Abstract

As the United States has become increasingly multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural in the latter part of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, Ethnic Studies programs, departments, and colleges are now more than ever needed and necessary to provide culturally grounded and group-centered education. Christine Sleeter asserts, “there is considerable research evidence that well- designed and well-taught ethnic studies curricula have positive academic and social outcomes for students”[^1] for all students. In addition, Ethnic Studies provides students with hard and soft skills making them increasingly marketable and well-prepared for post-baccalaureate studies and the workforce.[^2] With the hard and relentless work of a statewide coalition of committed students, faculty, community members, clergy, and elected officials, the California State University (CSU) system once again makes its historic contribution to all current and future students of the CSU system. That is, the Department of Africana Studies at Long Beach State (aka CSU, Long Beach and Cal State Long Beach, CSU Puvunga) was the initial catalyst and a critical driving force behind the struggle for Assembly Bill (AB) 1460 which established Ethnic Studies as a legal requirement for all graduates of the CSU.

It is important at this point to clarify the field of Ethnic Studies.

The Report of the CSU Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies- 2016 defines Ethnic Studies as “the interdisciplinary and comparative study of race and ethnicity with special focus on four historically defined racialized groups: Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina/o Americans.”[^3] Ethnic Studies then, encompasses multiple branches of knowledge. For example, in his Introduction to Black Studies, 4th Edition, Maulana Karenga asserts that History, Religion (Spirituality and Ethics), Sociology, Politics, Economics, Creative Production, and Psychology are the seven core areas of Black Studies[^4] which collectively establish the foundation of Africana Studies. Collectively, then, Black Studies is “the critical and systematic study of the thought and practice of African people in their current and historical unfolding.” Here Karenga uses African and Black interchangeably asserting that Black Studies critically examines the history, culture, and experiences of African people and their descendants from ancient times to the present within and from their own cultural context. He continues, “It is critical in that it is characterized by careful analysis and considered judgment. And it is systematic in that it is structured and methodical in its pursuit and presentation of knowledge.”[^5] These multiple branches of knowledge allow for concentration on a specific group, their unique culture and contributions to society and humanity, as well as their interactions with other members of the human experience, while centering the group in focus.

The report continues to explain the various ways in which Ethnic Studies appear at different institutions. At some institutions, Ethnic Studies operates “as a single discipline, department, or program.”[^6] In this context, Ethnic Studies exists as its own unit and may offer concentrations and courses that focus on specific racial/ethnic groups. Ethnic Studies can also exist “as a combined administrative unit with multiple departments or programs”[^7] such as at San Fransico State and Cal State Los Angeles, where they have a College of Ethnic Studies which house different departments and programs. Here, the college has administrative oversight, while the departments and programs maintain their disciplinary autonomy and offer their own degrees, minors, or certificates. Lastly, Ethnic Studies at other institutions function “as distinct disciplines and departments or programs or conceived and referred to as a shared initiative.”[^8] In this context, Ethnic Studies is its own discipline. That is, it is its own specialized branch of knowledge, in which the department or program operates within its own theoretical and philosophical frameworks. Ultimately, the term Ethnic Studies is broad and necessitates a campus-based context to understand how it is being applied at different institutions.

Recognizing the distinctions within Ethnic Studies, it is also important to highlight some commonalities. Collectively, the diverse conceptualizations of Ethnic Studies 1) share a focus on race and ethnicity, 2) centers the peoples, cultures, and experiences of those in focus, 3) implicitly or explicitly advocate for racial and social justice in scholarship and teaching, 4) place strong emphasis on critical study and agency with regard to the continued and constant forms of racial, economic, political, and social oppression and their related resistance, revolts, and protests to oppression, 5) express interest and concern about the relational, intersectional, and international matters of race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, ability, hierarchy, identity, etc., and 6) commit to an intellectual and institutional project that values, recognizes, and gives voice through scholarship and teaching and service to marginalized communities in an increasingly multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural society.[^9] In the end, the Ethnic Studies project asserts intellectual expertise to “building a truly just, equitable, democratic and multicultural society.”[^10] And, it is at CSU, Long Beach where the struggle to institutionalize Ethnic Studies into the CSU system began, expanding from the original initiative by the Department of Africana Studies to include Native American Studies, Asian American Studies and Chicano/Latino Studies.

