In addition to granting police officers the right to harass Mexicans crossing the street, Arizona now wants to keep any non-whites out of the classroom. The state’s Arizona Department of Education is ousting teachers with, ahem, thick accents. Oh, and the Arizona House yesterday passed HB 2281, which would criminalize any classes that, the Daily Star reports, “promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity ‘instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.'” This is, apparently, different from teaching Arizona students that only white men contributed anything worthwhile to society. In Tucson, “the program in the district’s Mexican-American studies department simply provides historical information, which conflicts with state School Superintendent Tom Horne’s assessment the program is promoting racial hatred and ‘ethnic chauvinism.'” Why should gay people care about this, even if they don’t live in Arizona? Or are pasty-skinned? Because of Martin Niemöller’s “First they came” adage, which notes that if officials can get away with this crap, banning the teaching of anything LGBT related isn’t far behind. [ThinkProgress, WSJ, AZ Daily Star]
the classroom
Arizona Finally Cracking Down on School Teachers Who Add Extra ‘S’ to ‘Vacations’
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Mike L.
Wow so much more discrimination coming from this state.
I wonder if there will be an influx of neo nazis, kkk members, and skinheads migrating to Arizona from other southern states.
ChicagoJimmy
You know the story about the boy who cried wolf? I can’t help thinking we’re the country that cried Nazis. Now that we see the beginning of some really hateful movements taking place, the comparison to Hitler’s rise to power has lost all meaning.
Lots of nationalist propaganda, lots of fear and hatred directed at people who aren’t “real” Americans, the right of minority groups put up to popular vote, the constant references by leaders to violence, and the push for more and more wars. I keep hearing about “rounding up illegal immigrants” and the need for them to “work off” the costs associated with their incarceration and deportment.
What’s next?
me
Have you reviewed the mexican american studies curriculum? Perhaps Señor Horne’s assessment is correct. Without more information, we will never know.
tavdy79
Is this a threat or an opportunity?
Hispanics and gays have a mutual enemy, sounds like an ideal situation for building alliances.
Paschal
While illegal immigration is just that, illegal, the actions of some politicians, including ones in Arizona, may get out of control. Immigrants are portrayed as a threat despite that fact that the U.S.A. was built on immigration. Only Native Americans can claim to be ”real” Americans and they originally came from Asia. The law recently passed in Arizona could be abused by police officers to bully immigrants and the fact that the law enables them to detain people because they ”might” be in the U.S.A. illegally is disturbing. Also immigration is not an issue for states. Making immigrants out to be a threat seems to be a disgusting attempt by some to win re-election.
PopCultureQueer
What is going ON in Arizona?! It’s like the world has gone topsy turvy there. These are the people who calling themselves the “real” Americans?!
I was born in this country and I’ll most likely die in this country and I will never stop loving this country, but if something isn’t done to correct the injustices that are currently ongoing in this backwards state then I’ll definitely have lost even MORE faith in this county.
reason
I believe it is attempting to keep foreign born people from teaching in the classroom, which is discriminatory, get your facts straight; the way you wrote this seems like your implying that all non whites are foreign or can’t speak good English.
Addyboo
I get asked for my ID at least three times a week. I can’t cash a check at my bank without showing my ID. I can’t get into bars without showing my ID. I can’t get on a plane without showing my ID. How is it a violation of an illegal immigrant’s civil rights to ask for theirs?
And people should be ashamed flippantly comparing things to Nazi-ism and racism. The holocaust was a horror and real racism is absolutely hurtful. If you can’t come up with a better argument, maybe you should stay out of grown folks business.
eagledancer
I’m American Indian. I’m certainly fluent in English–and because of the racist attitude of school speech therapists, I have 3 years of being forced into speech therapy during elementary school to make certain I no longer have an “Indian accent.” I’m also a resident of Arizona.
Don’t you think it’s wrong by the logic of the latest news report that someone like me isn’t allowed to teach American Indian history in a school for American Indian students?
Let me also remind readers for a lot of us who AREN’T of hispanic origin, the blatant racism of Arizona spills over into our lives, where we realistically fear being treated as poorly as hispanics.
Socialist
“Because of Martin Niemöller’s “First they came” adage, which notes that if officials can get away with this crap, banning the teaching of anything LGBT related isn’t far behind”
This is such an important point. After Prop 8 passed in California, did the bigots rest on their lorals (sp?) in Cali now that “trad marriage is safe”? No, here in Oakland a Christian pro-bono law firm opened to “defend” Christians from legal reprisals by pro-marriage equality supporters. This group claims that attacks on “a (right-wing) Christian’s right to be anti-gay” is the same as the NAZIs oppressing Jewish people (so Orwellian) and among their campaigns is to prevent LGBT speakers at schools, and help Christian parents opt-out of having their kids taught by LGBT teachers! Also, on their website they say they are dedicated to helping workers to get unions out of their workplaces.
So the right wing is just full of BS when they say they are “only defending marriage” or “defending jobs for native-born workers” or whatever other Bizzaro-world rationals they give. Just look at the Tea Parties, they spew all this stuff about “stopping government overreach” and “stopping the nanny-state and government interference in out lives” and yet the Arizona Tea Party website supports “big government” racially profiling people!!
Like someone said above, these kinds of things really are showing us who is on the side of liberty and equality and who’se on the side of nasty scapegoating and bigotry.
Jimmy
I appreciate Eagledancer’s comment. I love Arizona, particularly the Verde Valley/Sedona region. One need only ask Native Americans about the overt racism of white Arizonans – many of whom are transplanted mid-westerners/Mormons.