What happens in Arizona doesn't stay in Arizona.
As Tea Party state education chief John Huppenthal retreats into his office after an embarrassing national media tour on Arizona's extremist Ethnic Studies crackdown, and Tucson Unified School District administrators continue their slide into a public relations disaster over banishing Mexican American Studies curricula and books, a remarkably diverse array of librarians, educators, writers, civil rights activists and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is mounting a series of national actions to call attention to educational and civil rights violations and to support local Tucson efforts.
On January 24th, the American Library Association issued a condemnation of Arizona's "suppression of open inquiry and free expression caused by closure of ethnic and cultural studies programs on the basis of partisan or doctrinal disapproval," and the Tucson school district's "restriction of access to educational materials associated with ethnic and cultural studies programs." The national library association, with active chapters across the country, also called on the state to support a new bill to repeal the Ethnic Studies ban.
As a follow up to their extraordinary request to the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and the Department of Education this week for a federal investigation of civil rights violations by the state of Arizona, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is urging constituents to change their profile picture on Facebook and Twitter to a special logo -- "You Can't Ban Books, You Can't Ban History" -- on Thursday, January 26, 2012.
On February 1st, teachers and schools around the country have been encouraged by Rethinking Schools, whose nationally acclaimed textbook Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years was confiscated and banished from Tucson schools, to follow the suggestion of former Tucson Mexican American Studies literature teacher Curtis Acosta for a "national day of solidarity where teachers would teach our curriculum all over the nation."
Along with special forums planned across the country, from California to New York, a network of educators in Georgia is sponsoring a "Teach-in" in Atlanta on Saturday, Feb. 4th.
The event is framed as a "Teach-in," where we can inform the community about what's happening, work together to fight censorship and racism in schools, and make plans for future social justice activism. Groups will include:
(1) curricular action, in which participants create lesson plans and activities for PK-12 students on issues of censorship, critical pedagogy, and/or Mexican American history;
(2) censored books dialogue, in which participants learn about the books that were banned and the theories contained within them; and
(3) legislative overview, in which participants discuss legal implications of the ban in Arizona and around the country.
Finally, the group will come back together to plan action steps that can be taken in higher education, PK-12 schools, and communities in Georgia and around the country.
Several national petitions are also being circulating, including a change.org petition by former Mexican American Studies teacher Norma Gonzales, who has called on the Tucson school district to "immediately remove these books from their 'district storage facility' and make them available in each school's library. Knowledge cannot be boxed off and carried away from students who want to learn!"
In a stunning revelation last week, a review of the TUSD library catalog found that there are less than 2 or 3 copies of some of the banished texts in libraries serving more than 60,000 students.
Presente.org, the national Latino and human rights organization, is also circulating a petition to "tell Superintendent Pedicone and the school board to reverse the ban and reinstate the Mexican American Studies program."
In one of the most creative actions to take on Arizona's removal of books and texts, Texas author and literary organizer extraordinaire Tony Diaz is assembling a caravan of renowned authors and librotraficantes to deliver banished books to Arizona students in March.
Here's Diaz's kick-off video:
Pamela Powers Hannley: 'Stunning' Redistricting Vote May Upset Arizona's Republican Edge
http://justiceandthecommongood.blogspot.com/2012/01/abandon-critical-thought-ye-who-enter.html
While there is absolutely truth to the above stated facts, it was not the end-all of the story. Yes, in America we have oppressed people; but in the end the repression has always been reversed. To focus solely on the negative with young people does them a great disservice. The story is much richer, much fuller, than what the Tucson district was teaching. The goal of education should be to pull us closer together, not move us further apart. The district was teaching "separateness," which as an Arizona taxpayer I am totally opposed to. There is enough discord in this state - one need only look at the recent fiasco with our governor and the president. We sure don't need more of it.
Mr. Acero should be working to revamp the MAS program he created, minus La Raza (The Race) and Mecha (replacing 8 U.S. States with a totally Hispanic new country called Aztlan) dogma.
If you have any reputable links to support your claim that: "some right wing extremists from Mesa coming down to Tucson, and telling us what to teach our own children" then please provide them.
This started with complaints from Tucson parents who have students in the TUSD schools (not from Mesa). By law, the Superintendent is required to investigate those complaints. The complaints are certainly valid.
The court record from the court hearing is available here: http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/documents/doc/122711_tusd_mas_doc/
"71. According to the MAS website, the program’s “mission” is to “advance the interests of Raza populations within TUSD [the District].”
That's not an appropriate mission for any public school program. The mission of every public school program should be the academic success and achievement of students. Some TUSD students are Caucasian; would you support a TUSD school website (taxpayer-funded) with the stated mission: 'to advance the interests of White populations in the district'?
MAS Director Arce and former Director Romero admitted the MAS pedagogy includes their "deliberate attempt to ‘racismize’ this process by asking our students to insert the race and racism variables to this Freirean exercise"
There are examples of materials throughout that curriculum that are not appropriate for K-12 students, according to the curriculum expert:
"102. Dr. Stotsky opined that the materials presented in the hearing exhibits were not
academically beneficial because they did not attempt to develop critical thinking.
103. Dr. Stotsky testified that, to her knowledge, critical race theory is not used in the
K -12 grade level classes.
104. Dr. Stotsky reviewed Exhibit 5 and testified that she has never seen “barrio
pedagogy” used in the K- 12 grade level...."
108. With respect to Freire’s philosophy that is applied in the MAS program, Dr.
Stotsky explained that Freire dealt with illiterate adults in Brazil and did not focus on K-
12. She is unaware of any academic or empirical effectiveness of any program or
curriculum that has used Freire’s pedagogical approach to K-12 education.
109. Dr. Stotsky testified what was lacking in the MAS program was a balanced
approach, meaning one that offers more than one perspective or view (i.e., that it was
not biased). Dr. Stotsky opined that the MAS materials she reviewed identified Latinos
identified as the oppressed and “Whites” as the oppressor, and were designed to
arouse emotion in the Latinos.
110. Dr. Stotsky testified that based on her review of the materials, she believes at
least some MAS classes violate A.R.S. § 15-112 by promoting racial resentment, and
advocating ethnic solidarity instead of treating students as individuals...."
The Mexican military continues to commit serious abuses in public security operations, yet those responsible are virtually never held accountable. Journalists, human rights defenders, and migrants are increasingly the targets of attacks by criminal groups and members of security forces, yet Mexico has failed to provide these vulnerable groups with protection or adequately investigate the crimes against them.
VOTE!!!VOTE!!!
For the sake of our future, V O T E !!!!
Tucson has suspended it's MAS program until it is revamped to be in compliance with the law. No child is currently enrolled in Mexican American Studies classes, in that ONE school district out of the entire State, and no MAS classes are being taught. Obviously, the text books need to be safeguarded. Many will be used again, when the new MAS program begins. Calling this book banning is ridiculous.
Taking a position for the of banning books in the arc of history will always place you on the wrong side of history.
Tucson did not suspend this program, let's be clear. Politicians from Phoenix suspended this Tucson program.