In 2013, there was an effort to downgrade the Department of Africana Studies to a program, and proposals were advanced to absorb American Indian Studies into other departments, to downsize Asian American Studies and Chicanx and Latinx Studies, as well as to explore the idea of collapsing the different autonomous departments and program into a single ethnic studies administrative unit. Reducing Africana Studies, Asian and American Studies, and Chicanx and Latinx Studies to programs would have brought them to the same status of the American Indian Studies program. That is, no department status or degree granting privileges, as well as reduced funding and staffing. In fact, American Indian Studies is the only unit in the College of Liberal Arts at CSU, Long Beach without department status or Bachelor of Arts degree.

Maulana Karenga, who was professor and chair of the Department of Africana Studies at the time, resisted efforts to downgrade Africana Studies coming “after eight consecutive years of the administration’s refusal to hire any new faculty members in the Department of Africana Studies, whether as replacements for exiting faculty, attrition for retiring faculty or additional faculty for the increased student population.”[^11] After denying faculty hires for the Department of Africana Studies for eight years, the department faculty went from ten tenure and tenure-track faculty to three, with two more faculty in gradual retirement. The low number of tenured and tenure-tracked faculty was the reason given for the downgrade to which Karenga responded saying, “‘it is the height of injustice to refuse to hire… and then penalize the Department for the university’s failure to hire. It is also a reflection of the level of support for diversity, although it is stated as a central part of the university’s mission.’”[^12] Karenga, then, built alliances with faculty, students, staff, alumni and the community to protest and engage in discussions, and teach-ins to resist the university’s effort. The other Ethnic Studies units at Long Beach State also joined as well as faculty and students from Ethnic Studies units throughout the CSU. This alliance also included community activists, clergy, labor organizations such as the California Faculty Association (CFA), as well as elected officials including the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) who raised concerns with the CSU Chancellor and introduced Resolution ACR 271 in the California Assembly Higher Education Committee in support of Ethnic Studies in the CSU and the critical role it plays in education. National support from organizations such as the National Council for Black Studies (NCBS) also came in the form of emails, social media posts, phone calls, and petitions. In addition, the CSU-wide Ethnic Studies Council, which represented Ethnic Studies units on 22 campuses, played a crucial role in the alliance and conducted critical meetings with the CSU Chancellor to discuss sustaining and advancing Ethnic Studies throughout the CSU.[^13]

The actions of Africana Studies at CSULB led to statewide and campus specific discussions about Ethnic Studies. Of note here is that during this struggle three of the eight members of the Steering Committee of the Ethnic Studies Council represented Ethnic Studies departments and programs at CSU, Long Beach: Maulana Karenga (Africana Studies), Craig Stone (American Indian Studies) and Linda Maram (Asian/Asian American Studies). Essentially, Long Beach State was the springboard for the systematizing of Ethnic Studies in the CSU, and members of its faculty played a central leadership role throughout the process. The resistance to efforts to downgrade departments at CSULB, now became a statewide initiative to advance Ethnic Studies.

