Matt De La Pena featured at a Save Ethnic Studies fundraiser

If you're in Tucson next Tuesday (March 13, 2012), head over to the fundraiser for Save Ethnic Studies. Matt De La Pena is the featured guest. Matt's book, Mexican WhiteBoy is amongst those that former Mexican American Studies teachers can no longer teach "from a Mexican American Studies perspective."

Chris Crutcher on Matt de la Pena's book being banned: "This is racism, plain and simple."

Tucson Unified School District has a long history of failing its Mexican American students. This is true elsewhere, too, across the country. The PBS documentary "Taking Back the Schools" (below) is primarily about Mexican Americans in East Los Angeles in the 1960s.

In the 1960s, tired of being tracked into vocational classes and feeling shame for being Mexican American, students in East LA decided to go before the school board asking for changes. They did a survey of fellow students asking them what they wanted to present to the school board. They wanted  bilingual instruction, Mexican American history courses, Mexican American teachers, and an end to corporal punishment. They also wanted access to college prep classes so they could go on to college.

Carmen Lomas Garza, author of In My Family/En Mi Familia, was a young child in the schools then. In the video (at the 5:45 mark) she talks of being made fun of when she took out her lunch of tacos with frijoles, meat, and rice. It was so bad that she didn't want to take that lunch to school anymore.

Her book won the Americas Picture Book Award in 1996, and in 1997 it received the Pure Belpre Honor Award, and was listed as a Notable Book by the International Reading Association.

In 1997, her book also won the Tomas Rivera Children's Book Award, which brings us back to the present and the ban of the Mexican American Studies Department in Tucson Unified School District. Tomas Rivera's books are among those that were taught in the MAS program.

Until it was shut down in January, the Tucson MAS program was doing precisely what students wanted in 1968, and it was doing precisely what college students are been taught in teacher education courses. Use multicultural literature and teach critical thinking!

The outcome? Students did better in school, graduated at higher rates, and went on to college at higher rates than students who were not in the MAS classes. They read Matt de la Pena's Mexican WhiteBoy.


Matt de la Pena

Matt de la Pena's Mexican WhiteBoy is amongst the books that were taught in the MAS literature courses, but it is more than that...  His book is mentioned on page 29 of the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Kowal's decision about the program, in the section titled "Latino Literature." As such, it is evidence that the MAS program violates the law. Here's the text from that section:

Latino Literature
160. Drafts of the Pacing Guides for the MAS junior and senior Latino Literature courses demonstrate that elements of critical race theory and critical pedagogy encompass a significant portion of the course.
161. Proposed required reading for these classes include "Justice: A Question of Race," by Roberto Rodriguez and "Mexican Whiteboy" by Matt de la Pena.
162. Juniors in Latino Literature appear to study "Our History-Indigenous Roots and the Mexican Revolution Novels."
163. Senior Latino Literature students appear to devote an entire quarter of the semester to "Critical Race Theatre," in which they are required to "critically dissect and identify components of critical race theory through literary works."
164. Student assessments from these courses show that the focus on Latino Literature is the oppression of Mexican Americans by the White European race.
165. As an example, one second semester final exam for a Latino Literature course used in the spring of 2011 tests students with the following essay prompt:

All year long we have read stories where the Mexican Americans were discriminated against, taken advantage of, oppressed, etc. We are destined to repeat history if we don't do something to change it. Reflect on what we have read about this year and in an essay, write about what we can do as a group to change things. What will you do as an individual to change things? Select one of the pieces we have read this year that reflects the point that you are trying to make in your essay.

Throughout the document, some things were underscored (as shown above) by the Department of Education. Apparently, those portions are "the smoking gun", so to speak. From my perspective, however, all of that sounds fine, especially for college prep classes. 

Matt de la Pena has been following and writing about all of this at his blog. He will be in Tucson, at Tucson High School, on March 13. He writes:

Ironically, I'm scheduled to speak at Tucson High School on March 13. A young female student there spearheaded the whole thing. She went to the administration on her own accord and helped raise funds. She's a self-admitted reluctant reader, but she was introduced to my books in a class much like the one above, and something clicked. Because of her effort and passion, this has been the visit I'm most looking forward to this year. I can't wait to meet her. 

