Teaching Ethnic Studies Recommended Reading List – 5 New Books for 2023!
A year ago, I posted a list of books that I have used and would highly recommend for those who are or will be teaching Ethnic Studies. This is a new subject for many school districts. Ethnic Studies is not a necessarily a new subject in higher education where it has been studied for 50 years. As such, there is a growing list of books that apply, some of which are not new, but are making their way into the curriculum.
Previously, I created a list of books to provide a solid foundation for educators who will be teaching Ethnic Studies and administrators who will be overseeing this additional class. I created the list just before the 2022 holidays, so the original list is called: Book Gift Ideas for Ethnic Studies Teachers, Students, and DEI Professionals. I still recommend those books, but I feel that there are some additional books that should be added to the list, hence this article.
A little background
Ethnic Studies is an academic school of thought, with entire degrees being given in the subject: bachelors, masters, and even doctorates. Ethnic Studies should not be considered an add-on to what one might already know. It is a comprehensive study that includes history, politics, economics, culture, sociology, and other fields. Therefore, it is important to thoroughly understand Ethnic Studies BEFORE developing a standalone course or integrating the content into already established courses in history and social studies.
Ethnic Studies is a uniquely human-centered academic subject. It engages the whole person in self-discovery. It brings to life the concept of intersectionality, a term that was coined by the legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw. Through this process of self-discovery, people learn about others and the world around them. That is to say that studying Ethnic Studies is transformational. Those who teaching it must first learn these concepts and understand that it will shift and change them as teachers. They must be able to articulate to their students the profound impact the material has had on their personal and academic growth and development.
Ethnic Studies is not taught half-heartedly. It shifts the ground beneath people and can be disorienting. As a teacher, it is important to understand this and to be prepared to guide students on this journey of self-discovery. You may be thinking right now that I am making too much out of this. Well, after taking a college level Ethnic Studies course, that perspective may change. This is why I ask everyone who is planning to teach Ethnic Studies, to do some reading before they dismiss the importance of the subject matter. It really is that important.
The Books
These books are front & center on my bookshelf, and if you’re serious about Ethnic Studies, then they should be on yours too:
Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom
by bell hooks
Gloria Jean Watkins, better known by her pen name, bell hooks, wrote this book in 1994, the year I graduated from college as an undergraduate. I didn’t read it then, but was assigned the book in my doctoral program. This book truly changed the way I saw teaching. This was the book that told me that Black educators were also hesitant to implement desegregation laws in the American south. Their hesitance was because they knew that Black students would be sent to white spaces where they were not wanted. Those children would suffer… and they did. This book reminded me of the vital role educators play in the lives of their students. It created a shift in my thinking. A shift that helped deepen my commitment to education as a profession and as a vocation.
Authentic Cariño: Transformative Schooling for Latinx Youth
by Marnie Curry
This book is the result of an ethnographic study at an urban high school. Dr. Curry embedded herself in the school for a couple of years and learned invaluable lessons. Authnetic Cariño grew out of this case study. Dr. Curry defines this as “a potent combination of familial, intellectual, and critical care that pervaded the interactions with youth and contributed to a culture of engaged learning” (p. 1). She outlines how the community at Molina High School (not the real name) worked through the important aspects of community building and support to “braid together” familial, intellectural and critical care of all members of the school community. The book is full of hope and offers a guide for any educator wanting to work towards transforming their own school.
Translating Blackness: Latinx Colonialities in Global Perspective
by Lorgia García Peña
This book is an analysis of Black Latinx identity in the diaspora. Dr. Peña weaves together history, colonialism, rebellion, and belonging to provide a glimpse at the complex realities of the Black Latinx person. She provides a list on terminology she uses or introduces in the book to help guide the reader along in their understanding. Right at the beginning Dr. Pena tells us her positionality and subjectivity. She states: “This book is born from my own experience as a Black Latina immigrant scholar living in constant vaivén (coming and going) between belonging and unbelonging.” (p. 2) I recommend that this book is read a little later, after more foundational scholarship in Ethnic Studies and history.
