Returning to the classroom after the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, students and teachers will be greeted by a tremendous amount of confusion and potentially traumatizing fallout from last week's extraordinary ban on books in the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD), as part of the suspension of the nationally acclaimed Ethnic Studies/Mexican American Studies program.
Nowhere has that confusion been greater than at Tucson High School, a historic battleground in the city's long-time struggle to end discrimination and segregationist practices. Tucson's largest school district, in fact, with over 60 percent of its students from Mexican American families, remains under an embarrassing federal desegregation order.
At this same time of the ban on Mexican American Studies, Arizona legislators are now considering a bill to allow the teaching of the Bible in public school classrooms.
With nearly two decades of teaching experience, Tucson High School teacher Curtis Acosta was praised on CNN for his critical role in bringing together students in the aftermath of the Giffords shooting in Tucson. In a similar fashion, Acosta has joined other teachers and the community in numerous attempts to bring together Tucson's faltering school administrators and board members in community forums and meetings. Featured in the acclaimed film documentary, Precious Knowledge, Acosta has been forced to defend wild accusations by the troublingly erratic TUSD school board president Mark Stegemen last summer that his use of literature and hand clapping, in the tradition of celebrated United Farm Work leader and native Arizona Cesar Chavez, was "cult-like."
As I reported in the past, in an audit commissioned by Arizona's state superintendent of public instruction, the MAS program was not only in full compliance with Arizona laws, but students in the MAS high school program "graduate in the very least at a rate of 5 percent more than their counterparts in 2005, and at the most, a rate of 11 percent more in 2010." Scholars and educators from across the country have hailed Tucson's MAS program as "the nation's most innovative and successful academic and instructional program in Ethnic Studies at the secondary school level.
Here's an interview with Acosta on the crisis in Tucson's schools.
Jeff Biggers: What do MAS courses do you teach and how long have you been teaching?
Curtis Acosta: I designed the curriculum and pedagogy for both Latino Literature at the junior and senior levels at Tucson High Magnet School. I have taught both courses since their inception at our school. My first opportunity was to teach and design the junior class starting in 2003-04, followed closely by the senior level class which began in 2005-06. The senior component at Tucson High was granted due to the work of our students of the graduating class of 2006 who desperately wanted to continue the rigorous study in our classes because it reflected their lives and cultura, as well as serving as a window to the experiences of others. They embraced the human elements of the class we use as a foundation to academic study and petitioned the site based decision-making committee, as well as a presentation focusing on the transformation that our classes had in their lives, their self-esteem, and scholarly goals.
This is my seventeenth year teaching for TUSD, all but two of those years at Tucson High. My colleagues and I have all been dedicated to our students in TUSD for years through innovation and hard work. We have quantitative academic results and brilliant graduates who are outstanding young people dedicated to their community. That is why the lack of support from our own district has been so frustrating and tragic. We have worked tirelessly for the students and families in the district for decades and the same cannot be said by the politicians and officials that ended our program on January 10th.
JB: How did TUSD administrators prepare you in advance for any changes in your courses?
CA: We received absolutely no practical preparation for how our classes would be altered. My local site administrator at THS spoke to all our classes before the Governing Board meeting, but he had little insight pertaining to the Board's intentions. He wanted to communicate to the students that changes may happen and walked them through a few possibilities. However, he really could not provide any details since he said he was not sure which direction the Board would choose to proceed.
JB: How did the school present the changes to the students, and assist in the transition?
CA: As of today, the day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, my students have yet to hear from their administration. My two MAS colleagues and I have had one 90-minute meeting last Wednesday the 11th, in which we were told that TUSD expects immediate changes. At that meeting, no one was certain what those changes included and the guidelines were non-existent for how to be sure we are in compliance with the law. What was clear is that our curriculum and pedagogy must be entirely overhauled. Which means the alterations are not only what we teach, but how we teach. No further support has been given to this point, and I believe my site administrators are equally confused about the vagueness of the direction and policy, which is why we have received little direction.
JB: Explain how you use The Tempest and why administrators objected?
CA: I am glad you asked this question since it gives me a chance to clear up many of the nuances that did not go viral. First and foremost, I believe our local site administrators at THS had my colleagues and my best interests at heart during our discussion of curriculum. This is a situation that was painful for everyone in our room at THS -- administrators, department chairs, and teachers. This is all due to the direction of the Governing Board and the decision to comply with a bad law. It was clear that TUSD administrators gave little practical guidance to our site administrators. Thus, we were all trying to figure this out together.