He links to the video (below) of Yolanda Sotelo who taught at Pueblo High School and used his book.

Among the comments to his blog post is one from Chris Crutcher. He writes:

Hey Matt, the responders here have said it as well as it can be said. I’ll what I can to bring as much light to this as possible. Let me know if you have ideas. I’ve been able to laugh off book bannings based on irrational right wing Christian fears (and politically correct left-wing fears as well) for years. There were even times I (foolishly) believed those folks wanted the same things for young people that I wanted; just had a different belief about how to get there. But this is racism pure and simple. I’m sick of living in a country in which it’s become more heinous to CALL someone a racist than it is to BE a racist. There will come a time, I hope in my lifetime, when the ethnic scales will tilt and these assholes will be voted out of office. Until then, let’s do what we can to make their lives interesting.

Crutcher is right. This is racism pure and simple. Crutcher's "I'm sick of living in a country in which it's become more heinous to CALL someone racist than it is to BE a racist" is especially powerful.

I'm glad some of the well-established authors like Crutcher are paying attention. Students in TUSD's MAS program read works by Mexican American, and American Indian, and Asian American, and African American authors. They were taught to think critically. They went from being uninterested---and perhaps reluctant readers like Matt was---to being students like Matt who go on to college.

I'm closing this post with part one of a four-part video of Matt de la Pena talking with high school students. His personal story is important, and the opportunity to read his books from a Mexican American perspective in a Mexican American class should never have been taken away from the students in TUSD.

__________
For a chronological list of AICL's coverage of the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies program, click here.

To participate in the Feb 1, 2011 National Teach-In, go here.

Authors banned in Tucson Unified School District respond

[Note: A chronological list of links to AICL's coverage of the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies Department at Tucson Unified School District is here. Information about the national Mexican American Studies Teach-in is here. The best source for daily updates out of Tucson is blogger David Abie Morales at Three Sonorans.]

Editors Note on Feb 25, 2018: Please see my apology about promoting Alexie's work. --Debbie

______________________________________

As I find them, I will add responses from authors whose books were taught in the now-outlawed Mexican American Studies program at Tucson Unified School District:

SHERMAN ALEXIE 

On January 17th, 2012, Sherman Alexie tweeted:

Teachers who taught in the Mexican American Studies program that was shut down last week are no longer allowed to teach two of his books:

On January 29, 2012, I read Alexie's response at The Progressive. He wrote:

Let's get one thing out of the way: Mexican immigration is an oxymoron. Mexicans are indigenous. So, in a strange way, I'm pleased that the racist folks of Arizona have officially declared, in banning me alongside Urrea, Baca, and Castillo, that their anti-immigration laws are also anti-Indian. I'm also strangely pleased that the folks of Arizona have officially announced their fear of an educated underclass. You give those brown kids some books about brown folks and what happens? Those brown kids change the world. In the effort to vanish our books, Arizona has actually given them enormous power. Arizona has made our books sacred documents now.

RUDOLFO ANAYA (added on Jan 25, 2012):

On Friday, January 21, Rudolfo Anaya was on Jay Nightwolf's radio program. You can listen to the program by going to the Zinn Education Project website. Anaya is the author of Bless Me Ultima, and The Anaya Reader, two books that were taught in the Tucson Unified School District's Mexican American Studies program that was shut down.

JIMMY SANTIAGO BACA

On January 28, 2012, I read Jimmy Santiago Baca's response at The Progressive. In part, he writes:

The banning in Tucson is a political tactic to oppress us, just the latest attempt of many to lie to us, to spread distortions, to enfeeble us by taking away our rights to education. They know that education is a way to achieve equality, to empower ourselves, to see ourselves with pride and enhance our self-esteem. Books that see us as intelligent, that reflect our experience in a healthy light, lend themselves to invigorating our resistance against injustice.

Six of his books were used in the now-banned Mexican American Studies program, including A Place to Stand.

