School districts don't have to comply with the new law...instead, they can choose to have up to 10% of their state funds withheld each month.
Um, what?
I guess the title of this post makes my opinion on this issue pretty clear, but this legislation bothers me a great deal. As a teacher of primarily Mexican American students, and just plain as a teacher, I think this bill is a frightening disregard of events and ideas that are part of all Americans' history, and an obvious attempt to silence various ethnic groups, starting with Mexican Americans and other Latinos.
While these officials don't outright say that studying the history of a specific ethnic group (namely Chicanos) leads to a desire to overthrow the U.S. government, that seems to be implicit in the legislation. And they do explicitly say that the bill is targeting the Chicano studies program in Tuscon school system. Perhaps they're trying to get points for honesty? What's next? Will it be illegal to speak Spanish in public places? Illegal to be Mexican American?
Granted, I don't know anything about the Mexican American studies program in Tuscon, but I can say with 100% certainty that in all of the times I have taught Mexican American history to my students, I have never seen any indication that these lessons "advocated ethnic solidarity over treating pupils as individuals" or led to students wanting to overthrow the government. Increased pride in their cultural heritage and improved self-confidence? Absolutely. Desire to lead a mass uprising against The Man? No way.
Pearl S. Buck said, "One faces the future with one's past." What kind of future are we facing if we can't teach our students about the events from our collective past?
Read more about the bill here.
I'm interested to know...what do you think about this bill?
Image via.
I was talking to a coworker about this bill today. I think it's mostly people fearful that America is being "invaded", mostly because we've lost so much of our rich immigrant history and it has been replaced by the culture of Wal-Mart and "Amurika".
ReplyDeleteOld fuddy duddies don't realize that "American History" represents Judeo Christian European history, and there is very little that represents that vast, rich history that so many of our students come from. It is, in fact, possible to be a proud Latino and still be an American. Too many people want our kids to identify with a history that just isn't theirs, and are very fearful of anything that is perceived as "different". Boils down to flat out ignorance.
Every day I become more ashamed that I have to call Arizona "home"...
ReplyDeleteRight on, Tricia. It's a shame those fuddy duddies can't recognize that although we may have arrived here in different ways and at different times, the vast majority of us would not be here without immigration. It would be nice to be able to celebrate our respective histories and our common good fortune to live here.
ReplyDelete