The Equity Report #1: How did Ethnic Studies come to be?
by Telisa Nyoka King, M.A.
Let’s go back to the late sixties—after the rise of tight afros, the “Black is Beautiful” movement, the passing of the Civil and Voting Rights Acts, and the assassination of Malcolm X on February 21, 1965—yet just before the cultural duality of the seventies, when the War on Drugs collided with the era of hippy-dippy love. In 1968, a new wave of insurgency had emerged, driven by the unmet promises of earlier legislation, escalating urban unrest, and the rise of Black Power (Biondi, 2012; Pulido, 2006). In Watts, CA (1965); Cleveland, OH (1966); Chicago, IL (1966); Newark, NJ (1967); Detroit, MI (1967); Milwaukee, WI (1967); Washington, D.C. (1968); Baltimore, MD (1968); and numerous other cities, uprisings erupted in response to entrenched poverty, systemic unemployment, and pervasive police brutality (Pulido, 2006). These uprisings also raised questions about the limitations of federal policy and philanthropy in addressing community needs, planting seeds for future approaches to equity-based funding and community-driven research. On April 4, 1968, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. marked a pivotal turning point, sparking riots across the nation and galvanizing Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act), which prohibited housing discrimination.
So, how did we move from civil rights acts to the cultural duality of the seventies so quickly? Why did a Civil Rights Movement emerge just after the passing of major civil rights legislation? By 1968, many recognized that legal equality did not translate into social or economic equity. The struggle evolved—from dismantling segregation to confronting deeper systems of poverty, educational inequity, policing, and power (Rojas, 2007; Biondi, 2012). This national awakening among the general public was mirrored on college campuses across the United States. Between 1968 and 1969, San Francisco State College’s Black Student Union (BSU) and the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) ignited a nationwide wave of student activism (Biondi, 2012). The BSU-led Student Strike remains the longest in U.S. history, lasting one hundred and thirty-six days—from November 6, 1968 to March 21, 1969. Strategically, “the BSU created the TWLF partially out of principle and partially because they knew that in the struggle that was going to unfold, they would need alliances” (Wallace, 2018). This strike was so impactful that the campus’s elevators are still locked in 2025, as a remnant of the occupation. San Francisco State students led the nation in establishing the first College of Ethnic Studies, a distinction that endures as it remains the only independent college of its kind in the United States. That achievement helped lay a foundation for future research strategy and evaluation frameworks that center racial justice.
In succession, campuses across the country mounted similar campaigns demanding curriculum reform, faculty diversity, and institutional recognition of communities of color (Rojas, 2007; Biondi, 2012). In California, UC Berkeley launched a strike in January 1969 for a Third World College, which led to the formation of individual Ethnic Studies departments. That same year, Black students and community activists at UCLA pressured the university to establish the Center for Afro-American Studies, which later evolved into a full Department of African American Studies. In the Midwest, the Afro-American Action Committee (AAAC) at the University of Minnesota demanded—and secured—the creation of an Afro-American Studies Department in 1969 as well. On the East Coast, Cornell University established the Africana Studies and Research Center that same year, the first of its kind at an Ivy League institution. Also in New York, the Black and Puerto Rican Student Community (BPRSC) of the City College of New York occupied campus buildings to demand open admissions and Ethnic Studies programs, resulting in the creation of the Black Studies Department. By 1970, the movement had spread to the Pacific Northwest, where the University of Washington established the School of Ethnic Studies—later renamed the Department of American Ethnic Studies—while San José State University (formerly San José State College) founded both African American Studies and Mexican American Studies departments in the same year (Rojas, 2007). These developments influenced how future grant proposal development would reflect cultural competence and institutional accountability.
In the Fall of 1969, San Francisco State College established the College of Ethnic Studies, comprising four departments: Black Studies, La Raza Studies, American Indian Studies, and Asian American Studies. The college’s founding ethos was shaped by student-activist, faculty-scholar, and community alliances emphasizing autonomy in hiring, curriculum control, and community-based research (College of Ethnic Studies, n.d.-b; College of Ethnic Studies – University Development at SF State, n.d.). Over the decades, the College of Ethnic Studies has provided hundreds of courses serving thousands of undergraduate and graduate students. Today, in the Fall of 2025, the college houses five major departments: Africana Studies (formerly Black Studies), Latina/Latino Studies (formerly La Raza Studies), American Indian Studies, Asian American Studies, and Race and Resistance Studies. CoES also has two MA programs (Ethnic Studies and Asian American Studies), one Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas program, one Ethnic Studies post-baccalaureate and certificate program, and the following minors: Critical Oceania and Pacific Islander Studies, Critical Mixed Race Studies, and Queer Ethnic Studies (College of Ethnic Studies, n.d.-a). These academic structures have also informed broader movements in nonprofit program development, especially for institutions working alongside BIPOC-led organizations.
