Academic Catalogs

ETHS A150: Ethnic Groups in the United States: Their Histories

Course Outline of Record
Item Value
Curriculum Committee Approval Date 10/04/2023
Top Code 220300 - Ethnic Studies
Units 3 Total Units 
Hours 54 Total Hours (Lecture Hours 54)
Total Outside of Class Hours 0
Course Credit Status Credit: Degree Applicable (D)
Material Fee No
Basic Skills Not Basic Skills (N)
Repeatable No
Grading Policy Standard Letter (S), 
  • Pass/No Pass (B)
Associate Arts Local General Education (GE)
  • OC Humanities - AA (OC1)
  • OC Social/Economic Institutions - AA (OD2)
  • OC Ethnic Studies (OETH)
Associate Science Local General Education (GE)
  • OCC Ethnic Studies (OETH)
  • OCC Humanities - AS (OSC2)
  • OCC Social/Behavioral Sci - AS (OSD)
Global and Multicultural Requirement (OGM) Yes
California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC)
  • Cal-GETC 3B Humanities (3B)
Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC)
  • IGETC 3B Humanities (3B)
  • IGETC 7 Ethnic Studies (7)
California State University General Education Breadth (CSU GE-Breadth)
  • CSU D3 Ethnic Studies (D3)
  • CSU F Ethnic Studies (F)

Course Description

This course covers the history of the United States from the pre-Columbian era to the modern day through the experiences of Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and LatinX Americans. There will be a focus on how these racial ethnic groups helped shape the identity and culture of the United States. Additionally, the history of these groups will be analyzed by examining the interconnections of race, class, gender and social power used to struggle against racial hierarchies that created structural inequities in American society. Lastly, this course will examine the goals of the historical social justice movements which continue to combat these inequities. Enrollment Limitation: HIST A150; students who complete ETHS A150 may not enroll in or receive credit for HIST A150. Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.

Course Level Student Learning Outcome(s)

  1. Distinguish between individual and structural inequality, discrimination, racism and other forms of exclusion as they have been applied to Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and LatinX Americans throughout US History.
  2. Articulate the major aspects of population dynamics and demographics related to minority racial/ethnic groups within a well-defined historical/geographic space.
  3. Organize historical thinking and writing using facts, ideas and events to ask questions, assemble evidence, and support conclusions with clarity and coherence.
  4. Students will be able to demonstrate understanding, articulation, and application of 3 of the 5 CSU Ethnic Studies competencies listed below:
  5. Analyze and articulate concepts such as race and racism, racialization, ethnicity, equity, ethno-centrism, eurocentrism, white supremacy, self-determination, liberation, decolonization, sovereignty, imperialism, settler colonialism, and anti-racism as analyzed in any one or more of the following: Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina and Latino American Studies.
  6. Apply theory and knowledge produced by Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities to describe the critical events, histories, cultures, intellectual traditions, contributions, lived-experiences and social struggles of those groups with a particular emphasis on agency and group-affirmation.
  7. Critically analyze the intersection of race and racism as they relate to class, gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, national origin, immigration status, ability, tribal citizenship, sovereignty, language, and/or age in Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities.
  8. Critically review how struggle, resistance, racial and social justice, solidarity, and liberation, as experienced and enacted by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and/or Latina and Latino Americans are relevant to current and structural issues such as communal, national, international, and transnational politics as, for example, in immigration, reparations, settler-colonialism, multiculturalism, language policies.
  9. Describe and actively engage with anti-racist and anti-colonial issues and the practices and movements in Native American, African American, Asian American and/or Latina and Latino communities to build a just and equitable society.

