Class dismissed: Ethnic studies under fire in Arizona
It just gets crazier: Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law Tuesday a bill targeting ethnic studies classes in K-12 schools. From the L.A. Times today:
HB 2281 bans schools from teaching classes that are designed for students of a particular ethnic group, promote resentment or advocate ethnic solidarity over treating pupils as individuals. The bill also bans classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government.
The bill was written to target the Chicano, or Mexican American, studies program in the Tucson school system, said state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Horne.
School districts that don’t comply with the new law could have as much as 10% of their state funds withheld each month. Districts have the right to appeal the mandate, which goes into effect Dec. 31.
Tucson Unified School District officials say the Chicano studies classes benefit students and promote critical thinking. “We don’t teach all those ugly things they think we’re teaching,” said Judy Burns, the president of the district’s governing board.
I understand that ethnic studies are sometimes controversial (as one voice in the article points out) because they sometime attempt to replace one voice with another. But trying to bar voices and ideas, especially when they’re aligned with historically marginalized and minority communities, borders on censorship and xenophobia.
Subscribe to the comments for this postGrading Teachers on Fluency
This NPR piece today from All Things Considered commentator Andrei Codrescu, after Arizona Dept. of Education recently began telling school districts that teachers whose spoken English it deems to be heavily accented or ungrammatical must be removed from classes for students still learning English:
Arizona’s new immigration law is outrageous to anyone who’s had the bad luck of living in a country where fear of the police was a constant source of suppressed rage. A huge weight lifted off my psyche when I came to the U.S. from Communist Romania and was told that the police couldn’t stop me just because I still wore my commie trench coat and spoke with an accent.
That was in 1966, and now in Arizona in 2010, the police can target both my trench coat and my accent. The Arizona Department of Education has told schools that teachers with “heavy” or “ungrammatical” accents are no longer allowed to teach English to kids just learning to speak the language. Oh boy! Did I land back behind the Iron Curtain half a century ago?”
We already have enough trouble finding good teachers … why make it even harder? Listen to Codrescu’s NPR commentary.
Immigration will not go into House budget
News out of Topeka today that Rep. Anthony Brown, Eudora-KS, has been unsuccessful at including language similar to Arizona’s new immigration law in the Kansas House budget bill. From the Wichita Eagle today:
“This is modeled after immigration law that passed out of the Arizona Legislature,” said Rep. Anthony Brown, a Republican. “It denies benefits to those folks who can’t prove their status.”
He didn’t say much more about the proposal, but as the amendment was read, it appeared to include a part of the Arizona law requiring people to prove citizenship to law enforcement.
Democrats questioned whether the measure could be added to the House’s budget bill.
After a 30-minute huddle at 1:30 a.m., the rules committee decided the idea could not be tacked onto an appropriations bill, calling it “more policy than appropriations.”
Brown said he wouldn’t challenge the ruling but that the issue would return.
Read the full story.
KS Rep. Brown considering similar AZ-style amendment
Unidentified immigrant rights activists and community leaders engage in non-violent civil disobedience, by chaining themselves together with lockdown PVC devices, in protest of Arizona's recently enacted SB1070 immigration enforcement law, outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Federal Processing and Detention Center, on Thursday, May 6, 2010, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Rumors about similar legislation to the Arizona law in Kansas are true: Rep. Anthony Brown, R-Eudora, told me Friday he’s considering but “has not fully decided” whether to introduce an amendment similar to the Arizona measure, which requires local law enforcement to check the immigration status of a person if they suspect a person to be in the county illegally.
Brown said Friday he didn’t have time to discuss his proposal — it’s past midnight Saturday and apparently the legislature is still talking budget — so no word on what his amendment entails. Minnesota Republicans have now drafted a similar Arizona-style immigration bill today, as well, a sign that states are acting in response to the federal government’s inaction.
“Arizona immigration law controversy only in the early innings”
From Kansas City Star columnist Mary Sanchez Friday: Arizona officials are facing the looming threat of the 2011 MLB All-Star game pulling out of Phoenix:
“Today another high-profile boycott is in offing, this one targeting Arizona’s burgeoning business in America’s national pastime. The Major League Baseball Players Association has taken a forceful stand against Arizona’s new law … The association called for the law to either be ‘repealed or modified promptly.’ And it held out the option of ‘additional steps necessary to protect the rights and interests of our members.’
I love America. Our quintessential red, white and blue sport has the leverage to speak up for this generation’s immigrants. Major league baseball exemplifies what America does best – attracting the talents and aspirations of the world. Foreign-born players made up nearly 28 percent of the Major Leagues’ starting rosters this season. That’s more than 230 players representing 14 countries and Puerto Rico, the vast majority from Latin America.
… However, Brewer’s tone of alarm is somewhat at odds with the fact that violent crime rates in Arizona and other border states are at their lowest point in decades. And the law has a real potential to make law enforcement much more difficult in the future. Does Arizona really want to alienate its large Latino population, and discourage communities from cooperating with police?
In a way, a country is defined by how it handles its most difficult, seemingly intractable social problems. Passing a bad law, pregnant with the possibility of all sorts of unintended consequences, and passing it as a way to get the federal government to act to your satisfaction, is not the right path. How does that make Brewer a responsible leader?”
Read Sanchez’ full column.
No problemo, Arizona? Hay muchos problemas!
There are two main problems with Arizona’s SB1070, according Dan Kowalski, editor of the online Bender’s Immigration Bulletin. I had the privilege of meeting Dan during an immigration conference last month. He’s a great guy and has been an immigration attorney for 25 years! Here’s the breakdown:
1. The federal preemption question — This is the major issue in two Arizona city council lawsuits. The state law purports to import federal law onto the state level by criminizaling the unlawful presence of a person inside Arizona’s borders.
2. Technical problems for law enforcement officers & issues of racial profiling — The law also empowers state and local law enforcement officers to question and detain individuals if they believe there is “a reasonable suspicion” to believe that a person is in the county unlawfully.
But just how does a law enforcement officer form “a reasonable suspicion” that a person detained is or is not in lawful immigration status? There are a variety of legal statuses — literally dozens, from U.S. citizens to green card holders to nonimmigrant visa holders to refugees — which according to Dan present a “very real and practical problem” for police officers, state troopers, etc., to determine someone’s legal status. It goes beyond the superficial because the determination of someone’s legal status can only made by an immigration judge or a member of a board of immigration appeals. Listen to Dan’s entire podcast from today’s LexisNexis Emerging Issues series. I highly recommend it!
On a lighter note, while catching up on my weekly dose of Stephen Colbert’s daily show, I ran across this April skit. It is both ingenious and hilarious. Again, highly recommended! Happy Cinco de Mayo!
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