BILL BIGELOW

On January 13, 2012, Bill Below wrote on the Rethinking Schools blog: 

Rethinking Schools learned today that for the first time in its more-than-20-year history, our book Rethinking Columbus was banned by a school district: Tucson, Arizona.  [...] What’s to fear? Rethinking Columbus offers teaching strategies and readings that teachers can use to help students consider perspectives that are too often silenced in the traditional curriculum. 

Teachers who taught in the Mexican American Studies program that was shut down last week are no longer allowed to teach Rethinking Columbus, a book he edited that includes essays, poems, and prose by American Indian writers.

JOSEPH BRUCHAC

In an email to me on January 17, 2012, Joseph Bruchac said:

In the long run, I think the actions of the Tucson
School Board may end up in a positive way--by
drawing attention back to RETHINKING COLUMBUS
and creating further awareness of the complex legacy
of Cristobal Colon. Either this was their intention all
along (closet progressives that they are on the school
board) or (thinking in terms of nautical metaphors), they
are attempting to save the sinking ship of the myth of
heroic European colonialism by an action as effective as
bailing with a tea cup!

His essay, "A Friend of the Indians" is in Rethinking Columbus, a book that teachers who taught in the Mexican American Studies program are no longer allowed to teach.

RICHARD DELGADO and JEAN STEFANCIC (added Jan 31, 2012):

On January 31, 2012, I read Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic's response at The Progressive. Here's an excerpt:

Young minds will not learn about critical race theory or Latino history or the historic struggles of their predecessors for school desegregation, immigration reform, and equal rights. They may learn about them piecemeal, but without an overarching framework, it will be difficult for them to develop a comprehensive view of race in American society. 

Their book, Critical Race Theory, was taught in the now-shut down Mexican American Studies department at Tucson Unified School District.

JUNOT DIAZ (added January 29, 2012):

On January 29, 2012, I read Junot Diaz's response at The Progressive:

This is covert white supremacy in the guise of educational standard-keeping--nothing more, nothing less. Given the sharp increase of anti-Latino rhetoric, policies, and crimes in Arizona and the rest of the country, one should not be surprised by this madness and yet one is. The removal of those books before those students' very eyes makes it brutally clear how vulnerable communities of color and our children are to this latest eruption of cruel, divisive, irrational, fearful, and yes racist politics. Truly infuriating. And more reason to continue to fight for a just society. 

His book, Drown was taught in the now-banned Mexican American Studies program.

MARTIN ESPADA (added January 31, 2012)

Earlier today, I read Martin Espada's response at the Progressive website. He said, in part:

In the end, this is just another bomb threat. All they have done is force us to evacuate the building. We will gather ourselves in the dark, and keep reading to each other in whatever light we can find.

His book, Zapata's Disciple: Essays, can no longer be taught by teachers who taught in the now-banned Mexican American Studies Department at Tucson Unified School District.

DAGOBERTO GILB (added January 31, 2012)

Yesterday, I read Dagoberto's response at The Progressive website:

What subversive information did those Tucson students learn? What is kept from the government-approved textbooks and classrooms all across the West?: You don’t have to be from somewhere else more important and better to be a lawyer or an artist or a doctor or scientist. You don’t have to leave your culture. You don’t have to be ashamed that your parents struggled with English. We don’t have to accept being only the cooks and maids, custodians and gardeners.

Two of his books are on the Cambium audit and can no longer be taught by the teachers in the now-banned Mexican American Studies Department.

SUZAN HARJO

In an email to me on January 18, 2012, Susan Harjo said:

The banned books and other materials removed from the Tucson public schools are a good start for a required reading list. I consider it a mark of distinction to be among the banned authors for my part of Rethinking Columbus. I am honored to be in the company of other writers who are targeted in Arizona's war on ethnic studies. I hope their reckless actions help raise awareness among more and more people of good will about what this last gasp of white supremacy is doing to our children and young people. 

Her essay, "We Have No Reason to Celebrate" is in Rethinking Columbus, a book that teachers who taught in the Mexican American Studies program are no longer allowed to teach.

Update, January 25th, 2012: Harjo wrote an extended essay for Indian Country Today. For more on her response to being banned, see Rethinking Columbus: Book Banning in Tucson.