I recorded the meeting with permission of all in the room, and listened to it again last night. What is very clear is that The Tempest is problematic for our administrators due to the content of the play and the pedagogical choices I have made. In other words, Shakespeare wrote a play that is clearly about colonization of "the new world" and there are strong themes of race, colonization, oppression, class and power that permeate the play, along with themes of love and redemption. We study this work by Shakespeare using the work of renowned historian Ronald Takaki and the chapter "The Tempest in the Wilderness" from his a book A Different Mirror where he uses the play to explore the early English settlements on this continent and English imperialism. From there, we immerse ourselves in the play and discuss the beauty of the language, Shakespeare's multiple perspectives on colonization, and the brilliant and courageous attention he gives to such important issues.
However, TUSD is basing our compliance upon their appeal and Mr. Kowall's ruling. Thus, I believe our administrators advised me properly when they said to avoid texts, units, or lessons with race and oppression as a central focus. If we are asked to follow a bad law than absurdities such as advising I stay away from teaching The Tempest not only seems prudent, but intelligent. We also have not received confirmation that the ideas, dialogue, and class work of our students will be protected. In clearer words, if I avoid discussing such themes in class, yet the students see the themes and decide to write, discuss or ask questions in class, we may also be found to be in violation. The stakes are far too high since a violation of the law could cost the district millions, our employment, and personal penalties from the state for breaking the law.
At the end of the meeting it became clear to all of us that I need to avoid such literature and it was directly stated. Due to the madness of this situation and our fragile positions as instructors who will be frequently observed for compliance, and be asked to produce examples of student work as proof of our compliance, I cannot disagree with their advice. Now we are in the position of having to rule out The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Great Gatsby, etc. for the exact same reasons.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wiAJwmqH_fU#!
This is a course promoting an ideology, and not an honest look at a culture which has much more to offer our community than hate and division. Veen lo, por lo que es, no por lo que te dicen.
Another quote from "Che" “The Negro is indolent and spends his money on frivolities and booze, whereas the European is forward-looking, organized and intelligent.”
Disgusting, isn't it?
Learning about one's ancestry is on thing, but presenting a course of study which excludes the many positive things that all of our cultures (native tribes included, which are often overlooked by the argument of who this land belongs to, which is a ridiculously divisive way at looking at our differences)
have accomplished. Here in the Southwestern U.S., most of us are aware of our history which includes knowledge of the native nations as well as the Spanish, Mexican, and the U.S.A.'s claim to this land, without harboring ill will to anyone in our community. In fact, many of us consider ourselves
fellow human beings rather than another label which some us as a tool to divide us.
Here is a snapshot of the curriculum, for you to decide for yourself. When are we going to see one another as a fellow human being? If not soon, our decendants will continue be divided against one another.
http://www.tu4sd.com/p/faqs-ethnic-studies_16.html
Arizona, you didn't need any more black marks. This law is hateful, wrong, and will come back to haunt you.
The rigidity of some people's political views (to the left, or middle, as well as right), which allow passage of discriminatory laws, allow discriminatory actions, or even prejudicial interpretation of laws, not only limits them, can but lead them to be responsible for the harm of others, who by their minority, or lack of political, or economic power are demeaned and oppressed. If any doubt this, please review 20th century German history, or 18th through 20th century American history. Our "greatness" has come at a terrible price.
"Wherever they burn books, in the end, will also burn human beings." - Christian Johan Heinrich Heine, 18th century poet and prophet
That 'audit' was incomplete because those running the MAS program provided only a tiny subset of course materials. Most materials were only supplied to the State Superintendent under subpoena in the discovery process. What were the MAS teachers hiding? From the court record under Findings of Fact:
Nine units out of 180 isn't even 20%. It isn't sufficient for any formal, professional review. Three of the nine they had are described as containing "an overabundance of controversial commentary inclusive of political tones of personal activism and bias.”
As for claims regarding higher achievement:(emphasis added)
So what have we learned today, boys and girls? We have learned that a certain subgroup of the white population would like everyone in America to forget that they got where they are today on the backs of red, brown, and black people. How best to make us forget? Refuse to teach our children our real history on OUR tax dollar.
And liberals think homeschooling is only the purview of conservative Christians. Any liberal parent who responds to this issue by handwringing and deciding that oh well, guess *their* kids won't learn anything about minorities in the U.S. since the public school's no longer teaching it, deserves what they get. Too bad their kids will be caught in the crossfire--and they don't even have to homeschool full-time to learn about such topics. THIS liberal DOES homeschool, though, and there isn't a law that can be written that would keep me from letting my daughter read a Sherman Alexie or a Howard Zinn. Til conservatives call homeschooling Marxist and try to ban *that*, of course.
