America
Hindu Americans testify for equality and justice, urge California not to erase history
Sacramento, CA (March 25, 2016) - Over 100 Hindu
Americans converged on Sacramento yesterday to voice their concerns about the
California Department of Education Instructional Quality Commission’s (IQC)
plans to accept problematic edits made by a small group of South Asian studies
faculty. These proposed edits would have largely removed references to
Some of the proposed edits included removing mention of
Hinduism’s acceptance of religious diversity, re-linking Hinduism with caste,
and removing mention of the contributions of Hindu sages of different
backgrounds, such as Valmiki and Vyasa.
The IQC voted to reject some of the proposed changes after public awareness
campaigns, including letters from professors of religion and history, disputed
the faculty group’s assertions. During the public comment period, the Hindu
American Foundation (HAF), other Hindu organizations, and community members, as
well as non-Hindus, testified about both the inaccuracies in the proposed edits
and the last-minute process by which they were initially uniformly accepted -
after prior recommendations from numerous academics were rejected. They argued
that edits would erase their religious and cultural histories and urged the
commission to reject the changes. Moreover, they asked the commissioners to
adopt a more inclusive and culturally competent frameworks document.
The community’s efforts was also supported by a coalition of 20 government
leaders and elected officials, including Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), CA
State Senator Steven M. Glazer (District 7), and several local leaders.
In addition, Hindu American school children from across the state spoke out
about the impact of inaccurate and culturally illiterate content on their
lives. Academics such as Barbara A. McGraw of St. Mary’s
For Hindu American youth, the frameworks adoption was about ensuring that their
identities wouldn’t be minimized or presented in a way that adversely reflected
on them. Some pushed back against the faculty’s suggestion that Hindu history
was patriarchal, and expressed that their lived experiences were being ignored.
“Having studied the Vedas, I proudly wear my sacred thread as a symbol of my
earnest study and scholarship, as did my mother and foremothers before her,â€
said 12-year-old Vaidehi Dandekar, a 7th grade student from El Cerrito, CA. “As
a young woman, I am proud that my enthusiasm and achievement in studying the
Vedas is simply reflective of the long tradition of scholarship and oral
storytelling by women....and men.....in India’s rich history. The accurate
portrayal therefore in our classroom, of women in
While HAF and other groups believe progress has been made, concerns remain
about the way in which the edits were accepted.
“Our concerns remain with how many of these edits were accepted, particularly
in the commission’s apparent privileging of one group of scholars over the
views of many others,†said Murali Balaji, HAF’s Director of Education and
Curriculum Reform. He noted that the commission had previously ignored a
virtually identical set of proposed edits by the same group when it was
submitted by one individual scholar, but then accepted it after the submission
was rebranded as the “South Asia faculty group.â€
“I think we all support free and vigorous academic discourse and diverse views
on how religions and cultures evolved,†Balaji said. “But giving esteem to one
group over the views of many other distinguished academics is troubling.
Moreover, academic battles shouldn’t necessarily be fought in a 6th and 7th
grade curriculum document. Such battles can impede upon teachers’ ability to
provide accurate and culturally competent instruction to their students, which
in turn will adversely impact both Hindu and non-Hindu
The IQC will publish its revised set of recommendations two weeks before the May
11 State Board of Education hearing. HAF will continue to work with both
community members and educators, along with various officials, to ensure that
the Board adopts a document that is inclusive of Hindus and a better resource
for teachers across the state.