Ethnic Studies in the Twenty-First Century: A Proposal

If you will consider the dualistic thinking which undergirds Western philosophical tradition, then it comes as a surprise to no one that the periodiz ation of history is based on white male experiences as the sum of western civilization, especially the glorification of war and the celebra tion of unbridled "raw-power. " S o , too , it i s not s urprising that Aristotelian logic and C artesian metaphysics form the godhead for monocultural and unisexual educ ation in U.S . society, which is at the least bisexual and multicultural. For a decade-and-a-half now, ethnic, minority, and women's studies proponents have suggested that their purposes for existence were to challenge and change the status quo. But ethnic and minority studies people, for the most p art, became p arties to the evils ofthe academy rather than revolutionaries against them during the past fifteen years. The first decade of ethnic studies has been characterized as one where there was no real vision ; no theory for providing linkages within a framework of strategies for attaining "the prize " was developed because ethnic and minority studies proponents had no vision of what the prize ought to be. l The proponents of women's studies have probably fared no better. Simple inclusion with dignity, especially absolute equality of opportunity, could have been a goal if there had been a group large enough with dedication to bring that ideal to fruition . But expediency and tangents demanded colored ethnic minority experts get their share of the " booty" before the barnyard door closed ; thereby leaving us in a position of being told by "them" how much money was spent on "us" and then "they" pointed to the negative results. So , colored ethnic people began to heap inj ustices upon other colored ethnic people, and for some reason this " colored" oppression was supposed to be somewhat less reprehensible and odious than "white" exploitation. Now, there is surely something awry with the line of thinking which rationlizes that "the white man is j ust using the 'token' to do his dirty work, " and the reasons for complicity ought to be examined. This discussion, however, is not about the first fifteen years of ethnic studies in the academy. Let us look beyond what is really on the horizon and visualize hope-hope, for ethnic and minority people entangled in and blinded by the web of the n ation 's