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California ethnic studies course accuses Jews of ‘racial privilege’

“They will learn about the interlocking systems of oppression and privilege that impact all people of color,” says the proposed curriculum.

By Josh Plank, World Israel News

The California legislature passed AB-331 on Monday, coming one step closer to becoming the first U.S. state to require all high school students to complete an ethnic studies course in order to graduate.

The course would follow an ethnic studies model curriculum which accuses Jews of possessing “racial privilege.”

The California Department of Education was authorized to develop the model curriculum in 2016, but the process has been surrounded by much controversy and public input.

The model curriculum is designed to teach students “about the interlocking systems of oppression and privilege that impact all people of color.”

Last year, under pressure from Jewish groups, several sections of the proposed curriculum were dropped, such as “Direct Action Front for Palestine and Black Lives Matter,” “Call to Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Israel,” and “Comparative Border Studies: Palestine and Mexico.”

However, the curriculum still contains a suggested course titled, “Irish and Jewish Americans: Redefining White and American.”

“Students will write a paper detailing certain events in American history that have led to Jewish and Irish Americans gaining racial privilege,” says the model curriculum.

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In the course, students “will be asked to think critically about why and who is allowing this evolution in white identity.”

While there are large sections detailing the experience of Arab/Muslim Americans and other minorities, comparatively little attention is given to the experience of Jews.

“The recent rise in anti-Semitic violence” is briefly mentioned as a possible topic, alongside “the experiences of Arab Americans and the rise of Islamophobia and discrimination against Sikhs in the aftermath of 9/11 and the War on Terror.”

In another section, “students will study the philosophy of the Nation of Islam,” the anti-Semitic cult led by Louis Farrakhan.

The model curriculum also contains large sections exploring the Black Lives Matter movement, such as “Black Lives Matter and Resistance to The Prison Industrial Complex and the criminalization of youth in LA and across the country.”

The full text of the ethnic studies model curriculum was posted to the California Department of Education website on August 13, 2020, for a 30-day period of public review, during which “members of the public are invited to submit comments.”

Last month, Gov. Newsom signed into law a similar bill, AB-1460, which requires students at California State University to complete an ethnic studies course in order to graduate.