Course Objectives

  • 1. Analyze and articulate concepts such as race and racism, racialization, ethnicity, equity, ethno-centrism, eurocentrism, white supremacy, self-determination, liberation, decolonization, sovereignty, imperialism, settler colonialism, and anti-racism as analyzed in any one or more of the following: Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina and Latino American Studies.
  • 2. Apply theory and knowledge produced by Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities to describe the critical events, histories, cultures, intellectual traditions, contributions, lived-experiences and social struggles of those groups with a particular emphasis on agency and group-affirmation.
  • 3. Critically analyze the intersection of race and racism as they relate to class, gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, national origin, immigration status, ability, tribal citizenship, sovereignty, language, and/or age in Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities.
  • 4. Critically review how struggle, resistance, racial and social justice, solidarity, and liberation, as experienced and enacted by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and/or Latina and Latino Americans are relevant to current and structural issues such as communal, national, international, and transnational politics as, for example, in immigration, reparations, settler-colonialism, multiculturalism, language policies.
  • 5. Describe and actively engage with anti-racist and anti-colonial issues and the practices and movements in Native American, African American, Asian American and/or Latina and Latino communities to build a just and equitable society.
  • 6. Evaluate how the histories of Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and LatinX Americans and their intellectual traditions contributed to the cultural identity of the United States.
  • 7. Examine how historical White supremacist power hierarchies such as imperialism, colonialism, slavery, land ownership, and holding political office influenced the creation race, class, and gender inequities in American society.
  • 8. Analyze various historical interpretations of a significant social issue affecting Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and LatinX Americans in the United States.
  • 9. Discuss examples of dominant group historical means of control over Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and LatinX Americans and their struggle against it.
  • 10. Interpret maps, charts, and graphs illustrating the dynamics of imperialism, exploitation, land disputes, wars, immigration and other significant events that impact race relations in US history.
  • 11. Synthesize the historical narratives and/or intellectual traditions of Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and LatinX Americans in the United States.

Lecture Content

15th century race and ethnicity   European concepts of race: Eurocentrism and ethnocentrism Spanish inquisition: Genocide of Jews and Moors Establishing the "other" and historical stereotypes Race as a social construct US Colonial Race relations Tribal sovereignty: diversity and tribal identification  Regions, social structures, languages Native American responses to Europeans: Diseases, foods, and culture Racializing "civilized" and "savage" binary Native American and Spanish Spanish accounts of Native Americans The New Laws of Spain Cultural Clashs Discovery of America 17th and 18th centuries Native American-English contact Jamestown: John Smiths domination  New England: Metacomet (King Philip) resistance  French and Indian War and the Playoff System African Slavery in the Americas Transatlantic slavery  Slavery in the Iberian World First Africans in the English colonies as indentured servants Slavery in the Plantation and Farm colonies. The USA during the Early Republic African Americans during the Early Republic The American Revolution and the Constitution regarding slavery Nat Turner and resistances to the institution of slavery 1840s and 1850s Immigration Irish experience as black-white German exclusion  Chinese labor immigration and xenophobia Century Native American and U.S. relations Tecumsehs Pan-Indian resistance movement Domination by Andrew Jackso n 1830-1847 Indian Removal and Trail of Tears Chicanos: Foreigners in their Native land Manifest Destiny 1836 Battle at the Alamo as a precursor to US Mexican War 1846-1848 US Mexico War and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Gold, greed and genocide in California Indian homeland White privilege: Homestead Act, Squatter Law, and Greaser Act Civil War and Reconstruction Slave revolts Abolitionism 1861-65 Civil War 13th,14th, and 15th Amendments 1865 Jim Crow and "de facto" slavery 1865 Emergence of white supremacy organizations: KKK The Era of Scientific Racism African Americans De jure segregation in the south The Great Migration and de facto segregation in the north 1896 Plessy vs Ferguson: separate but equal 1883-1960s Eugenics Movement Birth of the Nation Film Native Americans Black Hills Gold and Removals The Dawes Act Reservations and boarding schools Assimilation and the Kill the Indian Save the Man project 1893 Frederick Jackson Turner and purpose of the master narrative Expansion and imperialism  Immigration Italians, Jews, and Irish becoming White: Melting into the Pot 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act Japanese Immigrants, early contributions, and resistance to xenophobia 1922 Ozawa vs. United States and 1923 Singh Thind vs. United States: Citizenship for non-whites Mexican Immigration*** Civil Rights Fredrick Douglas Booker T. Washington Ida B. Wells WEB Du Bois Marcus Garvey 1909 Emerge nce of NAACP organization: Countering lynchings and segregation 1929 LULAC organization: Countering segregation and increase citizenship Early 20th century: Pre and post Anti-Nazi World War II US Expansion and Imperialism  1917-20 Red scare and immigration restrictions War Industries, Great Migration, and Fascism Military: Men of color becoming "full-Americans" through service Executive Order 9066 Japanese Internment Camps Jewish American experience: Anti-Semitism in the US refusing Jewish refugees Mid 1900s Civil Rights Movement 1931 Alvarez vs Lemon Grove and 1946 Mendez vs Westminster 1954 Brown v. Board of Education over turns Plessy vs Ferguson  Jewish American support for ending discrimination Rosa Parks and Bus Boycott Martin Luther King, Jr. 1964 Civil Rights Act 1960s Self-determination and decolonization movements 1960s Malcom X and the Black Power Movement 1968 Race Riots 1968 Chicano Walkouts or Blowouts and Walkouts Film 1968 Third World Liberation Front 1972 American Indian Movement Seizing Alcatraz Island 1973 The Second Wounded Knee and Grammy Awards Support late 20th Century race relations 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and casino debates 1992 Anti-Columbus movement 1992 LA Race Riots/Upraising and "Upraising: Hip Hop and the La Riots" Film 1994 Anti-Affirmative Action and "The Space Traders" Film 1994 Anti-immigrant Proposition 187 2001 9/11 and Islamaphobia 2014 Ferguson race riots 2016 Standing Rock movement and music videos 2020 Removal of Columbus and other historical monuments removed