On May 21, 2013, the Ethnic Studies Council, chaired by Kenneth Monterio of San Fransico State University, sent a memo to Chancellor Timothy White requesting a meeting and a moratorium on changes negative to Ethnic Studies units after more than 75 people representing 16 campuses met and discussed their Ethnic Studies units and experiences on their campuses. Along with stating problems and concerns, the focus was forward-looking. The goal was to advance Ethnic Studies on campus and throughout the system.[^14] The chancellor granted the moratorium for Africana Studies at CSULB and to all other Ethnic Studies units throughout the CSU. In addition, the CSU Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies was created to “ascertain the status of these units, and explore ways to support and advance ethnic studies.”[^15] Representatives from across the state began in January of 2014 to begin the work of the task force. In May of 2015, a draft of the report and its recommendations were sent to the CSU presidents, provosts, department chairs and program directors, and other constituent groups throughout the state for feedback. The responses received were overwhelmingly supportive and positive (n=111). The chancellor received the complete and final copy early in 2016.

The report identified many structural disadvantages in the CSU throughout the study. Structural disadvantages refer to policies and practices that create unfavorable conditions and constraints and thus hinder ethnic studies in operation and impact.[^16] Consciously or unconsciously, some policies and practices, commonly and routinely, disadvantage Ethnic Studies units such as “inability to teach general education courses that meet Title V American institutions and oral communication basic skill general education requirements, inability to have a general education requirement for an ethnic studies course and the lack of visibility of ethnic studies in public education in the state of California.”[^17] Other identified structural disadvantages include “tendencies to favor larger departments in funding and other support” as well as “in hiring” and “the tendency to use diversity as a reference of laudable self-assessment rather than providing the policy, program and budget to support capacity building, collaboration and cooperative projects.” Lastly, Ethnic Studies suffers from “premature cancellation of classes before students have a chance to register.”[^18] Along with other data and findings, the report concluded with ten recommendations, the top five were 1) make ethnic studies a GE requirement throughout the CSU system, 2) increase and maintain regular hiring, 3) support curricular development, 4) revise and strengthen advising practices on and off campus as well as on-line systems, and 5) strengthen and expand initiatives on community engagement and partnerships.[^19]

 Making Ethnic Studies a requirement in the CSU was transformed into a legislative initiative introduced by Shirely Weber in 2019\. As Assembly Member of the 79th District and former professor and chair of Africana Studies at San Diego State University, she was positioned to make systemic change from an informed position as it relates to the unique contributions and challenges of Ethnic Studies. The three-year process to bring Weber Bill AB1460 to a favorable resolution that would be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsome in 2020 was not without opposition. For example, CSU Chancellor White proposed to the Board of Trustees a proposal “that would require students to take either an ethnic studies course or social justice course before they graduate.”[^20] As an alternative to AB1460, White’s proposal would have expanded the requirement beyond Ethnic Studies as defined by the Weber Bill, which focused on the four historically marginalized communities: Native American, African American, Asian American, and Chicanx/Latinx. 

The Weber Bill and the chancellor’s proposal would both add a new requirement for graduation. White’s proposal, however, ran counter to the recommendations for the Task Force for the Advancement of Ethnic Studies the Ethnic Studies Council, and AB1460. White’s proposal would essentially compound one of the identified structural disadvantages in the report, because students would be less likely to take Ethnic Studies courses if other departments and programs were able to offer courses to satisfy the requirement. Proponents of the “CSU proposal says that it allows students more choices and maintains the system’s academic freedom”[^21] because not only would Ethnic Studies courses satisfy the graduation requirements, Jewish Studies, Women and Gender Studies, and Sexuality Studies, among others would also count. That is, the CSU viewed AB1460 as legislative overreach, because faculty should be in control of curriculum.[^22] It should be stated, however, that it was and is Ethnic Studies faculty are the scholars in the field and best qualified to sharpen the linkage between teaching and research. Furthermore, supporters of AB1460 stated that the CSU had decades to update the curriculum, but this change did not come until advocates of Ethnic Studies not only demanded change but mobilized to effectively create change. Monteiro says of the CSU proposal, “It ‘ensures a student can still go kindergarten to bachelor’s degree in the state system and never learn a thing about the intellectual tradition, cultural achievements or the liberation movements of people of color.”[^23] Sen. Holly Mitchell voicing her concerns on the matter stated, “‘I was intrigued to see Chico State and their diversity requirements have a course entitled Health at Every Size: A Non-Diet Approach to Wellness…So, when we talk about diversity versus ethnic studies, there’s a difference, there’s a fundamental difference.’”[^24] Charles Toombs, President of the CFA said at an August rally, “The CSU is ‘disrespecting the voices and stories of the experts’ who study ethnic studies.”[^25] Ultimately, the state legislature passed the bill on August 3, 2020 and days later, Governor Newsome signed AB1460 into law on the 17th. As a result, beginning in the 2021-22 academic year, CSU had to offer courses in Ethnic Studies on each campus, and have a graduation requirement of one 3-unit course for all students beginning with the graduating class of 2024-25. AB1460, then, superseded the CSU proposal and now students are required to take an Ethnic Studies course to graduate from the CSU.[^26]

