Today’s Headlines: A backlash over ethnic studies

Opponents of ethnic studies in Orange County say such coursework sows divisions, but experts say it’s necessary for overcoming them.

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A Backlash Over Ethnic Studies

California’s ethnic studies model curriculum — which is intended to help educators develop classes that guide students through the histories, struggles and contributions of Asian, Black, Latino and Native American communities, among other groups — was unanimously approved in March by the state Board of Education after nearly two years of discussions, protests and rewrites.

Now, it is being put to an early test in Orange County, where some opponents of the curriculum are riling up parents in the Los Alamitos Unified School District against elective coursework and materials they say promote divisive, anti-white rhetoric.

Los Alamitos is not the only school district grappling with how to develop ethnic study courses. But its position within a county that is confronting anti-Asian hate, white nationalism and a seismic political shift has made the controversy over the curriculum a case study for more conservative parts of the state.

The Power of Positive Messaging

Would you like to visit with family and friends outdoors without worrying about getting COVID-19 or wearing a mask? Or safely attend crowded concerts and sporting events, watch a movie inside a real theater and take a high-intensity exercise class while wearing one?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said those activities and more are possible for those who are vaccinated. The new message, emphasizing what people can do rather than what they can’t, is part of an effort to incentivize those who haven’t yet rolled up their sleeves to change their minds and get their shots.

More than 54% of all adults in the U.S. have now received at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 37% are fully vaccinated, according to the latest figures from the CDC. But there’s still a long way to go to achieve herd immunity. And vaccination rates have slowed in recent weeks.

More Top Coronavirus Headlines

— Los Angeles County could soon be headed to the yellow tier, the most lenient of California’s COVID-19 reopening system. The county, once considered the center of the state’s epidemic, would have to maintain its numbers until next week to advance.

— It’s never been easier to get a COVID-19 vaccine in California, officials say, with Los Angeles County and many other counties now offering vaccines at some sites without requiring an appointment.

For more, sign up for Coronavirus Today, a special edition of The Times’ Health and Science newsletter.

The Man With a ‘Families Plan’

President Biden is proposing a $1.8-trillion, 10-year plan to subsidize American families’ education, child care, health insurance and job leave costs.

The “American Families Plan,” which Biden will describe in a prime-time address to a joint session of Congress today, would subsidize two years of preschool and two years of community college for low- and middle-income families. It would also extend a number of tax credits and benefits to working families, while raising taxes on the wealthy to cover the costs.

It’s intended to be an investment in workers that would complement Biden’s earlier call for infrastructure spending and much more, to rebuild an economy hobbled by pandemic and economic inequality.

The latest package would be paid for in part by turning back some Trump-era tax cuts for wealthy individuals, much like Biden’s call for higher corporate taxes to finance the infrastructure plans. Both packages face GOP opposition, for both their costs and the proposed tax increases, but Republicans are especially likely to dismiss this new plan as a Democratic policy wish list.

Meanwhile, congressional Democrats unveiled their own far-reaching — and costly — plan for aid to American families, including a guaranteed 12 weeks of family leave for most American workers and permanent extension of help to low- and middle-income families with children.

Corporate Charity or Something Else?

Facebook, Google and Blue Shield of California are among a group of companies that contributed a staggering $226 million to government causes on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s behalf last year, according to state records reviewed by The Times.

These “behested payments” spiked in 2020 to unprecedented levels that are raising alarms about the influence large corporations are amassing in Sacramento.

Under California law, a donation is considered a behested payment when an elected official or someone acting on their behalf asks an organization to donate money or services, such as supplying free air time to run public health ads. There’s no limit on such donations, and millions of dollars flowed in to prop up public services during the pandemic and fund Newsom’s favored programs.

The corporations say they were simply trying to help the state in a time of need. But critics fear the donations could allow corporations to hold more sway and create the appearance of a pay-to-play system.

More Politics

— Although congressional negotiators remain optimistic about reaching agreement on a police reform bill in the coming weeks, many of the same issues that divided Democrats and Republicans last summer when they first tried to pass policing reform after George Floyd’s murder remain as sticking points.

— Will the California recall of 2021 be wild or mild? Here’s your guide.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

A year ago today, we told you about a former fallout shelter that became a Santa Ynez Valley high school’s photo lab and projection room. Just a few years earlier, there was the Victorville gold mine that became a fallout shelter — for a while, anyway.

The Times reported in 1968: “For months, more than 300 Victorville residents have taken turns underground digging out one of the world’s most unusual fallout shelters.

