The same year my son began kindergarten was the same year I started teaching high school. After completing a Ph.D. in Education in 2015, instead of working in higher education as I anticipated, I was called to teach Ethnic Studies in high school classrooms to be in schools that sometimes feel like the “Mexican Schools” I teach about from the 1940s. As Teaching Tolerance has documented in these Mexican Schools, “Many Anglo educators did not expect, or encourage, Chicano students to advance beyond the eighth grade. Instead, the curriculum at the Mexican schools was designed, as one district superintendent put it, “to help these children take their place in society.”
Women With Opinions: You’re Prettier When You’re Quiet and Other Lies
Women With Opinions: You're Prettier When Your Quiet and Other Lies By Irene Sanchez Actually you are NOT prettier when you're quiet. That's just something certain folks would like you to believe when it's convenient for them. What shocked me this year (the year I had more published opinions) was the ways in which other … Continue reading Women With Opinions: You’re Prettier When You’re Quiet and Other Lies
25 years after Prop 187: I was a middle schooler who walked out in protest of Prop 187, now I’m a high school teacher because of it.
"I was a middle school student who walked out in protest of CA Proposition 187, Looking back 25 years later I know I'm a high school Chicano/Latino Studies teacher because of it". By Irene Sanchez Irene Sanchez, Ph.D. is a high school teacher, writer, and poet. She is the author of the blog Xicana Ph.D. … Continue reading 25 years after Prop 187: I was a middle schooler who walked out in protest of Prop 187, now I’m a high school teacher because of it.
Connecting Wilson and Trump: How anti-immigrant hate has spread since Prop 187
Connecting Wilson and Trump: How anti-immigrant hate has spread since Prop 187By: Irene Sanchez It has almost been a year since Trump released a political ad on Twitter that demonizes Mexican/Latina/o/x people, yet we must remember he is not the first to use political ads to invoke fear of these particular groups. While many news … Continue reading Connecting Wilson and Trump: How anti-immigrant hate has spread since Prop 187
When Ethnic Studies is Under Attack…
When Ethnic Studies is Under Attack... By Irene Sanchez Xicana Ph.D. When Ethnic Studies is under attack, you remember we've been here many times before. You carry the lessons of the past to act with the wisdom that has been passed down. This is not the time to turn away from our elders or dismiss … Continue reading When Ethnic Studies is Under Attack…
You Can’t Call it What it is if You Don’t Know History: Anti-Mexican Violence in the Southwest
You Can’t Call it What it is if You Don’t Know History: Anti-Mexican Violence in the Southwest By Irene Sanchez There was a massacre yesterday in El Paso, Texas. There was a shooting motivated by hate in Gilroy, California last week. They were both motivated by Anti-Mexican sentiment which has been present in the U.S. … Continue reading You Can’t Call it What it is if You Don’t Know History: Anti-Mexican Violence in the Southwest
Breaking! AB 331 (Medina) HS Ethnic Studies Bill Passes in CA Assembly
AB 331 (Medina) HS Ethnic Studies Bill Passes in CA AssemblyBy Irene Sanchez (Xicana Ph.D.) On May 23, 2019, AB 331 (Medina) was passed by the CA state assembly with a 60-6 vote and will move on for a Senate vote to finally make Ethnic Studies a high school graduation requirement in the State of … Continue reading Breaking! AB 331 (Medina) HS Ethnic Studies Bill Passes in CA Assembly