Method(s) of Instruction

  • Lecture (02)
  • DE Live Online Lecture (02S)
  • DE Online Lecture (02X)

Instructional Techniques

1.    Lecture and explanation of topic concepts              2.    Verbal, chalkboard and overhead feedback to highlight learning concepts              3.    Class exercises and discussion with instructor feedback              4.    Oversight of multimedia Web projects              5.    Objective exams, and short written answer quizzes              6.    Instructor feedback to written reports on field trips

Reading Assignments

Students will a verage 3 hours per week on readings assigned from text

Writing Assignments

Students will periodically write on lectures and assigned readings. (3 hours per week) Extra-credit reports may be written on field trips. Each paper will be 1 ½-2 typed pages, and include: 1.   The historical background of the ethnic group students 2.   The purpose of the field trip/or museum study 3.   The outcome in expanded student understanding of the group studied

Out-of-class Assignments

Students will periodically write on lectures and assigned readings. Extra-credit reports may be written on field trips. Each paper will be 1 ½-2 typed pages, and include: The historical background of the ethnic group students The purpose of the field trip/or museum study The outcome in expanded student understanding of the group studied

Demonstration of Critical Thinking

Periodic short written answer examinations on assigned course readings, lectures, and discussions Periodic objective exams on assigned course readings, lectures, and discussions Cooperative learning multimedia Web projects on assigned American ethnic groups Participation in daily class discussions on current ethnic group topics Extra-credit short reaction reports to community field trips such as museums and lectures

Required Writing, Problem Solving, Skills Demonstration

Students will periodically write on lectures and assigned readings. Extra-credit reports may be written on field trips. Each paper will be 1 ½-2 typed pages, and include: 1.   The historical background of the ethnic group students 2.   The purpose of the field trip/or museum study 3.   The outcome in expanded student understanding of the group studied

Eligible Disciplines

Ethnic studies: Masters degree in the ethnic studies field OR a masters degree in American studies/ethnicity, Latino studies, La Raza Studies, Central American studies, Latin American studies, cross cultural studies, race and ethnic relations, Asian-American studies, or African-American studies OR the equivalent OR see interdisciplinary studies. Masters degree required. History: Masters degree in history OR bachelors degree in history AND masters degree in political science, humanities, geography, area studies, womens studies, social science, or ethnic studies OR the equivalent. Masters degree required.

Textbooks Resources

1. Required Calloway, C. G.. First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History, 5 ed. Bedford/St. Martin, 2015 Rationale: This text offers a comprehensive history of Native Americans.  2. Required Lowen, J. W. . Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, 1 ed. The New Press, 2018 3. Required Zinn, H. . A Peoples History of the United States, 1 ed. Harper Perennial Modern Classics , 2015 Rationale: This monograph provides students with an overview of the history of racism in the USA.  4. Required Ortiz, P.. An African American and Latinx History of the United States, 1 ed. Beacon Press, 2018 5. Required Lee, E.. The Making of Asian America, 1 ed. Simon Schuster , 2016 Rationale: This monograph provides an overview of Asian-American history.  6. Required White, D. G., Bay, M., Martin Jr., W. E. Freedom on My Mind: A History of African Americans, with Documents, 3 ed. Bedford/St. Martin, 2021 7. Required Michael O. Howard W.. Racial Formations in the United States, 3 ed. Routledge , 2014 Rationale: This is an excellent Ethnic Studies survey of the evolution of racism in the USA. 8. Required Johnson, A.. Power, Privilege, and Differences, 3 ed. . McGraw-Hill, 2017

Other Resources

1. Selected films. 2. Selected handout materials provided and distributed by the instructor.