“It is located in the abandoned Sidewinder Gold Mine, whose entrance is 4,200 feet up the west face of mile-high Sidewinder Mountain. ...Townspeople have stocked 1,095 feet of abandoned shafts with enough water, food, uncontaminated clothing, sanitation, medical and other supplies to take care of 1,100 men, women and children for three weeks.”

That enthusiasm didn’t last. In 1973, The Times reported that “while not officially abandoned, the shelter lies vandalized, looted and largely forgotten.”

April 29, 1968: William C. Melton, Victorville’s civil defense coordinator, left, with aide Phil Mull in the background, takes a phone call in the fallout shelter command post located 185 feet below surface level in the former Sidewinder Gold Mine.

(John Malmin / Los Angeles Times)

CALIFORNIA

— After a series of five drive-by shootings that killed two people in Los Angeles early Tuesday, the suspected gunman — who led police on a three-hour pursuit — died in a shootout with officers on an Orange County freeway, authorities said.

— Paul Flores moved to L.A. after Kristin Smart vanished. What appeared on the surface to be a mundane life was in fact one marked by troubling encounters with police.

— Los Angeles police officials want nearly $67 million more in funding and about 50 additional officers to comply with recommendations for improving the department’s response to protests.

— California is primed for another severe fire season, but just how bad is anybody’s guess.

NATION-WORLD

— Today the Supreme Court is hearing its most important case in decades on the 1st Amendment rights of students. It’s a rare case whose outcome could affect every public school in the U.S.

— The town of Aguililla, situated deep in one of Mexico’s most lawless regions, made news this month when eight headless bodies were dumped there. Three weeks later, it is at war, with cartels having taken over.

— China, the world’s biggest coal user, said that the polluting fossil fuel will play a less-dominant role in its energy mix and that, despite plans to build new coal-fired power plants, the country won’t use it on a wide scale. The comments follow last week’s climate summit.

— “We’re cannon fodder, that’s all.” As India’s healthcare system collapses under the weight of its COVID-19 crisis, its 36,000 postgraduate medical students — the bulwark of its pandemic response — are overworked, underpaid and feeling betrayed.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

— Netflix wants to help you sleep. Why wellness is the next front in the streaming wars.

— Billie Eilish will release a new album called “Happier Than Ever” on July 30. The follow-up to her 2019 Grammy-sweeping debut will reflect the long period of isolation and time away from touring.

— Marianne Faithfull and Courtney Love are two of rock music’s great survivors. Here’s what they have to say about romantic poetry, cheating death and the joys of sober sex.

— As Scott Rudin steps back from Hollywood, will there be long-term consequences? The industry’s reaction has been muted.

BUSINESS

— After striking a deal to lease space at the Port of Los Angeles and then scrapping that plan — twice — SpaceX has a new deal: to use a waterfront facility at the Port of Long Beach for the recovery of its rocket boosters.

— Lyft has agreed to sell its self-driving division to a subsidiary of Toyota, joining Uber in stepping back from the costly driverless vehicle research once thought to be on the verge of revolutionizing the industry.

SPORTS

— Former USC Song Girls coach Lori Nelson accused the university of discrimination, harassment and retaliation in an October resignation letter submitted amid a Title IX investigation into allegations of toxic behavior within the program. (This article is a subscriber exclusive.)

— The Dodgers lost again to the Cincinnati Reds, this time 6 to 5. Meanwhile, they have almost two months to figure out how to neutralize the San Diego Padres’ one glaring advantage.

OPINION

— There is no absolute right to refuse vaccination, and Congress needs to update the law so vaccine refusers can’t endanger the rest of us, The Times’ editorial board writes.

— One silver lining of the pandemic, the editorial board writes, is that it’s forced government bodies to allow online access to public meetings. New legislation would make that access permanent, though it doesn’t go far enough, the board says.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

— A New York Post reporter has resigned over what she called “an incorrect story I was ordered to write.” The article claimed that copies of Vice President Kamala Harris’ children’s book were given to migrant children. (Axios)

— Fireflies and the costs of ecotourism in Appalachia. (Atlas Obscura)

ONLY IN L.A.

Many a neighborhood in Los Angeles was shaped by “restrictive covenants” — language written into deeds to keep a piece of property from being bought by or sold to non-Caucasians. Breaking down those covenants took years of persistence, courage, voting and lawsuits. It also involved a trio of prominent Black residents of a neighborhood called Sugar Hill: Oscar-winning actress Hattie McDaniel, actress Louise Beavers and blues singer Ethel Waters.

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