CA Assembly Member Ricardo Lara writes letter of support for hunger strikers

Dear Students:

It is with utmost respect and pride that I voice my support for your efforts to preserve Ethnic Studies at the University of California Berkeley. As you know, these departments were created as a response to a student-led movement of the 1960s which included demonstrations, student protests and hunger strikes. Today, you continue this effort and inspire all others to fight for an equitable educational system.

Thousands of beneficiaries of Ethnic Studies programs have contributed greatly to our great state of California. I am one such beneficiary. Other Leaders with Ethnic Studies backgrounds are now top lawyers, professors, teachers, doctors and community activists. These are the extraordinary people who personify Ethnic Studies.

Last year, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed HB 2281, a bill which targeted the teaching of Ethnic Studies curricula within the Arizona K-12 school system. The attacks in Arizona grossly misrepresent the intentions and rigorous intellectual and scholarly commitments of Ethnic Studies. On my part, I promise to continue to gather support for my Assembly Resolution, ACR 34, which recognizes and celebrates the invaluable contributions of California’s Ethnic Studies departments and programs, including their faculty, staff and students. ACR 34 puts the Legislature on record in support of Ethnic Studies. Please join me on Monday, May 16th when I present the resolution on the Assembly Floor.

Your fight is part of a larger struggle to preserve these valuable programs and departments and I thank you for your courage and resolve.

In solidarity,

RICARDO LARA
Assembly Member, 50TH District
Chair, Assembly Joint Legislative Audit Committee

STATE CAPITOL
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0020
Phone: (916) 319-2050
Fax: (916) 319-2150

DISTRICT OFFICE

8724 Garfield Avenue, Suite 104
South Gate, CA 90280
Phone: (562) 927-1200
Fax: (562) 927-6670

E-MAIL

assemblymember.lara@assembly.ca.gov

WEBSITE
www.assembly.ca.gov/lara

STANDING COMMITTEES
Appropriations
Banking and Finance
Higher Education
Water, Parks and Wildlife

SELECT COMMITTEES
Financial Empowerment, Chair

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