The Ethnic Studies Book Battle: Part Two

30Mar
by Randy Jurado Ertll

Read Part One Here

Seeing as more than 60 million Latinos now live in the United States, Latino students deserve to be exposed to writing that speaks to them. Books that include diverse characters can get these kids reading, and give them a sense of belonging in school and society at large. For instance, it would be amazing if a school district would adopt books that talked about the experiences of Salvadoran Americans and Central Americans, the community I belong to. 

In California, hundreds of thousands of Central American students help fund public education through Average Daily Attendance (ADA), but what do these students get in return? They do not even get to read books that are bilingual or that they can relate to. Central Americans (a grouping that includes Salvadoran Americans, Guatemalan Americans, Honduran Americans, Nicaraguan Americans, Panamanian Americans, Belizean Americans, and Costa Rican Americans) are the second-largest U.S. Latino population after Mexican-Americans, but books related to the Central American experience are virtually invisible in public schools. 

Salvadoran American students are in great numbers in public schools in California, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., but they almost never get to read books about their community. We need to push for ethnic studies to be adopted nationwide. Our students deserve to read books that speak to their diverse experiences and viewpoints, something I never got to do in school. But now, I’ve decided to start writing my own books in English as well as Spanish. I have published 12 books that are non-fiction, fiction, and one illustrated bilingual book titled The Adventures of El Cipitio: Las Aventuras del Cipitio. 

By taking the lead, Governor Gavin Newson, the governor of a state that is on the leading edge of a national demographic shift as the proportion of Latinos and Latinas continues to grow, can set an example for the rest of the United States. Let us see what is done with the billions of dollars that President Joe Biden is now distributing to various school districts throughout the nation through the latest $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill. Will public school districts finally be stimulated to include bilingual and inclusive books within California’s public school districts, or will that money go towards raises? 

Randy Jurado Ertll, author. His. Author website is: WWW.RANDYJURADOERTLL.COM You can find his books via this link: https://www.amazon.com/Randy-Jurado-Ertll/e/B002R58VYI%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

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Randy Jurado Ertll

Randy Jurado Ertll, attended some of the toughest public schools within Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). He and his family moved dozens of times throughout Los Angeles. He attended Menlo Avenue Elementary School – which he loved dearly as a child – even though violence was an everyday occurrence in the surrounding community. He survived James A. Foshay Junior High School in the mid 1980’s. As a child, he escaped a rural Civil War in El Salvador, and while in Los Angeles, he escaped an urban Civil War (taking place in South Central Los Angeles) by being accepted into the A Better Chance-ABC scholarship program by going far way to study at John Marshall High School in Rochester, Minnesota. Hella cold. He returned to his community by applying and being accepted into Occidental College where he was indoctrinated to become a social justice activist, reader, writer, free thinker, and free, rebel, spirit.

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