Ms. Hernandez takes us inside the Latinx community to show how anti-Black beliefs are held and how they are acted on. She challenges the notion of “country first” that many Latinx people use to dismiss racism. She provides examples where anti-Blackness is what keeps Latinx people from uniting and achieving true equality for everyone in their culture. She notes in the epilogue how “embodying Blackness within a Latino family can so deeply ground one in the materiality of Latino bias where fantasies of Latino color-blind unity are unable to interfere with a questioning of Latino racial attitudes.” (p. 193). A great book that explores the within group differences in the Latinx community.
Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itlion, by Dawn Bohulano Mabalon and Gayle Romasanta
Larry Itliong, a Filipino-American, worked and fought alongside Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta for farmworker rights. His story is often neglected but exemplifies the solidarity work of the multiracial collaborations that lead to real changes for farmworkers. The book is structured almost as a biography that takes you on a journey through Larry’s life in the US. In the end, the authors asks readers to take action, even at the local or personal level, to honor Larry Itliong’s struggle and legacy. This is a wonderful book for younger readers, but also for those planning to teach Ethnic Studies.
From my previous list
I realize that everyone is busy and that you may have skipped over the link to my previous list Book Gift Ideas for Ethnic Studies Teachers, Students, and DEI Professionals. If so, I’d like to pull out two books from that list that are just too important not to mention again:
Rethinking Ethnic Studies
by Cuauhtin, Zavala, Sleeter & Au, 2019
Teaching Ethnic Studies should be approached with the same seriousness and commitment as any other academic curricular pursuit. When I first began teaching foundational courses in Ethnic Studies, I used a collection of seminal articles and essays that addressed the major concepts I was teaching. However, I still struggled to find a consistent source that would provide similar educational experiences for all students, not just the ones in my section of the course. This spring I will be teaching four sections of “Ethnic Studies 101”. During my planning, I decided to find at least one text that would provide the framework for the curriculum. After much searching, and crowdsourcing online, I settled on this one. Rethinking Ethnic Studies is now a required text for all my courses. It is one of the few books available that provides a structure to learn the history of the field, and a roadmap to navigate the learning of the major concepts. It is comprehensive and tries to make its appeal and relevance broad (teachers, students, and the general public). The authors make it simple enough to select sections for use in the classroom to introduce students to the major tenets of Ethnic Studies.
A New Origin Story: The 1619 Project
by Nikole Hannah-Jones, 2021
You must have been living under a rock this past year to miss the launch of this book. Ms. Hannah-Jones, a Pulitzer Prize winning author and creator of the 1619 Project, first published this work on the pages of the New York Times. Since then, it has spurred a podcast (parts of which I use in my courses), and this book. I highly recommend this book as a way of informing students about the history of the United States and the role Black people played in its foundation. It is as truthful an accounting of this history as I have read as I think those who’ve read it, will agree. Last month Hulu released a series of the same name, that I can also heartily recommend. It is in six parts and provides a visual presentation of the important concepts of the book.
In closing
In July of 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into California law an Ethnic Studies high school graduation requirement. It will go into effect for students graduating in 2025. This may seem like a way off, but to those of us who plan their curricula semesters at a time, this is arriving very soon.
I created this reading list to give educators a place to start on their academic journey to learn and understand Ethnic Studies. As this will soon be a requirement for students here in California, it is important for teachers to have a thorough understanding of the subject. It takes time to grow within the subject and see oneself in the stories and histories being studied. It is my belief that this change will help teachers, as well as their students, thrive in the 21st century.
The books in my previous list and the books above will provide you with a wealth of information on what Ethnic Studies is and how it will change the lives of students. It includes books on the teaching experience itself. This was not meant to be a comprehensive list, and it will likely grow over time, but for now, these are my recommendations. Of course, I am always open to new books on the subject, so please feel free to leave comments below.
Please note that the above article includes affiliate links. If you are considering any of the books above, I sincerely hope that you use the links in this article as it helps support the important work that we do at the Colégas Group.