By Raymond Tran

Copy Editor

  Diversity and equality are the foundations by which the America we know today was built upon. However, in schools, students primarily learn and read texts deriving from European culture and people. English and history curriculums should adopt a less eurocentric view to better educate students on the cultures of other ethnicities.

  According to Education Weekly, in 2015, the College Board moved up the start date of AP World History to the year 1200. The history of the ancient civilizations of Africa, Asia, and South America became less prevalent in the new material, shifting to a more eurocentric focus. Jeffrey Wasserstrom concluded that even when there is a focus on Asian countries, the focus is mainly on countries that “particularly interest Americans—namely, China and Japan.”   

  Even though students of color make up 76 percent of school populations in California, less than one percent had access to an ethnic study course in 2013, according to Jose Lara, a Los Angeles educator and organizer with the Ethnic Studies Now Coalition.

  In 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill that allows schools to make ethnic study classes a requirement due to the overwhelming amount of school work students already face. However, there is another solution to the lack of ethnic-inclusive curriculum. As California Assemblymember Jose Medina put it, “The history taught in our classrooms is not inclusive of the diversity that makes up California and that needs to change.”

  If adding a class specifically for ethnic studies is not an effective solution, veering away from a eurocentric view in both World and US History would allow for the equal representation and awareness of everyone who has played a significant role in history, not only Europeans and Anglo-Americans.

 The exclusion of other ethnicities and cultures does not stop in history classes, English classes are also faced with the problem of eurocentrism.

 Writer for Mount Holyoke News, Dur-e-Maknoon Ahmed, stated, “The overwhelming majority of literary works taught in English programs are written by white Europeans or Anglo-Americans.” Ahmed explains how the lack of diversity in the literature exposed to high school students has detrimental effects on their outlook on the capabilities of authors of color.

  If school districts truly want to better the education of their students, history and English curriculums must move away from a eurocentric view and veer towards including the cultures and ethnicities that have been otherwise glossed over. Diving into the historical contributions of people of color as well as reading novels and texts from people of color can help combat this growing issue. By expanding the view of history and literature towards people of color, a light will be shined on those who have been marginalized.

  The contributions of everyone helped build the America we currently live in, the history we study and books we read should reflect exactly that.