Tucson USD bans Shaekespeare's Tempest, Chicano Studies books

[L. Coyote]

Good news, the books are not yet burned nor is there a list of books to burn, but hey, we are talking about Arizona! Who knows what Bush's Tea Party will do next.

==============
Did you know: Even Shakespeare got banned from Tucson USD?
by DA Morales on Jan. 13, 2012 http://tucsoncitizen.com/three-sonorans/2012/01/13/did-you-know-even-shakespeare-got-banned-from-tusd-with-mas-ruling/

Big Brother Huppenthal has taken his TEA Party vows to take back Arizona… take it back a few centuries with official book bans that include Shakespeare!

As part of the state-mandated termination of its ethnic studies program, the Tucson Unified School District released an initial list of books to be banned from its schools today. According to district spokesperson Cara Rene, the books “will be cleared from all classrooms, boxed up and sent to the Textbook Depository for storage.”

....

Tucsonan Leslie Marmon Silko, winner of the “genius award” is banned, and so is Shakespeare. Thanks to Stegeman-Sugiyama-Cuevas-Hicks, who voted to not appeal this decision, Tucson even finds 16-17th century English literature by one of the greatest authors of all time, William Shakespeare, in need of being censored and removed from TUSD.

Welcome to Arizona 2012… taken back to Alabama 1960s… now back to England when the Pilgrims where starting to come over.

Next stop, the Dark Ages!

=========================
Friday, Jan 13, 2012 2:47 PM PST http://www.salon.com/2012/01/13/whos_afraid_of_the_tempest/
Who’s afraid of “The Tempest”?
Arizona's ban on ethnic studies proscribes Mexican-American history, local authors, even Shakespeare

... Other banned books include “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” by famed Brazilian educator Paolo Freire and “Occupied America: A History of Chicanos” by Rodolfo Acuña, ...

... In a school district founded by a Mexican-American in which more than 60 percent of the students come from Mexican-American backgrounds, the administration also removed every textbook dealing with Mexican-American history, including “Chicano!: The History of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement” by Arturo Rosales, which features a biography of longtime Tucson educator Salomon Baldenegro. Other books removed from the school include “500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures,” by Elizabeth Martinez and the textbook “Critical Race Theory” by scholars Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic.

[roody]

1. It is so hard to imagine this!!

[EFerrari]

3. Brave new world, indeed.

[Orrex]

11. Huxley is probably banned, too.

[wordpix]

56. my first thought, too

[Scairp]

61. Um

Shakespeare is spelled wrong in the title. Or it was when I first looked at it. I assume you copy and paste like I do so as to be accurate so who ever wrote the story, or at least the title of the story needs assistance.

[EFerrari]

81. There is no typo in the title at the link. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

2. Decades ago they were pulling books off school shelves, and the country seemed so primitive.

It was hard to believe that clearly scrambled people had gotten so much control back then.

Look how far we have come. Swear words.

Surely hope there will be a backlash to this "small governrment" wave soon. Sanity is crying out for a place in our nation.

[EFerrari]

4. That school district is under federal supervision. What is Holder waiting for, anyway.

[boppers]

7. I grew up in that district.

In kindergarten I went to the white school for my area. 1st grade, I went to the newly "integrated" school 8 blocks away from the white school (they took all the poor "white" kids and put them in the shitty schools, and took all the wealthy non-white kids into the formerly "white" schools)..... in 1978. (Yes, they've been under desegregation for over 33 years, now, and didn't *start* until the late 70's). Lots of crazy busing, weird budget shifts, and changes in programming over the years just to try to level things out (the second high school I settled at, eventually, was a fine-arts-astronomy-auto magnet high school).... so yeah, this fight has been going on for quite a while, and I was in the thick of it.

As far as Holder acting, or not acting, are you suggesting DoJ determine curricula and materials? That's what this particular battle is (on a legal level) over, and whether or not the curricula and materials academically sound.

Here's some more detail, from a Tucson virtual "newspaper" (it's staffed by journalists, but only internet published):
http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/011012_tusd_ethnic_studies/tusd-axes-ethnic-studies/
http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/061511_ethnic_studies/huppenthal-tusds-ethnic-studies-violate-law-audit-says-otherwise/
They've been running a whole series on this, with lots of documentation, available briefs, the whole "real reporting" thing.

