ETHNIC STUDIES- EXAM ONE

AFRS, AIS, ASAM, CHLS 319 : MIDTERM EXAM

The California Native Peoples most associated with Puvungna, which is the land we are on

The Gabrieleño/Tongva, the Acjachamen/Juaneño, and many other Southern California Indian people

"Puvungna" in the Gabrilieno-Tongva language meaning

"The Great Gathering Place"

Article VI, Clause II of the Constitution, also known as the Supremacy Clause, Treaties between the United States and Tribal Nations are considered what in relation to the Constitution

They are considered the "supreme Law of the Land" equal,

374 federally ratified, and over 126 more which were negotiated and signed but never officially approved by the United States Senate, including 18 unratified treaties in California have made been between American Indian Tribal Nations and who?

Treaties were made between American Indian Tribal Nations and the United States government.

How many treaties have been broken by the United States with American Indian Tribal Nations?

The United States has broken or violated nearly every single one of the more than 500 treaties (with roughly 365 to 374 ratified by the Senate) it signed with American Indian tribal nations.

Amount of Federally recognized Tribes, State Recognized Tribes, and Tribes seeking recognition.

There are 575 federally recognized tribes, 100 plus state recognized tribes, and 400 plus tribes seeking recognition.

Native People gained United States Citizenship in what year?

1924 (through the Indian Citizenship Act).

American Indians enrolled as members of Federally Recognized Tribes gained the right to vote federally in what year through Voting Rights Act where American Indians/Native Peoples across all 50 states could vote.

1965 (through the Voting Rights Act).

What was the year of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, where Native peoples could practice their own Native religions which they had been doing since time immemorial.

1978.

How many Native peoples served in World War I in 1918, before they were granted United States citizenship in 1924?

Approximately 12,000 Native Americans served in the United States military during World War I, but did not have U.S. citizenships.

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, also known as the Iroquois, helped shape the United States Government, including what key 3 ways.

Federalism, Separation of Powers/Branches of Government, and Bicameral representation.

An honoring/encouragement song composed in 1994 in the Dakota Language by the Elk's Whistle Drum was given to the CSULB American Indian Community to encourage the students of CSULB to do what?

To remember why they are going to school, finish/complete their education, and retain their spiritual ways and responsibilities for future generations.

Definition of Ethnic Studies

It is an interdisciplinary academic field that critically examines the history, culture, politics, social conditions, and lived experiences of people of color and historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups.

What groups does Ethnic Studies include?

Indigenous studies, Africana studies, Chicano studies, Asian American studies.

What are the different ways Ethnic Studies is offered in the academy?

Dedicated academic departments, interdisciplinary programs, and research/cultural centers.

What are the commonalities in Ethnic Studies?

Shared focus on historically marginalized groups, systemic critique of Eurocentric narratives, self-determination, community empowerment, and social justice.

What are the seven core subject areas of Black Studies?

Black Religion, Black Economics, Black Social Organization, Black Politics, Black Psychology, and other subjects (Black Creative Production, Black Women's/Men's Studies, Black Queer Studies, Science and Technology).

What was the Ethnic Studies struggle in 2013?

Institutional attempts and political pressures to reduce, defund, or marginalize Ethnic Studies programs.

What did Ethnic Studies accomplish?

Sparked renewed student/faculty activism, leading to the recruitment of ethnic studies faculty, expanded course offerings, and eventual systemwide institutional mandates.

What was the Long Beach State (CSULB) connection?

Serving as a hub for student advocacy and regional curriculum leadership within the California State University (CSU) system.

What were the top 5 of the 10 recommendations of the CSU Task

1. Establish a mandatory systemwide General Education requirement in Ethnic Studies for all CSU undergraduate students.

2. Ground the requirement in the four core foundational disciplines: African American, Asian American, Chicana/o-Latina/o, and Native American Studies.

3. Provide robust financial support and resources for Ethnic Studies faculty hiring and department operations.

4. Protect departmental autonomy regarding curriculum design and faculty governance.

5. Create campus-level implementation task forces to monitor academic rigor and community engagement.

Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies?

The CSU Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies was a pivotal statewide committee established in January 2014 by then-CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White.

What is California Assembly Bill 1460 (AB 1460)?

Authored by Assemblymember Shirley Weber and signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in August 2020, AB 1460 mandates a 3-unit lower-division course in Ethnic Studies as a graduation requirement for all CSU undergraduate students.

What is the CSULB 119 & 319 connection to AB 1460?