WINONA LADUKE (added January 25, 2012):

On January 21, 2012, Winona LaDuke's response to being banned was published at INFORUM. Her essay is in Rethinking Columbus, one of the books boxed up and removed from classrooms in Tucson Unified School District. Rethinking Columbus is no longer being taught in TUSD. See LaDuke's "On Being Banned in Tucson."

WILLIAM L. KATZ

On January 18, 2012, via email, I received William L. Katz's response:

As the writer of two essays contributed from my Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage to Rethinking Columbus, a former public school teacher for fourteen years, and the writer of forty history books that have earned praise from sources ranging from the Wall Street Journal to Howard Zinn, I can only hope this pathetic censorship of ideas and knowledge that aims to keep young people uninformed about their lives, their society and the struggles that shaped their country and world, that this stupid decision in Arizona, will finally lead to a resounding victory for an inclusive, multicultural curriculum. We all deserve that, to read what we want, to learn what we need, and to understand our history not as patriotic, tasteless pablum, but something substantial and true enough to enable us to live in a country and world that was built by women and men of every race and region, and to appreciate and enjoy our neighbors. Part of this is learning that women and men were not handed democracy and justice but often had fight and sometimes die for it, and this is particularly true if they were in the way of those bent on conquest, exploitation, or just the pursuit of obscene profits.

His essay, "Black Indians and Resistance" is in Rethinking Columbus, a book that teachers who taught in the Mexican American Studies program are no longer allowed to teach.

MATT DE LA PENA

On January 16th, Matt de la Pena wrote on his blog:

A truly scary situation. Tucson schools have just “shut down” all courses related to Mexican American Studies (in essence, banning Chicano authors). If you’re familiar with Tucson’s racial makeup, you know this means that literally thousands of Chicano students will no longer be allowed to see a reflection of themselves in literature. The teachers literally had to pack up the books and remove them from their classrooms.

Teachers who taught in the Mexican American Studies program that was shut down last week are no longer allowed to teach his book, Mexican WhiteBoy.

BOB PETERSON (added Jan 31, 2012)

On January 16, 2012, Bob Peterson wrote on his blog:

What’s most disturbing is the banning’s broader context, in particular Arizona’s anti-immigrant legislation and the move across the country toward scripted curriculum that too often ignores students’ cultural heritages and that undermines the ability to promote critical thinking. On a more positive note, however, the banning can be seen as the flailing of small-minded bigots attempting to derail multicultural, anti-racist curriculum. In this sense, the move is similar to the anti-gay rantings of Santorum and Company. 

Teachers who taught in the Mexican American Studies program that was shut down last week are no longer allowed to teach Rethinking Columbus, a book he edited that includes essays, poems, and prose by American Indian writers.



CORNEL PEWEWARDY

On January 20, 2012, Cornel Pewewardy sent me the following comment by email:

The "Empire" Strikes Back via a Neoliberal Agenda

His essay, "A Barbie-Doll Pocahontas" is in Rethinking Columbus, a book that teachers who taught in the Mexican American Studies program are no longer allowed to teach.


ROBERTO RODRIGUEZ (added on Jan 25, 2012):

On Friday, January 21, Roberto Rodriguez was on Jay Nightwolf's radio program. You can listen to the program by going to the Zinn Education Project website. Rodriguez is the author of Justice: A Question of Race and The X in La Raza II (I am unable to locate a cover of the book; please send me a link or image), both of which were used in the Tucson Unified School District's Mexican American Studies program that was shut down.

LUIS ALBERTO URREA (added January 29, 2012)

On January 29, 2012, I read Luis Alberto Urrea's response at The Progressive website:

The issue seems to be the power boys and girls are afraid that studying MacArthur winning Tohon O'odam poet Ofelia Zepeda is un-American. Cult-like. Divisive. Yes, that's right--Indians are out too. Sherman Alexie, that notorious wetback, has been ba--ed, boxed. As well as that notorious narco, Guillermo Shakespeare. Thoreau--well. Come on. When isn't Thoreau banned? I hereby make him an Honorary Homeboy.

Urrea is the author of five books on the list of works taught by teachers in the now-banned Mexican American Studies program, including The Devil's Highway: A True Story. 

 
________________________________________________________
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