The Ethnic Studies Echo Chamber

Comment from Jim Paine

If one thing has become abundantly clear to me as I've delved deeper into Ward Churchill's writings and the general field of Ethnic Studies, it is that Ethnic Studies is little more than an academic echo chamber dominated by a few loud voices, Churchill's being among the loudest. Now, most fields of study are similarly repetitious, but what makes the Ethnic Studies echo chamber particularly troublesome is that many of the academics within the field are not academics at all, but rather, they are political activists with teaching jobs.

Why is this so? I won't go into the emergence of professorial activism, since that subject has been covered thoroughly here. Suffice it to say that since the '60s, the Humanities in general and Ethnic Studies in particular (requiring as it does so little real scholarship) have attracted vast numbers of otherwise unemployable activists. The short hours, the long breaks, the ample salaries, and the endless opportunities to inculcate gullible students with one's beliefs make this a near-perfect safe-house from which to conduct one's real business of political activism.

Ward Churchill's entire career has been both a mirror and a prototype of this merging of academia and activism. And now that career, as well as his body of work, has been called into question. Of course he will defend himself. But the real threat of the investigation of Churchill's work is not merely to Churchill's continued employment at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Most onlookers understand, at least on a visceral level, that this battle represents much more than that.

Most telling of the true scope of this battle is that Churchill's academic peers are so vociferous, so strident in defending him. The simple fact of the matter is that they must defend him. Their own sinecures are threatened when Churchill is threatened. Much of their work would be eviscerated should the vast array of Churchill citations suddenly be rendered worthless. The work of Vine Deloria, of Bruce Johansen, of Winona LaDuke, of Robert A. Williams, Jr.-activists all, Churchill supporters all-the work of all of these is hopelessly intertwined and interdependent, each providing rationale for the others' theses.

Churchill cites Deloria, who cites Johansen, who cites Williams, who cites Churchill. But what happens when just one of those sources is shown to be irrelevant, or worse, false? How much of what presently constitutes the field of Ethnic Studies will have to be reconstructed from the ground up? What happens when a single joker is removed from this house of cards?

Nothing of import, save perhaps the restoration of a subfield of study to its rightful parents, History and Anthropology departments. And, of course, a vast lamentation from activists suddenly deprived of audience, income, and succor.

Update:

Jim Paine has subsequently corrected and revised parts of this essay so refer back to the original for the latest version




Colleges Welcome Texas Homeschoolers

While Texas homeschools often field inquiries from public school officials, social service workers, law enforcement officials, and employers who question their legitimacy, graduates are finding most colleges and universities eagerly accept them, and some are actively recruiting them.

The colleges' newfound appreciation of homeschooled students is due in part to the efforts of a grassroots organization founded in 1986. The Texas Home School Coalition (THSC) was formed to advocate for homeschooled students' rights after the Texas Education Agency (TEA) began seeking criminal prosecution for truancy against 100 homeschooling families statewide in 1985.

Homeschool parents responded with a class-action lawsuit against every school district in Texas--all 1,060 of them. The case progressed all the way to the Texas Supreme Court, where justices ruled in 1994 that Texas homeschools legally could operate as private schools, which have no compulsory attendance requirements, as long as they were "conducted in a bona fide manner using a written curriculum consisting of reading, spelling, grammar, math and a course in good citizenship." But state-supported colleges and universities continued to discriminate against homeschooled applicants until 2003, when the Texas legislature passed a law forcing them to stop. Now, a new generation of homeschooled graduates is reaping the benefits.

THSC serves as a liaison between colleges and universities and the homeschooling community. Homeschooled students receive guidance in developing transcripts and meeting the admissions requirements for Texas colleges and universities, while admissions offices are informed of legal requirements regarding admission of homeschooled students.

Obtaining federal financial aid was overly cumbersome for homeschooled students until recently. In 1998, Congress clarified the law regarding federal financial aid, stating homeschool graduates were eligible for aid without having to take an additional test other applicants were not required to take.

Prior to 2003, the college admissions process was likewise difficult for homeschooled students. Many colleges required homeschooled students to achieve higher SAT or ACT scores than public high school graduates. Others required homeschooled students to write essays not required of other applicants, THSC President Tim Lambert said. "We worked for six years through three legislative sessions just to amend the code to stop colleges from discriminating against homeschool students in the admissions process," Lambert said.

Though Stephen Swanson was homeschooled from kindergarten through 12th grade, he recalled no great difficulties in being admitted to Oklahoma Christian University, where he is a sophomore. His college routine, he said, is similar to what he experienced in homeschooling. Over the past few years, he has studied on his own, using a self-guided approach that has served him well in college.

"The hardest thing for me was exercising the discipline I learned through homeschooling to meet the challenge of a heavier workload at college," Swanson said. "I seek to 'just say no' to outside activities when they conflict with my studies. My drive to excel away from home at college is due to my parents' emphasis on character development. My faith-based homeschool education gives me incentive to use wisely the abilities and opportunities God has given me."

Lubbock Christian University freshman Thomas Kennedy was homeschooled for nine years. He said his professors are all aware he is a homeschool graduate, and they have received him well so far. "One of my professors told me that he looks to homeschool students in his classroom to pave the way and set the pace for the classroom," he said, adding that being homeschooled has made him a lifelong learner. "I have chosen to continue my education after undergraduate school because I like school."

Isaac Garcia, homeschooled throughout his K-12 years in Texas, is a senior at Lubbock Christian University majoring in computer information systems. Garcia said the hardships other homeschoolers faced before him made the way easier for him. "Because of the efforts of those before me to ease the process for homeschoolers to be admitted to college, I had no extra requirements to be accepted other than to demonstrate competence on the ACT or SAT," he said. "I have an inner desire instilled in me by my homeschool teachers, in this case my parents, to work hard in college and to aim high, and with God's help I will accomplish anything I set my mind to."

Craig Barnes, a Tarrant County Community College sophomore, was homeschooled in Texas from 7th through 12th grade. He said he has been tested in keeping up with the much faster pace required by his college instructors, but he noted the admissions process was simple. He merely mailed his application along with copies of his transcripts and SAT scores, just as his peers from public schools must do.

Most colleges and universities have realized homeschooled students in general are an asset to the campus, THSC President Lambert said. Texas homeschool graduates as a group score significantly higher than the state average on SAT and ACT tests.

Source

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

The NEA and similar unions worldwide believe that children should be thoroughly indoctrinated with Green/Left, feminist/homosexual ideology but the "3 R's" are something that kids should just be allowed to "discover"

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