A new report from Defending Education claims that mandatory ethnic studies programs in several states—including California, New York and Minnesota—are misrepresenting the history of 9/11.
Boards of education and school districts are approving and adopting curriculum based in Liberated Ethnic Studies, also called Critical Ethnic Studies. The approved curriculum in California, for example, lists "critique empire-building in history and its relationship to white supremacy, racism and other forms of power and oppression" as one of its guiding values.
Rhyen Staley, director of research for Defending Education and a former classroom teacher, says these courses— Liberated Ethnic Studies and Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium (LESMC)—shift the narrative away from the terrorist attacks and toward a broader critique of Western culture.
"What both curriculums do is they paint, and I think in some ways rightfully so, that not all Muslims are terrorists," he begins. "I would agree with that."
"But what it does is it actually … paints the United States and the Western culture as the perpetrators that led to the attack," Staley continues.
He notes that today's K-12 students have no personal memory of 2001 and rely heavily on school curriculum for their understanding of the day. But rather than providing an objective history lesson, some school districts are adopting frameworks that blame capitalism and American foreign policy for the attacks.
For concerned parents wanting to know what their children are learning, Staley offers a straightforward recommendation:
"This is a great opportunity for parents and community members to very politely and just on an honest, inquisitive level ask their local schools and teachers, 'What are your plans for this? What are we going to be teaching students in the class that day?'"
Defending Education says parents should review local lesson plans ahead of Sept. 11 to ensure instruction remains historical, balanced and age appropriate.