Courses like AFRS 119 and AFRS 319 at CSULB directly align with and fulfill the historical, social, and political competencies required under AB 1460.

Definition of history

"The struggle and record of humans in the process of humanizing the world, i.e., shaping it in their own image and interests" (giving it human form, character, and making it serve human well-being rather than destruction).

Definition of African/Black history

"The struggle and record of Africans in the process of Africanizing the world, i.e., shaping it in their own image and interests" through contributions to agriculture, science, and civilization while defending and developing themselves.

What is the process of historical recovery?

An ongoing research project essential to Black Studies to uncover historical data that has been hidden, ignored, rewritten, or erased.

What is Sankofa?

An Akan word and symbol meaning "to return and recover it", representing the quest for knowledge, returning to the source, and using recovered data to expand Black Studies and address contemporary issues.

What are the 5 basic characteristics of history?

History does not just happen nor is it the work of unseen forces; it is a structured, ongoing human process driven by agency, struggle, and environmental interaction.

When does Black history begin?

At the beginning of history.

Where did humans originate?

Africa.

What were the Nile Valley civilizations of Africa?

Egypt (Kemet), Ethiopia, and Nubia.

What is the history of the founding of Egypt (Kemet)?

Began as a collection of smaller cultural communities that united into a single state in 3100 B.C.E. under King Mena (Narmer), the first ruler, spanning 30 dynasties over 5,000 years.

What were Ivan Van Sertima's two main contentions about African presence in ancient America?

Contention #1: Nubians/Egyptians (during the Dynastic and Ramesside periods) traveled to the Olmec Heartland as explorers and traders, contributing alongside Native Americans to Olmec civilization.

Contention #2: Africans from the Mali Empire (such as fleets sent by Emperor Abubakari II in 1310-1311) crossed the Atlantic prior to Columbus.

What is the concept of African diffusionism?

The spread of African culture, navigation, and technological achievements across ancient global societies.

What is the Afrocentric position on multicultural education?

Intentionally working to include authentic African and global histories to correct Eurocentric bias and erasure.

What was the Holocaust of Enslavement?

"A morally monstrous act of genocide that is not only against the targeted people themselves but also a crime against humanity".

What were the three basic ways the Holocaust of Enslavement expressed itself?

1. Morally monstrous destruction of human life.

2. Morally monstrous destruction of human culture.

3. Morally monstrous destruction of human possibility.

What was the impact of the Holocaust of Enslavement?

Mass depopulation (50 to 100 million people), societal disruption, loss of youth and skilled personnel, underdevelopment of Africa, and the overdevelopment of Europe.

What are the basis and system of the Holocaust of Enslavement?

Profitability, practicality, and ideological justification. System: Extreme brutality (physical, psychological, sexual), cultural genocide, and a rigid machinery of control (laws, the Church, politics, and plantation punishments).

How is African resistance to enslavement defined by Karenga?

Resistance is any and all personal and collective acts designed to deny support to, challenge, or overturn the established order, force structural changes, or escape its control.

What are the 5 basic forms of resistance?

1. Cultural resistance (retention, synthesis, creation, family maintenance)

2. Day-to-day resistance (sabotage, work slowdowns, breaking tools, arson, poisoning)

3. Abolitionism (efforts to end enslavement)

4. Emigrationism (push to return to Africa or migrate for freedom)

5. Armed resistance (revolts, ship mutinies, guerrilla warfare, and alliances with Native Americans and Afro-Mexicans)

What led to the Civil War?

Escalating sectional conflicts over enslavement, highlighted by the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act, the 1857 Dred Scott decision, John Brown's 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry, and the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln.

Why was Reconstruction considered the best of times for Black people?

Major political gains, voting rights, election of Black officials to Congress and Senate, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, free public education, and expanded civil rights.

Why was Reconstruction considered the worst of times for Black people?

Broken promises (such as "40 acres and a mule"), Black Codes, sharecropping, and violent white supremacist backlash.

Why did the efforts of Reconstruction fail?

Failure of the federal government to redistribute land, the rise of white terrorist societies (KKK), the withdrawal of federal troops via the Hayes-Tilden Compromise of 1877, and hostile Supreme Court rulings (culminating in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896).

What were the two major acts of the "New Deal?"

The Social Security Act of 1935 (providing old age and unemployment insurance) and the Wagner Labor Relations Act of 1935 (guaranteeing collective bargaining rights).

What was the Reaffirmation of the 60s?