Basically, in order to "get legal", they need to change from "Mexican studies" to "Minority Studies", and teach it in such a way that learning that your ancestors were raped and murdered by waves of European migrants isn't something you should resent.

[EFerrari]

8. Ethnic studies isn't about learning resentment.

And the students that go through that program graduate high school at a higher rate than those that don't. The fascists' own study showed the program is sound. They had to ignore that in order to kill it.

[boppers]

9. Here's how I interpreted it, as it happened, in real time, with my peers, 20 some years ago:

A bunch of kids in the 9th grade MAS got really pissed off about the spanish, french, and english (etc.) subjugations of multiple peoples of color in the US.
By the time they got to the 11th grade, they started thinking about race as an intellectual context, not an absolute. They had learned racial relativism, or, as the study materials teach, "racialism".

Between 9th, and 11th, grades, there was gradual progress through some really nasty territory. It's not fascists that are the enemy, though, it's people who want to deny the historical *concept* (now rendered absurd bullshit) of race, and/or want to enforce social beliefs about the concept (which is also absurd bullshit).

The courses in question *do* cross that gulf, but in order to cross it, they spend time on discussing the bullshit... which is where the problem is.

[boppers]

10. Oh, and it wasn't "Ethnic Studies".

It was "Mexican American Studies".

MAS.

If you came from Venezuela, Peru, Guatemala, Cuba?

You studied Mexican history.

[EFerrari]

32. Mexican American studies are ethinic studies.

And the idea isn't to teach the details of Mexican history but to help make history less monolithic. So if you are from Venezuela, Peru or Guatemala, you still are from those places, you learn something about Mexico, and you learn that the official story is confected.

[boppers]

43. Yeah, but that's part of the legal problem...

Specifically the portion of the law that says:
"3. Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic race; and"
...was designed to take out any singular individual ethnic perspective, unless it was taught in a context of multiple ethnic perspectives.

Since I've seen you around the Americas topics, and you have a Khalo avatar, I'll assume you're quite versed in quite a few perspectives ... and having grown up in Tucson, it's *really* hard to communicate what's going on to outsiders, but I'll give it a shot.

What people like my little brother believe (he's a Tucson firefighter/EMT) is that "Mexican studies" are as offensive, and dangerous, as a school in Germany teaching "Aryan studies". The fear is not about learning other perspectives, but about a dominant perspective being used, to the detriment of others.

[L. Coyote]

52. To really understand the intent of the law, look who voted for it and passed it!

They can make it look as sanitized as they want, but the impact is what matters. They just got rid of ethnic studies and banned the books, all by calling it biased. It is not biased per se.

What they fear is the TRUTH of history in the SW, that the USA stole half of Mexico! Of course that is a problem, and it is important the the dominant perspective prevail if that problem is to be kept surpressed.

[EFerrari]

60. Your little brother should consider the comparison is not to Germany teaching Aryan studies

but to the Jewish schools that the Nazis shut down so the kids couldn't learn Hebrew or Torah. That is the apt comparison here.

And MAS is taught in the context of multiple ethnic perspectives because it is taught in the context of a dominant white culture. It would be impossible to teach it from a Mexican perspective only unless you put all those kids in isolation.

[boppers]

74. Hebrew school is also an apt comparison.

MAS, like Hebrew school, often focuses on one group, one perspective.

"MAS is taught in the context of multiple ethnic perspectives" is not something all parties agree upon. It was taught in reflection to dominant white culture, which is two perspectives, so, that's all of two ethnic perspectives, but what would a Chinese immigrant get out of it? A Somali? A Chechnyan?

[EFerrari]

77. There is no question that MAS is taught in the context of dominant white culture.

It's not debatable.

And to repeat, the point is to show and to teach the kids to consider different historical narratives, not to teach them a single alternative one. A Somali and a Chechnyan could learn that.

[L. Coyote]

19. "learning that your ancestors were raped and murdered by waves of European ...