" A. A school district...shall not include in its program of instruction any
courses or classes that include any of the following:
1. Promote the overthrow of the United States government.
2. Promote resentment toward a race or class of people.
3. Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group.
4. Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as
individuals."
There is a specific provision in that law that historical racial oppression of any group is allowed to be taught. Mr. Acora's school district, not the State of Arizona, has determined that he should not teach anything about race and oppression. This is a wise decision, since he has done so in a blatantly racist manner with the prior MAS program. However, it is NOT a requirement of the Arizona law.
9. The Department [State Dept of Ed] maintained that although historical oppression may be taught, it
may not be taught in such a manner as to promote racial resentment or advocate ethnic
solidarity. The District [TUSD] argued that historical oppression can be taught regardless of
whether it promotes racial resentment or advocates ethnic solidarity. See A.R.S. § 15-
112(F). (emphasis added)
There's no doubt that the District (TUSD) was teaching it in a way to promote resentment. The Department had, over the years, received complaints from members of the Tucson community regarding the manner in which educational instruction was being conducted in the MAS program (there were NO complaints regarding the other 3 ethnic studies programs at TUSD). The simple fact is that the Department is required by statute to consider and investigate complaints relating to public schools. (See A.R.S. § 15-231.01.)
The complaints were valid and justified. Here's one that made it into the court record:
183. Parent Stevenson was excited that her daughter was planning to enroll in a Raza
studies class because she thought it would give her daughter a different perspective of
the different cultures in Arizona. Parent Stevenson expressed her support for ethnic
studies programs in the District.
184. Parent Stevenson testified that her daughter reported to her that Mr. Gonzalez’s
government class was being conducted in an extremely biased manner. The daughter
told her that the class presented “how the Anglo-Saxons had treated other people badly,
particularly Chicano people.” Parent Stevenson, Day 2 (a.m.) at 152:2-152:4. Her
daughter (who is Caucasian) reported to her that “[b]y the end of the class, the other
students, most of the other students would not talk to her at all, except the students who
were not of Hispanic background, Mexican background.”
That's what they were doing with state and local tax dollars. Sheesh.
So the racialization of savagery is the outcome of a complex historical process that involved the encounter of two different cultures societies , and economic and political systems - wherein one is debased from the perspective of the other whose identity came to be built upon the debasement . Important in this process is the uneven economic and military power between the two collectivities , as this factor determines whose perspective shall become dominant and shall persist among the two perspectives that naturally go with the two races . The racialization of savagery constitutes and is in turn constituted by various cultural forms as exemplified by The Tempest
The major points of this lesson included: 1.) American Colonists debased the Native Americans. 2.) The identity of American Colonists was built upon the debasement of Native Americans.
A rather odd way to study Shakespeare and Mexican American literature.
From Wikipedia:
"Beginning in about 1950, with the publication of Psychology of Colonization by Octave Mannoni, The Tempest was viewed more and more through the lens of postcolonial theory—exemplified in adaptations like Aimé Césaire's Une Tempête set in Haiti—and there is even a scholarly journal on post-colonial criticism named after Caliban."
So, perhaps odd, but not unusual, just as it's not unusual for any piece of literature to be considered not just in the context of itself but in its broader relation to other things and the human condition in general.
Of course,
"1.) American Colonists debased the Native Americans.
2.) The identity of American Colonists was built upon the debasement of Native Americans."
leaves out the the whole demonization of Africans so we don't feel bad about treating them as farm animals, but you'd be hard pressed to find any Europeans who came over here solely to be of benefit to the natives.
I will admit there's a certain irony in complaints about "Yanqui" imperialism and repression being voiced in the language of the Conquistadors, however.
The identity of American Colonists was built on MANY things, including freedom of religion, escape from poverty and oppression, struggle for survival, building a new country, the war for independence, etc. Debasement of the Indians was at best a minor footnote in their identity.
This version of "history" taught by the MAS program was highly one-sided, incorrect, racist, and invalid. It has no place in a public high school. As for the MAS attempts to equate the treatment of Indians with the treatment of Blacks, this is total BS.
You know, it's called a book. Crack one open. Screeds by O'Reilly, Hannity, and Coulter don't count.
So no talking about how the Romans treated the Jews and Jesus during his years as a mortal?
Or the whole Moses leading them out of Egyptian bondage thing?
Was all of this just a stealth, guerilla tactic to block that teach the Bible bill?