeism.
On the decent side, the Dems did allow Blacks to participate and it does not take that long working with individuals to see who is competent, who is decent, and who is not. As I've said about LA City Council, "It does not discriminate against anyone of any race, ethnicity, color or gender preference provided they're crooked."
I am teaching a college course Contemporary Issues in Economics. Given the scarce resources devoted to enforcing DEI and its impact on the labor market, I decided I would have one class day devoted to the topic of DEI. I already had three essays related to the topic but will include this essay as well.
No doubt, some students and faculty will object . History as my guide, some people will, rather than accept my offer to publicly discuss the issue, instead accuse me of racism. Some might even call for me to be fired. This is a sad commentary on the state of affairs on so many college campuses.
Colleges should not be where viewpoint diversity goes to die. Too often that is the case.
I thank the author for this excellent, important essay.