Essay Example on Ethnic studies is defined as the interdisciplinary Study

Ethnic studies is defined as the interdisciplinary study of difference chiefly race ethnicity and nation but also sexuality gender and other such markings and power as expressed by the state by civil society and by individuals From the education I have gathered from first hand experience of the study personally Ethnic studies is the education of the many variations of people Its purpose is to safely educate those who wish to learn more about people s history in order to bring justice and equity to one s community Social Justice is justice in terms of wealth opportunities and privilege within a society This also comes with eliminating all power structures in a community as well providing the needed resources in order to create fairness for all It is crucially important to learn history from different perspectives Being aware of all points of views in history specifically in order to make certain the truth of the matter If we were only to learn about slavery from a white man s perspective we would never know the actuality of the situation Many people have achieved social justice through the strength of people power People power also known as the power of the people can help change societies in many dramatic ways People power influences people to act in non violent direct action and promote behavior change through a situation People power also raises awareness about unjust situations in society Becoming educated about the many different power structures 

I fit into was extremely important and impactful to me I was never taught about the many power groups and structures there were I was never taught about the many disadvantages that were unjustly placed upon myself solely because of that fact that I do not fit in a certain group in society had automatically deemed as dominant and in power and so many others The disadvantages that the power groups have put in society is called oppression Oppression being the combination of prejudice and institutional power which creates a system that discriminates against some groups often called target groups and benefits other groups often called dominant groups Examples of these systems are racism sexism heterosexism ableism classism ageism and anti Semitism These systems enable dominant groups to exert control over target groups by limiting their rights freedom and access to basic resources such as health care education employment and housing Another important factor I was able to become knowledgeable in is the different powers there are in a society community Most importantly people and individual power People power as stated in my former paragraph is the exercise of power by large amounts of the public in nonviolent ways Individual power on the other hand is the power people have to influence others 

These classes help people in a majority of ways From what I have first handedly experienced and what I have heard from others Research has proven that ethnic studies classes boost student attendance GPAs and high school credits for a key student group this being a pivotal finding that brings hard evidence to the dispute over adding these courses in public schools A Stanford study showed that that attendance for those encouraged to enroll in the class increased by 21 percentage points GPA by 1 4 grade points and credits earned by 23 Not only does it academically help students in schools but it also educates students on the understanding of institutionalized oppression In an article about ethnic studies by Jon Greenberg he states In short Ethnic Studies decenter White as the dominant perspective of our education system at least in one class Through perpetuating happy slave narratives in children's books and labeling slaves as workers our education is clearly whitewashed The whitewashed educational system sanitizes key facts in our history Ethnic studies and Social Justice education counters this with different perspectives other than societies current dominant one