1 Multicultural Foundations

What is Ethnic Studies?

Have you ever had your experience or story misrepresented or retold in an inaccurate way?

Has anyone ever taken something of value from you without asking or providing compensation?

The feelings and thoughts you hold about these questions are not different from other people in the United States, particularly those who were forcible driven from their homeland, smuggled into this country from another place, stripped of their identity, exploited for their resources and labor, or those who have been killed or murdered for being different. The most disturbing part of our history and the characterization of these incidences is the ongoing denial, recognition, and reparations for the people who today remain inflicted by the misrepresentation and injustice of our social structures, institutions, and ideologies. No one likes their history or experience retold through fallacies, stereotypes, or lies. No one likes their life or way of living taken from them involuntarily.

Technology and social media have made it easy to block out and change what we hear and think about each other, our experiences, and our stories. Ironically, these tools have also made it easier to share our lives and bring others into our world without time or borders.

Why is it important to share your experience or tell your story in an honest and accurate way? What is the value in sharing your experience or story?

By telling our stories and sharing our experiences, we acknowledge our existence and humanity. Because we have not retold or allowed some people to share their stories and experiences, we deprive them of this acknowledgement. We make some people less than human and justify it by keeping truths and facts hidden.

This book examines race and ethnicity as understood through our shared multicultural America history. Ethnic Studies helps you learn about the some of the many different cultures that make up our nation of nations. It includes experiences of major underrepresented racial groups including African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinx Americans, and Native Americans in the United States.

These are some of their many stories.

We will explore a broad range of sociocultural, intellectual, and historical experiences that form the construction and intersectionality of race and ethnicity in the United States by applying macro and micro perspectives of analysis. Furthermore, we will examine the cultural and political contexts behind the systems of power, privilege, and inequality impacting Americans of color. Emphasis is placed on racial and social justice with methods for building a just and equitable society.

Some topics may make you feel uncomfortable and challenge what you believe to be true or right; listening to and engaging in wide-ranging dialogue is an integral part of learning. Indeed, “There is considerable research evidence that well-designed and well-taught ethnic studies curricula have positive academic and social outcomes for students” as such classes are “about pride and dignity, mutual respect and understanding, and collaboration across cultures” (Flannery, 2020).

Who is America?

The American Dream. We are all familiar with the premise, right?

Immigrants throughout our history have come to the country with the belief that the opportunities are endless. For the founding fathers, it was the “pursuit of property.” For John O’Sullivan it was the right “to [the] possession of the homes conquered from the wilderness of their own labors and dangers,” and for Franklin D. Roosevelt, it was the “Four Freedoms” – Freedom of Speech and worship, as well as freedom from want or fear.  For many immigrants and people of color, this American Dream was farfetched and difficult to attain, but they continued to try – if not for themselves, but for their children.

But they were met with resistance. Obstacles. Legislation. Discrimination. Hatred and violence.

The question “Who is America?” can seem simple at first glance, but then gradually becomes more complicated as we contemplate our answer. Over the course of its history, the people of America have changed drastically, diversifying extensively. Each group that has contributed to this diversity has a story – a history that is both unique and sometimes similar to other groups in America. The historical narrative presented here seeks to illustrate the people often overlooked for their contributions to the nation that we call home.

The historical narrative was written under the framework of a few concepts. First, we followed a general timeline that is covered in most U.S. history survey courses. The timeline allows the reader to find some familiarity with the narrative that they have already learned in formative years. This approach might also serve as a refresher for some students. Secondly, while the traditional narrative and timeline was followed, some key events were given less attention, or left out altogether. This was a choice made to diversify the historical narrative and expand the perspectives of the traditional description to include Black, Brown, Asian, and Indigenous peoples’ voices. Lastly, this is an introduction to ethnic studies, and should serve as an opening to widen one’s scope of knowledge with inclusivity and equity in mind.

Historically, some language used to label or categorize groups covered in this book has been problematic. Labels and identity are deeply personal to most people and should be respected.  With those notions in mind, we have aligned our terminology with the generally accepted academic terms of racial groups, along with current trends in accepted language.

The historical narrative presented in this book is meant to assert voices once unheard, voices that believed and continue to believe in the possibilities of the American Dream, voices that embody a fierce spirit of freedom and opportunity. Together, they have been an integral part of the forging of this country.

What groups of people do you associate with our country? 

What does America’s population look like?

 America is – and has always been – a nation of diversity.  We will going beyond the generic definitions of who is “American” to learn about some of the underrepresented groups that are part of our nation’s history.

“A… powerful and popular but inaccurate story, our country was settled by European immigrants, and Americans are white”  is deeply embedded in our mainstream culture (Takaki, 2008:4).

As seen in John Trumball’s image above of America’s founding fathers, there is little diversity depicted among the white, property-owning men in the room (Wikipedia). Our nation has a strong filter, where the identity of “American has been defined as ‘white.’ Not to be ‘white’ is to be designated as the ‘Other’ – different, inferior, and unassimilable” (Takaki, 2008:4).

From its beginnings, America is a nation peopled by the world.