California district's ethnic studies unit reframes 9/11 as catalyst for Islamophobia

In North Monterey Unified School District, the required ethnic studies course characterizes the 9/11 attacks as an incident that made pre-existing anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiments more visible and as a catalyst for state-endorsed Islamophobia. The curriculum draws on a "Muslim Studies" framework associated with the Council on American-Islamic Relations and blends it with Marxist concepts, linking "whiteness" to settler colonialism and employing the "Wheel of Power/Privilege" model.

Students are urged to pursue "transformational change" and "critical hope" toward a neo-Marxist vision. Comparable content is found in Minneapolis Public Schools, where critical race theory and Marxist economic theory are used to explain exploitation, slavery, genocide, and white supremacy as products of capitalism. The article notes that such curricula are part of a broader push by groups like the New York City Democratic Socialists of America to embed democratic-socialist frameworks in public education, with similar standards appearing in New Mexico's high-school history guidelines.