Palo Alto, home of Stanford, is as radical as they come. Hate Jews, love Hamas. A riot is better that a day in the library. Racism—if you do not hate white people, you are in the wrong place. Now we know how far the local school district is willing to go, to misrepresent history and support terrorists. The good news is that the parents are upset about this.
“Rowena Chiu, elected to the Palo Alto school board shortly before its January meeting, said she was met with “jeering and head slaps and groans” when she supported delaying the courses, remarking publicly that the pro-ethnic studies crowd was making her feel unsafe. She later apologized and faced calls for resignation after sharing an “Asians Against Wokeness” social media post highlighting her comment that also contained racist replies about a Black district employee.
Chiu, who is Asian American, said she received hundreds of calls from “terrified Asian parents” in the wake of the meeting worried that they would never be able to voice their opinion in the district if even Chiu — a former assistant to Harvey Weinstein who accused him of rape during the “Me Too” movement — experienced such backlash for speaking out.
“I just want to step aside from this whole thing for just one minute to say, ‘Wait, people are saying they’re going to kill my children over ethnic studies,’” Chiu said. “How did we get to a world where this is happening?”
Sadly, the Palo alto schools are openly hate filled and willing to denounce Asians, whites and others. Feel safe? Not in these schools. Sending your child to a Palo Alto school is a priori evidence of child abuse.
Ethnic studies curriculum disrupts bucolic Palo Alto
Opportunity Now, 5/7/25 https://www.opportunitynowsv.org/blog/ethnic-studies-curriculum-disrupts-bucolic-palo-alto
The statewide rebellion over ethnic studies is not coming from conservative, overwhelmingly white districts; it’s playing out within the traditional Democratic coalition, pitting social-justice-oriented liberals against high-achieving immigrant groups. Politico reports.
In January, the Palo Alto school board met to discuss requiring high schoolers to take courses covering the displacement of Native Americans and the Black Panthers’ role in the Civil Rights Movement. For one school board member, the day ended with death threats.
Teaching ethnic studies — courses about different cultures and historically marginalized groups — would not appear a likely source of controversy in the deep-blue, immigrant-heavy Silicon Valley city. But years of tension boiled over on a brisk winter night, over how the curriculum was released and the way oppression would be taught. In a school district where Asian students represent 40 percent of enrollees, some immigrants feel that the courses define power and privilege in a way that undermines the accomplishments of ethnic minorities.
“Asian Americans, many of whom came here with nothing and worked their way up from nothing — they see this course that labels us as privileged and powerful and perpetuating systemic oppression for having the audacity to build a good life,” said Karthi Gottipati, a student at Palo Alto High School who served as the student board representative last year.
Go Deeper:
- County parents, educators erupt in opposition to divisive Ethnic Studies training and curriculum in schools
- How progressive Bay Area educators justify their shocking bias against Asian-Americans
- Why public school teachers put their kids in private alternatives
Similar clashes are playing out in school districts around California as the deadline approaches to implement the nation’s first requirement that students complete such a course before graduating from high school. Just this month, two other Northern California school districts have grappled with allegations of antisemitism in ethnic studies material. And now looming over those local curricular battles are President Donald Trump, who has threatened to pull federal funding from schools pursuing diversity initiatives, and Gov. Gavin Newsom, newly wary of the courses as he looks to break with his party on symbolically resonant issues ahead of a potential presidential run.
Rowena Chiu, elected to the Palo Alto school board shortly before its January meeting, said she was met with “jeering and head slaps and groans” when she supported delaying the courses, remarking publicly that the pro-ethnic studies crowd was making her feel unsafe. She later apologized and faced calls for resignation after sharing an “Asians Against Wokeness” social media post highlighting her comment that also contained racist replies about a Black district employee.
Chiu, who is Asian American, said she received hundreds of calls from “terrified Asian parents” in the wake of the meeting worried that they would never be able to voice their opinion in the district if even Chiu — a former assistant to Harvey Weinstein who accused him of rape during the “Me Too” movement — experienced such backlash for speaking out.
“I just want to step aside from this whole thing for just one minute to say, ‘Wait, people are saying they’re going to kill my children over ethnic studies,’” Chiu said. “How did we get to a world where this is happening?”
But the rebellion over ethnic studies is largely not coming from conservative, overwhelmingly white districts where the mandate has been mostly accepted without controversy. Rather the conflict is playing out within the traditional Democratic coalition, pitting social-justice-oriented liberals against high-achieving immigrant groups and moderates who claim an alternative curriculum pushed by progressives goes too far. California’s ethnic studies debate has become a test case for the difficulty Democrats could face maintaining a racially mixed and highly educated coalition as school diversity issues move to the top of the national agenda in the second Trump era.
Read the whole thing here.
Follow Opportunity Nowon Twitter@svopportunity