A major modal period characterized by the re-affirmation of Africanness, reattachment to African culture, the Black Freedom Movement, and demands for Black Studies departments in universities.

What was the Civil Rights Movement?

The integrationist phase of the Black Freedom Movement focused on legal reform, voting rights, and dismantling Jim Crow.

What organizations led the Civil Rights Movement?

SNCC, CORE, SCLC, and the NAACP.

What was the major turning point of the Civil Rights Movement?

Brown v. Board of Education (1954), followed by the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1956).

What was the Black Power Movement?

A radical liberation movement (1965-1975) sparked by the 1965 Watts Revolt, focusing on self-determination, community control, and breaking the minority mentality.

What were the three thrusts of the Black Power Movement?

1. Religious thrust

2. Cultural thrust

3. Political thrust

What was the aim of COINTELPRO in the 1970s?

To covertly infiltrate, disrupt, suppress, and wreak havoc on Black political and civil rights organizations.

What were the increased political and Pan-African activities during the 1970s?

Election of 18 Black congressmen and hundreds of state legislators, the National Black Political Convention, African Liberation Day rallies, and the African Liberation Support Committee (ALSC).

What were the three main challenges for Black people in the 1980s?

Epidemic, mass incarceration, HIV.

What were the carryover problems in the 1990s?

Hostile Supreme Court attitudes toward affirmative action, tripling rates of hate crimes, rising poverty, the 1991 Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings, and the 1992 Los Angeles Rebellion.

What are some of the major Black experiences of the 20th century?

The Great Migrations, the Harlem Renaissance, World War II's Double V Campaign, the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, the rise of Black political officeholders, and the historic election of Barack Obama.

Define "Latinx" from a disciplinary perspective & explain its use.

This term is a pan-ethnic, gender-inclusive category used for U.S. residents who trace their heritage to a Latin American country where Spanish and/or Portuguese are official (though not the only) languages.

Explain historical racialization in Spanish Colonial and English Settler Colonial practices as impacting Latinx identities and realities.

Spain colonized the Americas using Catholicism (following the Catholic religion and Catholic conversion tactics under Los Reyes Católicos, backed by Papal bulls and the Doctrine of Discovery) to convert and whiten indigenous souls and bodies. This established a racial hierarchy based on miscegenation, colorism, and blanqueamiento. In contrast, English settler colonialism relied on Protestant Manifest Destiny and anti-miscegenation laws to enforce strict racial purity and spatial segregation.

Describe how Mexicans were turned into a racialized ethnic group in the US.

Mexicans were racialized through two main periods (Pre-Annexation and Post-Annexation).

Hispanic

of Spanish.

Where does Hispanic come from?

Derived from Hispania (España or Spain).

Who is included in this (Hispanic) category?

Native Spanish speakers and individuals of Spanish heritage/descent under a Eurocentric framework.

Who is not included in this (Hispanic) category?

It erases non-Spanish speakers, indigenous peoples with non-European languages and cultures, and Afro-Latinos whose non-European heritages are ignored.

What makes this term Hispanic Eurocentric?

It uses Spain as the primary cultural and geographical reference point and centers Europeanized bodies, languages, governance, and knowledge systems.

Why use a pan-ethnic term?

Solidarity on naming enables the population to gain greater clarity on representation, potentially leading to greater political power, visibility, and resources.

How is a pan-ethnic term different than ethnic identity?

A pan-ethnic term encompasses multiple different ethnic groups, gender identities, and sexualities across Spanish- and/or Portuguese-speaking Latin American and Caribbean countries (e.g., Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Guatemalan), whereas an ethnic-specific term (like Chicano) focuses specifically on a single national heritage (e.g., Mexico).

Why and how does 'Latinx' offer more theoretical power than ethnic-specific terms?

It enables scholars to better understand experiences across different Latinx groups, intersectional ties (gender, class, sexuality).

Which type of power does "Latinx" connect to (political? theoretical? etc.)

It connects to both theoretical power (understanding intersectionality, genocide, and historical erasures) and political power (Census enumeration, political representation, and resource allocation).

What is mestizaje?

Racial mixing between whites and Indians.

What is blanqueamiento?

"Whitening", racial mixing within a hierarchical system that valued whiteness.

What is las castas?

The colonial caste social class system comprising Peninsulares, Criollos, Mestizos, Mulattoes, Native American Indians, and African Slaves.

How do ideas of mestizaje, blanqueamiento, and las castas support "myths of modernity" and Eurocentric unilinear progressive narratives?