The new redneck dogma: "learning that your ancestors were raped and murdered by waves of European migrants isn't something you should resent"

Redneck Book Learnin' = Learning that the USA was built on slavery with a century of Native genocide is something students should never know about!

[boppers]

41. I'm really not joking, sadly.

---
Prohibited courses and classes; enforcement
A. A school district or charter school in this state shall not include in its Program of instruction any courses or classes that include any of the following:
1. Promote overthrowing the U.S. government;
2. Promote resentment towards a race or class of people;
3. Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic race; and
4. Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.
---

[CatholicEdHead]

64. Lots of Divide and Conquer here

No solidarity, everyone is a individual, no groupings allowed. This means we all stand alone and coming together is a bad thing.

[EFerrari]

67. Those guidelines make it unlawful to teach the Declaration of Independence.

Bunch of nazis.

[Ecumenist]

5. I've spent ALOT of time in Arizona and I'm not suprised at all.

[EFerrari]

6. Fascist freaks don't want any material on race, ethnicity or oppression.

That's all of American lit, right there.

[tclambert]

12. Have they banned "To Kill a Mockingbird" yet?

It has some non-white characters in it. What about "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?" That seditious Mark Twain put a non-white in a very prominent role. And characters talked funny.

Hey! Probably oughta ban that Darwin guy while they're at it. Kids might start thinking they descended from monkeys. Just look at the people in charge of the Tucson Unified School District--clearly not "descended" from monkeys.

[Posteritatis]

35. Those both usually get banned by idiot parents complaining anyway, so it might be redundant. (nt)

[Bolo Boffin]

13. Here's the complete reading list for all the MAS courses.

http://www.channelingreality.com/Niwa/Documents/MASD%20HS%20Reading%20List.pdf

The Tempest is in English/Latino Studies 7, 8.

The reading list looks cracker-jack to me. If they were getting high school students to read and think about that breadth of reading, more power to them.

[barbtries]

14. this is outrageous.

who are these people?!
like little kids sticking their fingers in their ears and scrunching their eyes closed.
people are not going away. i hope this gets a lot of backlash. it's a travesty.

[EFerrari]

26. These people have become cartoons of racists at this point.

They are actively trying to prevent Latino kids from being educated.

[barbtries]

31. and apparently

trying to prevent anybody else know that latinos exist, have a culture, a history, etc. and in arizona no less, which has to be at least 50 percent latino population? doesn't it?

[EFerrari]

33. I believe closer to 60.

They're going to lose.

[boppers]

72. 29.6%, officially.

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/04000.html

AZ and US numbers:
White persons, percent, 2010 (a) 73.0% 72.4%
Black persons, percent, 2010 (a) 4.1% 12.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2010 (a) 4.6% 0.9%
Asian persons, percent, 2010 (a) 2.8% 4.8%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2010 (a) 0.2% 0.2%
Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2010 3.4% 2.9%
Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2010 (b) 29.6% 16.3%
White persons not Hispanic, percent, 2010 57.8% 63.7%

I chalk a lot of the "OMG, they're a majority here" freakouts happening around the country to people who have never lived in multi-ethnic cultures, where it's normal to have sections of town (or entire towns) with dominant ethnic influences, or things published in more than one language.

[EFerrari]

78. That's right. I don't know where I got

60%. Yuma Co. is at about 50, Santa Cruz Co. is higher than that.

[sofa king]

15. Instead, can't we all agree that we hate Nathaniel Hawthorne and pull his crap?

Think how many Americans would have enjoyed reading more had they not sunk into the frigid swamp of The Scarlet Letter? Let's yank that and replace it with Annie Dillard.

[The Magistrate]

17. You Have A Second For Canning 'The Scarlet Letter' Sir

Ghastly thing, and moving between schools and classes got me assigned the thing three separate times in high school....

[lunatica]

18. You know, I missed the book for the very same reason as you

I always considered myself lucky about that. Even the movie was heavy and depressing in spite of Gary Oldman.

[Critters2]

48. The movie had nothing to do with the book.

I love the book. It teaches some important truths. The movie is the first one I ever walked out on...because it didn't even resemble the book.

