Editorial board reaches false conclusion

Bhaga is a graduate student in the Asian American studies
program.

By Tina Bhaga

The ever-present argument against ethnic studies resurfaces
under the innocent guise of multiculturalism in a recent editorial
published by the Daily Bruin Editorial Board (“Cultural
study will enliven diversity,” Viewpoint, Oct. 22).

The board sets up a seductively simple narrative that, upon
careful examination, reveals an argument riddled with fallacious
assumptions and gross generalizations.

The board asserts that UCLA students are
“self-segregating” and then leaps to the conclusion
that “the end will be a society of racists.”

First, UCLA is hardly representative of mainstream
society’s demographics. Students of color arrive at this
school from environments where they were minorities and for the
first time, they can share concerns and experiences with others
students of color. Does their proclivity to befriend racially
similar people suddenly make them exclusive or racist?

Recognize the “slippery slope” logic of the
board’s assertion.

Next, the board assumes that members of ethnic organizations are
one-dimensional characters. But the undeniable evidence of students
involved in service fraternities, church groups and political
activist organizations attests to the fact that students of color
have a myriad of identities and forge relationships based on shared
hobbies, careers, social concerns and religion.

And since when do area studies “departments create
separatist students?” The board ignores a history of
inter-ethnic coalitions that includes, for instance, co-teaching
for race relations classes and cross-cultural political
movements.

Area studies departments don’t create separatist students.
They are a response to the absence of scholarship in mainstream
texts. They offer alternative perspectives of historical events.
For example, do most students of American History learn that Nazi
concentration camps were directly inspired by the U.S.
government’s camps for Native Americans?

I next contest the claim that an establishment of a South Asian
studies department would be fiscally infeasible in view of upcoming
budget cuts. This falsely assumes that South Asian studies is a
supplement to a core university education. But studying an area
that houses a sixth of the world’s population is essential to
developing students’ understanding of the world and integral
to UCLA’s mission of promoting a diverse education. It is not
an option but a necessity.

A South Asian studies department would enrich the education of
every member of the student body, but its establishment is thwarted
by editorials that misconstrue its intentions.

Assumptions about catty inter-ethnic politics and exclusiveness
based on “general observations around campus” are
inaccurate and evidence of poor research.

I concede that proof of social segregation exists, but this
accusation cannot be extrapolated to ethnic studies departments
based on the whim of the Daily Bruin Editorial Board.

I respect the board’s right to criticize and express its
opinion, but condemn its lack of research. The fact that this
speculative and unsubstantiated editorial received the approval of
over half the Daily Bruin Editorial Board reflects poorly on its
methodology. In the future, please investigate your facts before
writing.