AB1460 institutionalized Ethnic Studies after more than 50 years of struggle in the CSU. Much scholarly attention and historical significance have been placed on the 1968 student strike at San Fransico State leading to the founding of the first Black Studies Department.[^27] In the next few years, Black Studies, American Indian Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latinx/Chicanx Studies units were developed on college and university campuses around the United States. San Fransico State also birthed the first College of Ethnic Studies in 1969. Yet, it took another fifty years before the second College of Ethnic Studies in the country would be founded at Cal State Los Angeles. These are monumental historic accomplishments because students, faculty, staff, and community members took the initiative to create educational pathways that they deemed relevant and necessary for personal, professional, and collective development. In other words, they wanted their education to be applicable to their personal, communal, and regional realities. More than seeing an instructor that looked like them or seeing themselves reflected in the course material, these students and their allies were also calling for theoretical and philosophical perspectives that aligned and reflected the racial and ethnic diversity of the United States.

The implementation of AB1460 presented its own challenges which will not be discussed here. Of note, however, is whereas in the 1960s, Black Studies and other Ethnic Studies advocates at San Fransico State opened the door for Ethnic Studies, in the 2010’s the Department of Africana Studies at Long Beach State launched a resistance effort that ultimately made systemic change in the CSU. The door that was opened in 1968, and was reopened in 2020 owing to Maulana Karenga, Shirley Weber, Kenneth Monteiro, the CSU Council for the Advancement of Ethnic Studies, and a host of students, faculty, staff, elected officials, clergy, labor, and community activists who built an alliance, mobilized the masses, and systematized Ethnic Studies for all.

[^1]: Christine E. Sleeter, The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies: A Research Review. National Education Association, 2011. Pg. 8

[^2]: Ileyne Castellanos, “Retelling History: Ethnic Studies in California approved by Gov. Newsom,” Voices of Monterey Bay, August 21, 2020. https://voicesofmontereybay.org/2020/08/21/retelling-history/ (accessed 11/22/2025); Ashley Smith, “The Benefits of Ethnic Studies Courses,” Inside Higher Ed, July 8, 2018. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/07/09/san-francisco-state-finds-evidence-ethnic-studies-students-do-better (accessed 11/22/2025); M. Keith Claybrook, Jr., “Africana Studies, Possibilities, and Employability- What can we do with a Black Studies Degree: Everything. Especially Now!” The Researcher, July 14, 2025. https://uwpbooks.com/black-voices/africana-studies-possibilities-and-employability/ (accessed 11/22/2025).

[^3]: CSU Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies, January 2016, p. 10.

[^4]: AKA African American Studies, Pan African Studies, Africology, African Diaspora Studies, and Africana Studies.

[^5]: Maulana Karenga, Introduction to Black Studies, 4th Edition, (Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press, 2010) 3-4.

[^6]: CSU Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies, January 2016, p. 10.

[^7]: CSU Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies, January 2016, p. 10.

[^8]: CSU Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies, January 2016, p. 10.

[^9]: CSU Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies, January 2016, p. 10.

[^10]: CSU Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies, January 2016, p. 10.

