SAN DIEGO – Last year, the California Department of Education voted on a revision of the State’s ethnic studies curriculum. The framework, called the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum seeks to bring students and communities together in a dialogue on the identities and experiences of marginalized groups.
The curriculum passed in March 2021 and will be required beginning in 2026. The curriculum is a recommendation and not a requirement.
As noted in the original proposal, the ESMC curriculum provides, at grade-appropriate levels from kindergarten to grade 12, an opportunity to explore ethnic studies as a means “to empower all students to engage socially and politically and to think critically about the world around them. It is important for ethnic studies courses to document the experiences of people of color in order for students to construct counter-narratives and develop a more complex understanding of the human experience. Through these studies, students should develop respect for cultural diversity and see the advantages of inclusion.”
Part of the ethnic studies curriculum involved students learning affirmations from other cultures. On such affirmation is In Lak’Ech that represents the Mayan concept of unity and collectivity. The In Lak’Ech was presented as part of a poem by Luis Valdez.
The phrase is “In lak’ ech, Hala ken” and means “I am you, as you are me” or “you are my other self.” It implies we do not exist without each other.
The Aztec concept of Nahui Ollin, the Four Movements was also to be shared with the students. The Four Movements refers to the concepts of self-reflection, beautiful knowledge, deliberate action, and transformation as represented by the names of four Aztec gods Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli, and Xipe Totec, respectively.
Statues of Coatlicue (left) and Xiuhtecuhtli (right). from Coxcatlán, Tehuacan in Puebla state, currently on display at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. Coatlicue was the earth-Mother goddess and goddess of the cycle of life and death. Xiuhtecuhtli was a god of fire and volcanoes. Image credit: Rosemania – CC BY 2.0
Three San Diego parents, Eric Gonzales, Steve Houbeck, and Jose Velazquez were concerned. They argued that the phrase is a religious chant. In September, a group called Californians for Equal Rights Foundation agreed with the parents and together sued California education officials.
The California officials denied the allegations of the lawsuit but settled on January 12, 2022 “to avoid the costs, expense and uncertainty of protracted litigation” California will also pay the plaintiff’s $100,000 attorney fees. In exchange, the plaintiffs will dismiss the lawsuit.
Tucked within the agreement is the following additional statement:
“Within five (5) business days of the date that the Agreement is SBE-approved and fully executed by the Parties, CDE [California Department of Education] shall cause the Affirmations to be deleted from the document that is accessible via hyperlink, as Chapter 5 of the ESMC, on CDE’s website.”
Furthermore,
“Contemporaneously with the deletion of the Affirmations, CDE and/or SBE shall notify all school districts, charter schools and county offices of education (Local Educational Agencies) that the Affirmations have been deleted from the [Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum].”
There’s more. The agreement adds that, “No ESMC content should be used as prayer, or any other form of religious act.”
One of the plaintiffs’ attorneys Paul M. Jonna tweeted, “We filed this lawsuit after we discovered that California’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, a resource guide for local school districts, included prayers to Aztec gods – the same deities that were invoked when the Aztecs worshipped with human sacrifices.”
BREAKING – we reached a settlement with the State of CA, and they will be PERMANENTLY REMOVING the Aztec chants from the Ethnic Studies Model Cirriculum and paying $100,000 towards our attorneys’ fees. My statement is in the thread below:
— Paul M. Jonna (@PaulJonna) January 15, 2022
Jonna added, “The Aztec prayers at issue – which seek blessings from and the intercession of these demonic forces – were not being taught as poetry or history.”
Jonna promised his team will continue monitoring and litigating if needed.
“We are encouraged by this important, hard-fought victory,” Frank Xu, president of Californians for Equal Rights Foundation, said in a statement. “Our state has simply gone too far in attempts to promote fringe ideologies and racial grievance policies, even those that disregard established constitutional principles. Endorsing religious chants in the state curriculum is one glaring example.”
The removal of content is not only the In Lak’Ech but also to teaching about the Yoruba concept of Ashe, which in African Traditional Religions like Regla de Ocha/Lucumí and Ifá refers to the universal energy that is the power to make things happen.
Students were to have been asked “Who is going to have a positive day?” or “Who will represent their people, this day?” The students would be asked to respond “Ashe!’”
The Thomas More Society whose special counsel was another of the plaintiffs’ attorneys also covered the settlement.
“Today is a day of relief,” said Jose Velazquez, one of the parents who filed suit against the state. “To know it took a multi-racial coalition of individuals with different backgrounds and beliefs to move a mountain to challenge the state education apparatus… Both the ‘In Lak Ech’ and the ‘Ashe’ affirmations repetitively invoke religious gods or deities, which should be deleted from any public education curricula because our education system is not above the law. It is up to courageous parents, citizens and organizations to stand up for what’s right.”
“Both the California and the United States Constitutions prohibit prayer in public schools – particularly prayers drafted by public officials,” Jonna explained. “Can you imagine if elements of the Christian faith were proposed to be included in the public school curriculum? What if a class incorporated praying to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or even reciting the Lord’s Prayer? How would that be received?”
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