[EFerrari]

23. That happened to me with Romeo and Juliet. I still hate that play

lol

[knitter4democracy]

28. Your English teacher didn't explain all the dirty jokes, did she?

That helps most students get into it and understand it better. I loved teaching Shakespeare at the alternative high school--I could teach the play right, explaining all of it without censorship, allow the kids to really discuss what's going on and why or why not that's a bad thing, etc.

[EFerrari]

29. Shakespeare has always been censored in some way, beginning

with the official censor the plays had to run by in order to be licensed and played in London. The Privy Council also shut down the theaters every five minutes, and play-going was denounced from the pulpits regularly.

[knitter4democracy]

59. Sadly, all that's true.

Shakespeare is quite the subversive if you understand the slang, etc.

[EFerrari]

66. The only thing the preachers hated more than boys in drag on the stage was the idea

of actresses.

It was an interesting moment and all the ways the state tried to control the theater, including narrowing licensed playspaces down to two or three from over a hundred in London alone, reminds me of the government enabled media consolidation we're seeing now.

[boppers]

73. That censoring is part of what made him so damn good.

He had to figure out what he could get away with, which made him horribly clever.

For example, there are a bunch of sex jokes (homo and hetero) loaded into the very opening scene of R&J:
http://nfs.sparknotes.com/romeojuliet/page_4.html

Not even 4 lines in, he's gone past puns (colliers) and straight to a "pulling out" joke, a premature ejaculation joke, a "can't get it up joke", a sexual domination/beastiality taunt, a body language mimed fucking sequence (stir (with the hips) and stand (erect)) along with a "run away from sex" taunt, and the start of a routine about taking people "up against the wall", so to speak.

That's all in only the first 9 lines of Act I Scene I. I note that even the site I linked to missed a bunch of the jokes, because they're so intricately buried.

[EFerrari]

76. The problem with your theory is, so did everyone writing in London

have to figure out what they could get away with.

[knitter4democracy]

27. But that's his good piece!

It really depends on how it's taught, I think, on how a class responds to it.

[EFerrari]

30. Doesn't he refer to Indians in several passages?

And iirc, to slavery indirectly in the opening section? Hawthorne, out!

[knitter4democracy]

58. Yes he does, and you might want to re-read it.

His main characters see the Native Americans as people and not as anything less, if I remember correctly (haven't taught it yet and haven't read it in awhile). I remember that being part of the reason the rest of the town is suspicious.

[EFerrari]

65. I've never taught this one, either.

But while I was fuming here this morning, it occurred to me that if you want to ban material on race, ethnicity or class oppression, you can't really teach American literature. And not just Frederick Douglass or Gwendolyn Brooks or Toni Morrison. Also, not Hawthorne, not Thoreau, not Willa Cather or any of the southern novelists, not Fitzgerald, not Whitman, not even Alcott or Ingalls Wilder. Not any of the Modernists who were obsessed with class as were the early 20th Century folks like Dreiser, not anyone who is contemporary that's for sure.

You may be left with a handful of Marianne Moore's animal poems.

[knitter4democracy]

68. Yup, it eliminates everyone.

Sad, isn't it.

[EFerrari]

69. What these people wanted to do was eliminate Mexican American studies.

What they did in their hubris and ignorance was to make American studies unlawful.

[The Wizard]

16. Does required reading

include Mein Kampf?

[47of74]

20. Not yet but probably will

And in the original German as well.

[EFerrari]

24. The district motto on Twitter: "We're transforming education"

@tucsonunified

[Mass]

21. Did the school district give any reason for banning the Tempest?

I am more concerned by the transparent attempt to make sure these kids learn official (English) history than by not studying Shakespeare in 7/8 th grade. It should not be banned, but I wished schools spent more time teaching diverse literature.

EDIT: I found it.

Another notable text removed from Tucson’s classrooms is Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest.” In a meeting this week, administrators informed Mexican-American studies teachers to stay away from any units where “race, ethnicity and oppression are central themes,” including the teaching of Shakespeare’s classic in Mexican-American literature courses.

Absolutely crazy.