[^11]: Rev. Eric P. Lee, “Cal State University Long Beach Targets Closing of Africana Studies Department,” Los Angeles Sentinel, May 3, 2013. https://lasentinel.net/cal-state-university-long-beach-targets-closing-of-africana-studies-department.html (accessed 11/22/2025).

[^12]: Rev. Eric P. Lee, “Cal State University Long Beach Targets Closing of Africana Studies Department,” Los Angeles Sentinel, May 3, 2013. https://lasentinel.net/cal-state-university-long-beach-targets-closing-of-africana-studies-department.html (accessed 11/22/2025).

[^13]: CSU Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies, January 2016; CSUF Senate Forum, “Campus choices on Ethnic Studies in the Wake of AB1460.” The Senate Forum, October 20, 2022. https://thesenateforum.wordpress.com/2020/10/23/__trashed/#_ftn16 (accessed 11/22/2025).

[^14]: “Appendix C: Letter of Introduction and Invitation from CSU-Wide Ethnic Studies Council to Meet with Chancellor White,” CSU Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies, January 2016.

[^15]: CSU Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies, January 2016. Pg. 7.

[^16]: CSU Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies, January 2016. Pg. 15.

[^17]: CSU Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies, January 2016. Pg. 15.

[^18]: CSU Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies, January 2016. Pg. 17-18.

[^19]: CSU Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies, January 2016. Pg. 38-42.

[^20]: Mikhail Zinshteyn and Omar Rashad, “Should ethnic studies be a grad requirement? Cal State clashes with lawmakers,” Cal Matters, September 24, 2020. https://calmatters.org/education/2020/07/ethnic-studies-csu-requirement/ (accessed 11/22/2025).

[^21]: Mikhail Zinshteyn and Omar Rashad, “Should ethnic studies be a grad requirement? Cal State clashes with lawmakers,” Cal Matters, September 24, 2020. https://calmatters.org/education/2020/07/ethnic-studies-csu-requirement/ (accessed 11/22/2025).

[^22]: Ashley A, Smith, “Gov. Newsome signs bill making ethnic studies course a requirement at California State University,” EdSource, August 17, 2025. https://edsource.org/2020/gov-newsom-signs-assembly-bill-1460-requiring-ethnic-studies-at-csu/638506#:~:text=In%20August%202020%2C%20California%20Governor%20Gavin%20Newsom,require%20ethnic%20studies%20as%20a%20graduation%20requirement. (accessed 11/22/2025).

[^23]: Mikhail Zinshteyn and Omar Rashad, “Should ethnic studies be a grad requirement? Cal State clashes with lawmakers,” Cal Matters, September 24, 2020. https://calmatters.org/education/2020/07/ethnic-studies-csu-requirement/ (accessed 11/22/2025).

[^24]: Mikhail Zinshteyn and Omar Rashad, “Should ethnic studies be a grad requirement? Cal State clashes with lawmakers,” Cal Matters, September 24, 2020. https://calmatters.org/education/2020/07/ethnic-studies-csu-requirement/ (accessed 11/22/2025).

[^25]: Mikhail Zinshteyn, “California State University now requires ethnic studies,” Cal Matters, August 18, 2020. https://calmatters.org/education/2020/08/csu-ethnic-studies-ab-1460/. (accessed 11/22/2025).

[^26]: Mikhail Zinshteyn, “California State University now requires ethnic studies,” Cal Matters, August 18, 2020. https://calmatters.org/education/2020/08/csu-ethnic-studies-ab-1460/. (accessed 11/22/2025).

[^27]: Epstein, Kitty Kelly, and Bernard Stringer. Changing Academia Forever: Black Student Leaders Analyze the Movement They Led / by Kitty Kelly Epstein and Bernard Stringer (Gorham, Maine: Myers Education Press, 2020); Kendi, Ibram X. The Black Campus Movement: A History of Black Student Activism. Second edition (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2025).