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On January 21, 2012, the Progressive Library Guild issued the following statement on Censorship and the Tucson Unified School District. Kudos to the Guild for this outstanding and well-researched statement.
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PLG Statement on
Censorship and the Tucson Unified School District
Recent
media reports regarding the mass removal of books from classrooms in
the Tucson
Unified School District (TUSD) demand a response from librarians,
charged by
our professional ethics to oppose censorship and restriction on
information.
After
reviewing publicly available materials documenting the process leading
up to
this TUSD action, the Progressive Librarians Guild believes a challenge
should
be issued regarding not only the onerous situation, but the politics
underlying
the decision to cut District’s Mexican American Studies program (MAS)
program.
At issue is
the supposed violation by TUSD of Arizona state law prohibiting classes
in
public or charter schools from instructions that:
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.
A.R.S.
§15-112
The books
in question include the following titles used in conjunction with
courses
taught throughout the TUSD as part of the District’s MAS program:
Critical Race Theory by Richard Delgado
500 Years of Chicano History in
Pictures edited by Elizabeth
Martinez
Message to AZTLAN by Rodolfo Corky Gonzales
Chicano! The History of the Mexican
Civil Rights Movement by
Arturo Rosales
Occupied America: A History of
Chicanos by Rodolfo Acuna
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years by Bill Bigelow
On December 27, 2011,
Lewis D. Kowal, Administrative Law
Judge, ruled in favor of Arizona’s
Department of Education Superintendent’s allegation that MAS courses
violated
the law, and on January 10, 2012, the Board of TUSD passed a resolution
requiring the immediate
suspension of MAS classes. Had TUSD not
suspended the program state funds would have been withdrawn from the
District.
The Board’s resolution
did not address the removal of books
from classrooms, yet TUSD officials removed and stored books even while
one
class was in session. News of this mass removal of books from schools
traveled,
and TUSD found itself confronted with accusations that it had “banned
books”
from the schools.
On January 17, 2012,
the District issued a statement saying, “Tucson Unified School District
has not
banned any books as has been widely and incorrectly reported.”
The press release described the removal as
simply a move of the books to storage and further noted that all of the
titles
removed from classrooms were available to students through TUSD school
libraries. A check of the online catalog
verified that at least one copy of each title is, indeed, available.
The fact that these
titles are available through the school
libraries has minimal bearing, however, on the extreme and censorious
behavior
of school officials in at least three respects:
1.
Neither A.R.S.
§15-112 nor
the TUSD Board resolution requires the removal of books in order to set
the
District into compliance with the law.
2.
The act of removing books from a
classroom during a class session clearly has a chilling effect on
students and
the entire educational community. Further, removal of materials from
classrooms
impinges on teacher freedom of speech.
3.
TUSD can quibble over whether or not
it banned any books, but it certainly cannot state that it did not ban
all the
courses being taught through the MAS program.
Compliance with the order to suspend the program is in itself an act of
censorship and a violation of academic freedom.
Regarding
the political aspects of this situation, A.R.S. §15-112 was signed
into law in
the spring of 2010 on the heels of the state’s anti-immigration law,
considered
by many to be racist and neocolonial.
The law is currently being reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
PLG considers A.R.S. §15-112 to have arisen
from a climate of racist sentiment among lawmakers in the State of
Arizona. This sentiment has been promoted by Judge
Kowal in his siding with Department of Education expert witnesses
against TUSD
and MAS, which placed TUSD “between a rock and a hard place” – either
suspend
MAS or lose state funding for the entire school district. Given
the budgetary problems facing school
districts across the nation, TUSD’s decision to sacrifice MAS over
funding is
understandable, but unacceptable.
TUSD is
aware its MAS program did not teach “racial resentment” but historical
literacy. It is also is aware
there is absolutely nothing in the MAS curriculum that affronts civic
values or
clashes with classes that teach “ethnic solidarity.” In the face
of absurd, draconian laws, the
only ethical position to take is one of complete opposition.
Today’s capitulation to A.R.S. §15-112 will
be tomorrow’s capitulation to the next absurd, racist law enacted by
the Arizona legislature. The law should be abolished.
The Progressive
Librarians Guild opposes the actions of all
officials in the State of Arizona responsible for the passage,
enforcement,
and/or compliance with A.R.S.
§15-112.
Progressive
Librarians Guild, Coordinating
Committee (PLG-CC)
January 21, 2012
January 21, 2012
Bibliography
Attorneys
for Defendant John Huppenthal, Superintendent of Public Instruction for
the
State of Education.
In the Matter of the Hearing of an Appeal
by the Tucson
Unified School District. No. 11F-002-ADE, Jan. 6, 2012.
http://www.tusd1.org/contents/distinfo/Documents/EthnicStudies-Huppenthaldecision010612.pdf
http://www.tusd1.org/contents/distinfo/Documents/EthnicStudies-Huppenthaldecision010612.pdf
Biggers, Jeff. Tucson
says Banished Books May Return to Classrooms. Salon January
18, 2012. http://www.salon.com/2012/01/18/tucson_says_banished_books_may_return_to_classrooms/
Biggers,
Jeff. Who’s afraid of “The Tempest”? Salon,
January 13, 2012. http://www.salon.com/2012/01/13/whos_afraid_of_the_tempest
In the Matter of the
Hearing of an
Appeal by the Tucson Unified School District,
No. 1, No. 11F-002-ADE,
December 27, 2011.
http://www.tusd1.org/contents/distinfo/Documents/EthnicStudies-ALJdecision122711.pdf
http://www.tusd1.org/contents/distinfo/Documents/EthnicStudies-ALJdecision122711.pdf
Librarians
and Human Rights [blog]. Background on Tucson School District
Actions. January 20, 2012.
http://hrlibs.blogspot.com/2012/01/background-on-tucson-school-district.html
Mackey, Robert. Arizona
Law Curbs Ethnic Studies Classes New York Times, May 13,
2010.
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/arizona-law-curbs-ethnic-studies-classes/
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/arizona-law-curbs-ethnic-studies-classes/
Rene, Cara.
Reports of Reports of TUSD Book Ban
Completely False and Misleading. Tucson
Unified School District, January 17, 2012.
http://www.tusd1.org/contents/news/press1112/01-17-12.html
http://www.tusd1.org/contents/news/press1112/01-17-12.html
Safier, David. Sigh . .
. Yes, it really is a ban. Blog for Arizona. January 20, 2012. http://www.blogforarizona.com/blog/2012/01/sigh-yes-it-really-is-a-ban.html
Save Ethnic
Studies.org, n.d. http://saveethnicstudies.org/index.shtml
Tucson Unified School District No. 1 Governing Board Special
Meeting. Resolution to Implement Ethnic Studies in Tucson Unified
School District in Accordance with All Applicable Laws.December 30,
2010. http://www.tusd.k12.az.us/CONTENTS/govboard/gbminutes/12-30-10Special.pdf
Tucson Unified School District. Resolution on
Mexican-American Studies. January 10, 2012. http://www.tusd1.org/contents/govboard/Documents/ResolutionMAS011012.pdf
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FOR A COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF AICL'S COVERAGE, CLICK ON:
AICL Coverage of Arizona Law that resulted in shut down of Mexican American Studies Program and Banning of Books
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