[EFerrari]

25. One of the sources for The Tempest is an account

of a shipwreck in the New World, and one of the ways to teach the play is as a version of the discovery of America with Caliban standing in for native peoples.

[baldguy]

85. So they ban it because of one way that it **MIGHT** be interpreted?

[EFerrari]

86. The Superintendent spearing-heading this oppression was on Amy's show today.

He's an ignorant right wing prick. He compared the internationally accaimed textbooks the program was using to Mein Kampf. I kid you not.

He also sat there and lied his @ss off. He said this is all about community control of the curriculum when his office is in Phoenix, not Tucson and nobody in Tucson was up in arms about this program. He lied about his own audit, which showed the program was not radical or biased and that it was effective. And of course, he lied about the teachers' behavior, making them out to be politically driven, which is ridiculous. Turns out this hack ran on "stopping la raza" which he incorrectly translates as "the race" and not "the people".



http://www.democracynow.org/2012/1/18/debating_tucson_school_districts_book_ban

The lawyer representing the program and the teachers was on the show, too.

[Wait Wut]

22. They're accomplishing what they set out to do.

Making Arizonans fearful of brown people. The more we tag them with words like "ban" "illegal" "drugs", etc. the easier it is to convince the white folks here that they should be terrified of people that aren't like them. Until they get sick of it, of course. I know several teachers here (in AZ), and they're disgusted with the way things are going.

Somebody get me out of this state. Give me back the unbearable winters of Chicago where I can go to a neighborhood festival that celebrates heritage and diversity. Where students are encouraged to learn, to think for themselves and to grow as humans. Arizona can keep their "God", guns and country music.

[gejohnston]

50. or

There is next door in New Mexico. I loved the place when I was stationed there.

Give me back the unbearable winters of Chicago where I can go to a neighborhood festival that celebrates heritage and diversity. Where students are encouraged to learn, to think for themselves and to grow as humans. Arizona can keep their "God", guns and country music.

Give me back the winters in Wyoming where I don't have to look at another rebel flag shaped like Florida or listen to Rick Scott. I'll even take my guns with me.

what is the deal with Shakespeare?

[Wait Wut]

51. Rebel flags shaped like Florida???

Wow.

Yes, NM is a great state. Too far for my car, though.

I found this charming bit of information on The Tempest "banning": http://www.shakespeareforalltime.com/did-arizona-ban-the-tempest/

"There are, I am quite sure, many books the teaching of which Chicanos would protest were they used in the public schools. To name just a few:

Whatever It Takes: Illegal Immigration, Border Security, and the War on Terror, by J.D. Hayworth
The New Case Against Immigration, Both Legal and Illegal by Mark Krikorian
The English-Only Question: An Official Language for Americans? by Dennis Baron"

The "author" of this bit of enlightenment is apparently a big fan of Shakespeare...and JD Hayworth.

[Shakespeareana]

90. Thanks for the Link

Everyone has a book or books they don't want to see taught in the public schools. You have yours, I have mine. Don't be a hypocrite. The state has the right - no, the duty - to decide which books get taught in schools and which do not. I don't like Hayworth and I hate political indoctrination in the public schools.

[Wait Wut]

91. Is that your site?

If so, your bigotry is nauseating. If not, your defense of banning Shakespeare because of the fear of "Chicanos" is nauseating. Also, if it is your site and you "don't like Hayworth", why would you list his book in suggested reading?

Yes, there are books I don't feel have a place in our schools. The Bible, Mein Kampf (except in the context of history, possibly), and any others that would teach a student bigotry. I would not include The Tempest or any of Shakespeare's other works.

[TheCruces]

93. We read part of the King James Bible in English AP in public school

We looked at it as a work of literature. I don't see a problem with that.

[Wait Wut]

94. That would be acceptable, as well, but...

...there are many other books that I think could have been used. I think I probably would have questioned the teacher/professor. Unless your teacher was using the Bible to point out the differences/discrepencies in the translation to English.

I wouldn't agree with it being used in Science class, as many RWers are requesting. There was an article in my local paper this morning reporting that a local Rep. introduced legislature requesting a "Bible Class" in high school. That, too, would be inappropriate. But, a class on Religious Studies would be acceptable, as long as it focused on religion in general and was meant to inform not preach. I know I found the effects of faith/religion on society fascinating as a kid. Still do. Religion is an important part of our history.

