In late September, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 1821, amending California’s K-12 curriculum to include “the treatment and perspectives of Native Americans during the Spanish colonization and Gold Rush Era.” The bill primarily impacts fourth grade students, who traditionally study California’s history.
Assemblymember James Ramos, the bill’s author wanted to ensure students understand the “horror and genocide” Native Californians endured and their critical role in shaping the state. Currently, California’s curriculum only recommends that schools cover Native Californians’ struggles. This leaves lesson decisions up to individual schools, causing inconsistencies in learning across the state.
AB 1821 mandates that all students learn about the genocide embedded in Native American history, filling a much needed educational gap. Understanding the colonization and violence experienced by Native Americans highlights the ways in which California can unknowingly support existing inequities within the state’s social and economic framework.
California’s educational curriculum needs to expand its focus on cultural studies to better reflect the state’s diverse histories. Ethnic studies have proven especially impactful for historically marginalized groups, including Latino, Black and Native American students, by improving engagement, academic outcomes and graduation rates.
Indigenous students in particular fall behind state averages in these areas, and learning about their own histories and cultural identities can foster a more inclusive and supportive classroom environment. Incorporating these perspectives is key to creating a curriculum that acknowledges California’s past while empowering all students.
California has already made significant strides in ethnic studies programs with policies including AB 101, which makes ethnic studies a high school graduation requirement starting with the class of 2030, and AB 1460, which mandates that all California State University (CSU) students complete an ethnic studies course on Native American, African American, Asian American or Latinx histories. Learning about these diverse histories not only provides representation but also helps students recognize and challenge historical biases, especially when learning about injustices.
With the shift in curriculum encouraged by AB 1821, future policies like AB 101 look towards K-12 teachers to address the historic inequalities of Native Californian populations as well as other discriminated groups. More focus needs to be placed on how teachers will be appropriately trained to handle the information students need to engage with.
Without such training, the effectiveness of bills promoting ethnic and cultural studies could be diminished. Moreover, including faculty members of color and ethnic studies experts in curriculum development would help shape a program that is both educational and culturally sensitive.
This would also ensure that teachers can handle challenging discussions about history and create an environment where all students feel seen and represented. For example, the University of California, Berkeley has already taken steps to help promote cultural understanding for future ethnic studies courses by teaching current education graduate students the best ways to incorporate ethnic studies into their curriculums.
AB 1821 is a step toward a more inclusive and accurate account of California’s history which recognizes the historic erasure of Native people. Acknowledging Indigenous history is crucial for Native students and all California students to understand the roots of the society they live in. Oppressed groups should not have to fight to have their histories recognized. Including this content in public education honors Indigenous communities whose struggles are too often overlooked.
