In a critical attempt toward reducing the achievement gap between ethnic minority students and their peers, the Santa Barbara Unified School Board unanimously voted on November 13 to require ethnic studies coursework for high school graduation. The board meeting was packed with enthusiastic students and their supporters, as well as a small, vocal group of parents who opposed the initiative during public comment, criticizing it as “race-baiting” and “anti-American.”
The new requirement, scheduled to begin in 2023, is the result of three years of activism by the Santa Barbara Ethnic Studies Now! Coalition. The group was founded by community activist Fabiola Gonzalez, who said that she wished such an education — which reflected her own heritage and experience — had been available for her and her family.
Growing up, Gonzalez struggled to find her place in her school and community. Gonzalez is a first-generation Latina American; her parents immigrated to Santa Barbara from Mexico. It was her biggest secret that she worked with her parents as a gardener when she wasn’t in school. “It was something I felt a lot of shame about,” said Gonzalez. “It was not something I could bring to school.” Ethnic student minorities such as Gonzalez are not given the opportunity to see themselves or their histories in their studies. “I always felt like that’s just how it was,” said Gonzalez. “That I had to change myself to try to fit in.”