[TheCruces]

95. Actually, it's pretty standard in AP, due to Biblical allusions in a lot of other works

The teacher, FWIW, was pretty standard a la carte Catholic and openly lefty politically.

And the Bible definitely has no place in science classes. The Humanities I don't see a problem with it there.

[Wait Wut]

96. You just reminded me...

...I went to a public school (a very liberal one) and I had read Dante's Inferno on my own time. Because of the intensity of the book, I asked my English Literature teacher if she could either require or suggest it so that we could discuss it during class. She was fascinated by the idea, but it had to be approved by the board. It was turned down because of religious references (duh...it's about friggin' hell). I was terribly disappointed, as was my teacher. A couple of the board members did send me notes admiring my curiosity and taste in literature and apologized for their decision. One had forwarded a list of other books that I might appreciate. From your posts, it sounds like you and I would agree that the board's decision was incorrect. That was 30 years ago and I'm still miffed.

The reason I suggested Inferno to an English Lit. teacher was for the same reason I mentioned in my previous post. The author of the translation that I had read suggested reading other translations for a more thorough understanding of Dante's work. While that suggests he wasn't terribly confident in his translation, I think it was more his opinion that older texts, such as the Bible and Inferno, are open to different interpretations.

[Solly Mack]

34. K&R

[mainer]

36. It's a great list of books

including by award winners such as Sherman Alexie, Esquivel, etc. And not every book is about Mexican-American history; some of it is far more general and simply about ethnicity in America.

[niyad]

37. the state ORDERED the elimination of MAS? on what grounds?

of course, this being AZ, certainly not surprised

[mistertrickster]

38. The Tempest? WTH?

There's nothing remotely objectionable . . . wait, a minute . . . Prospero is a wizard that uses magic.

Oh, brother . . .

[fishwax]

70. The Tempest is frequently associated with postcolonial theory

I'm guessing that's why it's swept up in this particular bit of outrage.

[mistertrickster]

80. Agreed. But I'm surprised that any school board would know that, heh. nt

[Mz Pip]

39. From these idiots point of wiew

the only culture worth studying is the good old white culture and only from the white point of view.

Who are these people that they have that much power? Do they really think the cultures from other ethnic groups will just disappear if they are banned?

[Smilo]

40. Not even the white point of view... the view of those that "won"

the land, and now are running the corporations. And then we have the fundamentalist, religious righties who want to define our history even more.

P.S. Even whites are not considered to be all the same.

[Mz Pip]

42. I suspect you are right

If they had their way they would probably eliminate all of the history of labor and elevate the Robber Barons to some kind of sainthood.

[boppers]

44. The law forbids teaching resentment of *class*.

I shit you not.

Thus, resenting robber barons would be "unteach".

[wordpix]

57. the kids can see the difference between the haves and have nots, books or no books

They know Hispanics are not treated the same in AZ, so this just emphasizes the point.

[EFerrari]

45. They are trying to slow down the inevitable by blocking the education of Latino kids.

As soon as they got that report back showing that kids in that program are much more likely to graduate, its fate was sealed.

[sulphurdunn]

46. Also,

well educated parents with the means to do so will begin pulling their children out of the public schools or begin looking to leave the state altogether.

[EFerrari]

63. This is aimed at the captive audience, not at the people with means

to put their children in private schools. And at our public schools, of course.

[L. Coyote]

53. They are making sure there is no liberalism in education, PERIOD!

The entire assault on education is designed to overcome the fact that educated people become liberals. THAT is the "problem" with public education that needs to be resolved to THEIR satisfaction so they can get on with Bush's vision of a Millennial Reich of Conservatism.

[atreides1]

47. Okay then

Can we start comparing them to the Nazis now...or do they have to actually burn the books first?

[Critters2]

49. I assume Othello is out, too.

[EFerrari]

62. Othello, Titus, MacBeth, Henry 5, Antony & Cleopatra, Merchant of Venice, all the good comedies

discuss class. What a joke these people are.