What makes Ethnic Studies distinct from other fields of study is that it was founded on demands and resistance (Rojas, 2007; Biondi, 2012). The other six SFSU colleges were established without protest or struggle and evolved more naturally. The Lam Family College of Business, the Graduate College of Education, the College of Health and Social Sciences, the College of Liberal and Creative Arts, the College of Science and Engineering, and the College of Professional and Global Education did not have to fight to exist. Unfortunately, that struggle still persists, as the College of Ethnic Studies has faced budgetary pressures and institutional challenges throughout its lifespan. Documented actions defending CoES at SFSU include local rallies and campus protests during statewide budget crises in 2009, 2011 and the highly visible 2016 hunger strike. A ten-day student hunger strike led by Hassani Bell (RIP), Julia Retzlaff, Sachiel Rosen, and Ahkeel Mestayer—self-identifying as the Third World Liberation Front 2016—demanded $8 million in annual Ethnic Studies funding to enable full faculty staffing, consistent course offerings, and robust student services. The strike ended in an agreement with SFSU, adding $482,806 to CoES’s $5 million budget (The Fight for Ethnic Studies Continues, 2018). These negotiations echo broader practices in federal and foundation grant support, where funding advocacy often intersects with racial justice goals.
Ethnic Studies remains essential to the community-based and nonprofit sectors that drive social change in the United States. Like grassroots organizations built by the people and for the people, Ethnic Studies shares the same DNA of collective empowerment and self-determination. Born from demands for autonomy and self-governance, it continues to model a community-engaged approach to research and education—one that values justice, equity, and authentic representation (College of Ethnic Studies, n.d.-c). This foundation influences applied fields like grant consulting for nonprofits, culturally responsive grantwriting, and data storytelling and reporting, all of which require grounding in lived experience and cultural knowledge. Its history provides a direct lineage from activism (the 1968 strike) to institutional transformation (the 1969 founding) to enduring influence today. More than a discipline, Ethnic Studies is a living framework—replicable, cyclical, and ever-responsive to the needs of the people it serves. Its legacy reminds us that the struggle for equity is both historical and ongoing, and its message endures across generations: ¡Sí, se puede!
References
Biondi, M. (2012). The Black revolution on campus. University of California Press.
College of Ethnic Studies. (n.d.-a). Departments. San Francisco State University. Retrieved October 25, 2025, from https://ethnicstudies.sfsu.edu/departments
College of Ethnic Studies. (n.d.-b). Our history. San Francisco State University. Retrieved October 25, 2025, from https://ethnicstudies.sfsu.edu/history
College of Ethnic Studies. (n.d.-c). Shared principles. San Francisco State University. Retrieved October 25, 2025, from https://ethnicstudies.sfsu.edu/shared-principles
College of Ethnic Studies (CoES) – University Development at SF State. (n.d.). San Francisco State University. Retrieved October 25, 2025, from https://develop.sfsu.edu/college-ethnic-studies
Ethnic Studies: Born in the Bay Area from history’s biggest student strike. (2020, July 30). KQED. Retrieved October 25, 2025, from https://www.kqed.org/news/11830384/how-the-longest-student-strike-in-u-s-history-created-ethnic-studies
The Fight for Ethnic Studies continues. (2018). Golden Gate Xpress. Retrieved October 25, 2025, from https://goldengatexpress.org/89909/latest/the-fight-for-ethnic-studies-continues/
Pulido, L. (2006). Black, brown, yellow, and left: Radical activism in Los Angeles. University of California Press.
Rojas, F. (2007). From Black Power to Black Studies: How a radical social movement became an academic discipline. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Wallace, A. (2018, December 13). 1968: The strike at San Francisco State. Socialist Worker.https://socialistworker.org/2018/12/13/1968-the-strike-at-san-francisco-state