They establish a strict racial hierarchy valuing Europeanized culture and whiteness at the top, framing European conquest as a civilizing mission that uplifts indigenous and African populations through assimilation and whitening.

What role does 'purity' play in this racial formation?

Protestant Manifest Destiny and racial purity dictated that Anglo-Saxons were superior, maintaining strict boundaries and dividing populations simply into "White" and "Other" via the One-Drop Rule.

Anti-miscegenation vs. miscegenation

English colonialism relied on anti-miscegenation laws and spatial segregation (reservations and segregated towns) to preserve racial purity, whereas Spanish colonialism utilized miscegenation and syncretism (blanqueamiento) to incorporate and hierarchy-whiten indigenous populations.

Claims from documentary VOCES American Historia: The Untold History of Latinos (2024)

Latinos were present long before the United States existed; traditional history textbooks center the European version and leave out Latino contributions, making people feel invisible; history is a complex mix of Indigenous, Afro-Latino, and European roots; and reclaiming uncolonized histories challenges colonial mindsets.

Latin American historical civilizations that were included in the doc.

Olmec, the Taíno, the Maya, the Inca, and the Aztec.

Pre-Annexation

1800-1848 Anglo Colonization of 'Spanish America'

Post-Annexation

1848-1960s Racial subordination of Mexicans

White racial categories and purity.

Manifest Destiny framed Anglo-Saxon Protestants as a pure, superior race destined to bring democracy, viewing Spanish/Mexican mixed-race societies as degraded "mongrel" races with inherent inferiority.

Expression of Anglo-American Racial Superiority

Fought as a racial war driven by Manifest Destiny to assert Anglo superiority over "inferior, dark peoples" and take their lands.

Legal citizenship of Mexicans through Whiteness Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

Classified Mexicans as Caucasian and granted U.S. citizenship to Mexicans in annexed territories, a legal privilege extended only to whites at the time.

Perceived racial ambiguities make vulnerable protections against discrimination.

Despite nominal white citizenship, Mexican-Americans were marked socially and culturally as "other" and inferior, leaving them vulnerable to discrimination and widespread land loss.

How do perceived racial ambiguities give rise to inconsistent law enforcement?

Depending on class, skin color, and generational status, Mexicans could be classified as white in one town and not another, or considered white for naturalization but not for school boards or census counts, resulting in arbitrary enforcement.

How does infantilization of racialized bodies give rise to violence & land loss?

Mexicans were scripted as hot-blooded, excessive, or criminal (e.g., Josefa Segovia's lynching, or elite Mexican women's whiteness being conditionally recognized only when marrying Anglo men for land), while Anglo authorities and vigilante mobs used violence and terror to evict Mexicans and seize their property.

Romanticizing the Spanish legend to cover up exploited Mexican-American realities.

Romanticizing elite Spanish/conquistador heritage while ignoring indigenous/mixed realities and exploiting Mexican-American labor.

World War I labor shortage

Sparked the demand for Mexican labor, turning Mexicans into an exploitable working class.

CHLS 1848

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

CHLS 1907-1929

Expanding an Exploitable Working Class.

CHLS 1848-1906

Manufacturing a Racial Other.

CHLS 1930-1942

Unneeded Workers, Unwanted Race.

Consider racial scripts or racialized rhetorics developed to reinforce notions of immigrant, otherness, foreigners. Also consider conditions that explain what is at stake in a racial script.

Scripts such as "the mongrel race," "the diseased," "the overly fertile," and "the perpetually foreign" were deployed to construct Mexicans as outsiders and threats, justifying control and exclusion when economic needs shifted.

Massive deportations of Mexican American citizens and noncitizens during the Great Depression.

Nearly half of all Mexicans, citizens and noncitizens alike, were unceremoniously deported from the U.S. during the Great Depression.

World War II and Labor Shortages,

Post-war economic expansion and wartime labor shortages revived the demand for Mexican workers.

CHLS 1945-1965

Officially Disposable Workers

Bracero Program.

Treated Mexican workers as officially "disposable" temporary labor under contract programs from 1942 to 1965.

Origins of "Asian American".

The term "Asian American" was coined in the aftermath of the 1968-1969 Ethnic Studies strikes by Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee at UC Berkeley and UCLA.

What was the purpose of the term 'Asian American'?

It was established as a collective political identity to replace homogenizing, Eurocentric racial classifications.

Which racial classifications did 'Asian American' aim to replace?

'Asian American' aimed to replace classifications such as 'Oriental,' 'Asiatic,' or 'Mongoloid/Malay'.