[MattBaggins]

99. So Dickens and Steinbeck are out I take it.

[EFerrari]

100. Yep. Also Fiitzgerald, Willa Cather and Hermann Melville.

That's what I mean, using the criteria no race, no ethnicity, no oppression, these wackjobs have just axed American Literature itself.

[LuckyLib]

54. Two books all Americans should read are on that list:

Pedagogy of the Oppressed” by famed Brazilian educator Paolo Freire and “Occupied America: A History of Chicanos” by Rodolfo Acuña, ...

High school kids live P of the O every day -- and they will be nodding their heads instantly. Occupied America taught me the history of the Southwest that was missing when I was in high school there.

Tucson teachers should be printing out the banned list, daring their students to find the books and read them.

[DeSwiss]

55. K&R

You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!

~South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein

[fishwax]

71. pathetic. revolting. outrageous.

What a shame.

[EFerrari]

75. The kids should mount a marathon Tempest

sending up the @ssholes. They're begging for it.

[lunatica]

79. This is not eduction. It's re-eduction like North Korea does in the 'camps'

They're just trying it without rounding up the natives and throwing them in re-education camps. Just pass a few laws and voila! You've just accomplished another coup.

[Igel]

82. Conflating two categories of topics/books.

The state said that the MAS program had to be canned as it was.

That means either disposing of it or revising it to come into compliance with the way the law was interpreted. USD's choice.

They chose.

Most of the other things on the list are being disposed of on the USD's initiative. Perhaps out of an abundance of caution, a real concern by the administrators that they are doing wrong. Perhaps out of an abundance of caution by the legal cumquats that work for the USD. Or perhaps in a fit of pique by pouting administrators--"If we can't have the program we want, we'll ban everything that *might* run afoul of the law." In any event, this isn't the *state's* interpretation but the way the local USD is interpreting the law and the way the state interpreted it.

It pays to keep the two sets of things separate, otherwise we're saying that the local USD folk have the exact same set of criteria and intent as the people who promulgated the law in the first place. They're different in nature and disposition and a real injustice is done in stereotyping the Tucson USD folk in that way.

[stevekatz]

83. Untrue

This story is untrue...

I live in Tucson, the classes were shut down... But no books were banned.
You can still get all these books from the school library.

[EFerrari]

87. But the MAS teachers cannot use them to teach.

So no, the story isn't untrue. That right wing prick Huppenthal was on Democracy Now! today comparing this material to Mein Kampf.

[Newsjock]

84. TUSD denies banning books associated with Mexican American Studies

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/education/tusd-denies-banning-books-associated-with-mexican-american-studies/article_f3f57f8a-4156-11e1-9a60-0019bb2963f4.html

The Tucson Unified School District is denying reports that it has banned any books associated with Mexican American Studies classes.

The classes were eliminated earlier this month in an effort to avoid losing millions in state funding after the courses were found to be in violation of state law.

Since the classes were suspended, seven books that were used as supporting materials for the curriculum have been moved to a district storage facility.

All of the books continue to be available to students at several school libraries where the courses were taught, according to TUSD spokeswoman Cara Rene.

[EFerrari]

88. Right. They didn't ban the books. They just shut down the classes and forbade their use.

[BeHereNow]

89. Pol Pot would be so proud of Tucson...

Can't have educated people running around, now can we.
Confiscate all eye glasses quickly.
Note who owns them and plan for the genocide of all the educated...
That IS what Pol Pot did, you know.
BHN

[Guy Montag]

92. Like George Carlin said in one of his great routines,

The rich do not want well educated critical thinkers, they want a dumbed down, more controllable population.

They want to re-write the history books in Tennessee too, much like they do in Texas. This is a nationwide movement that is not confined to Arizona I'm sad to say.

[Blue_Tires]

97. TUSD response:

http://www.tusd1.org/contents/news/press1112/01-17-12.html

[christx30]

98. Personally,

I'm in favor of these bans. What better way to expose kids to literary giants like Shakesphere than tell them that they are forbidden from reading it? These kids will devour the books faster than kids that are forced to read it.
BAN ALL THE BOOKS!