Showing posts with label Rethinking Columbus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rethinking Columbus. Show all posts

Sunday, October 04, 2015

Bonnie Bader's WHO WAS CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

October 4, 2015

Dear Bonnie Bader, Grosset & Dunlap, and Penguin Young Readers Group,

Your book, Who Was Christopher Columbus, published in 2013, has major errors in it (p. 4, Kindle edition):

The error is in that last line that reads "Christopher Columbus had discovered a new world." Maybe you think that the sentence before it makes it ok because it tells readers that no one in Europe knew about this land. It doesn't make it ok. Later, you tell readers he discovered an island he named Dominica. And that he also "discovered the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico" (p. 72-73 in Kindle version). Simply put, you can't discover something that someone else already had. With this book, you're misleading children. You're mis-educating them.

Your Who Was Christopher Columbus is loaded with other problems, too. My suggestion? Withdraw it from publication.

My suggestion to all the people who already bought Bader's Who Was Christopher Columbus? Do not use it with young children. Instead, write to Penguin and ask for your money back, or, use it with older children and adults in a text analysis activity. Read what Bader wrote, and compare it to other sources. A great set of resources for this activity is at the Zinn Education Project website. Another excellent resource is Rethinking Columbus.

You, Ms. Bader, and your editors at Grosset & Dunlap (it is an imprint of Penguin), can do better. I hope you do. Recall the book. Refund the money parents, teachers, and librarians spent on it, too.

And do better.

Sincerely,
Debbie Reese
American Indians in Children's Literature


Monday, October 08, 2012

Anyone in TUSD teaching from RETHINKING COLUMBUS?

Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson's edited volume, Rethinking Columbus, was being used in the Tucson Unified School District a year ago, but was subsequently removed from the classrooms when the district shut down its Mexican American Studies classes.

Rethinking Columbus is an outstanding book, offering readers the opportunity to develop and apply critical thinking skills to events--like Columbus Day--that carry bias in favor of one viewpoint, at the expense of the viewpoint and perspective of others.

When Rethinking Columbus was removed from the classrooms in Tucson, essays and poems by Native writers were also removed. Their essays and poems are in Rethinking Columbus. Among them are:

  • Suzan Shown Harjo, who wrote "We Have No Reason to Celebrate"
  • Buffy Sainte-Marie, who wrote "My Country, 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying"
  • Joseph Bruchac, who wrote "A Friend of the Indians"
  • Cornel Pewewardy, who wrote "A Barbie-Doll Pocahontas"
  • N. Scott Momaday, who wrote "The Delight Song of Tsoai-Talee"
  • Michael Dorris, who wrote "Why I'm Not Thankful for Thanksgiving"
  • Leslie Marmon, who wrote "Ceremony"
  • Wendy Rose, who wrote "Three Thousand Dollar Death Song"
  • Winona LaDuke, who wrote "To the Women of the World: Our Future, Our Responsibility"


In addition to Rethinking Columbus and the Alexie and Zepeda books, over 50 other books were removed.

......................................................................
When you remove a class, you remove its 
syllabus and everything on it. 
......................................................................

As TUSD administrators moved forward in shutting down the Mexican American Studies courses, they prevented students from reading Sherman Alexie's Ten Little Indians and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, and Ofelia Zepeda's Ocean Power. 

The teachers who taught in the program were reassigned and no longer called Mexican American Studies teachers. As they created new syllabi, they were also told they could not teach from a Mexican American Studies perspective.

But, I wonder...  Are teachers who were not previously teaching in the Mexican American Studies classes teaching Rethinking Columbus this year? Or Alexie? Or Zepeda?



    Wednesday, January 18, 2012

    Copies of books in TUSD libraries?

    [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.]
    ______________________________________


    Yesterday's press release from the Tucson Unified School District states that books used in the Mexican American Studies classes are still available to students through their libraries.

    There are over 1,000 students in the classes. Now, I doubt that 1,000 students would head over to the library to check out Rethinking Columbus, but I wondered how many copies there are in the libraries.  It was easy to find out. Their library databases are online. Here's what I found (I wasn't able to access the database at Southwest Alternative High):

    Catalina High has 0 copies
    Cholla High has 1 copy
    Howenstine High School has 0 copies
    Palo Verde has 0 copies
    Project M.O.R.E. School has 1 copy
    Pueblo High has 2 copies
    Rincon/University High has 0 copies
    Sabino High has 0 copies
    Sahuaro High has 0 copies
    Santa Rita High has 0 copies
    Tucson High has 0 copies

    Amongst the TUSD high school libraries, there are 4 copies of Rethinking Columbus.

    Perhaps, as I write, the librarians are entering additional copies (the ones taken from the classrooms) into their databases... Anybody know? Are those boxed copies being put on library shelves?

    ________________________________________________________
    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

    Sunday, January 15, 2012

    Mexican American Studies Department Reading List

    [Note: For a chronological and comprehensive list of links to AICL's coverage of the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies Department at Tucson Unified School District, go here. To go right to information about the National Mexican American Studies Teach-in, go here.]
    ______________________________________


    Book list below; author responses to their books being banned is here:
    Authors banned in Tucson respond

    _________________________________________

    Cambium Learning, Inc. conducted an audit of the Mexican American Studies program in Tucson. The findings were published in May 2, 2011. The audit took place between March 7, 2011 and May 2, 2011. [Update, Jan 16, 7:35 PM: Cambium was hired by Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction, John Huppenthal, district to do the audit. Cambium recommended the Mexican American Studies program be continued. The superintendent disagreed with the audit findings, and shut the program down.]

    The following books are listed on Appendix Item Mexican American Studies Department Reading List of the audit of the Mexican American Studies program. I am presenting the lists here, replicating the lists as shown on the audit. News stories indicate that book in the Mexican American Studies classrooms were boxed up and removed from classrooms last week. At this point is is not known if all the books listed below were boxed and removed. They were placed in storage.

    For critical discussion, see "Teaching Critical Thinking in Arizona: NOT ALLOWED".
    The report (in pdf) is available here: Curriculum Audit of the Mexican American Studies Department, Tucson Unified School District, May 2, 2011.

    High School Course Texts and Reading Lists Table 20: American Government/Social Justice Education Project 1, 2 - Texts and Reading Lists
    • Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (1998), by B. Bigelow and B. Peterson
    • The Latino Condition: A Critical Reader (1998), by R. Delgado and J. Stefancic
    • Critical Race Theory: An Introduction (2001), by R. Delgado and J. Stefancic
    • Pedagogy of the Oppressed (2000), by P. Freire
    • United States Government: Democracy in Action (2007), by R. C. Remy
    • Dictionary of Latino Civil Rights History (2006), by F. A. Rosales
    • Declarations of Independence: Cross-Examining American Ideology (1990), by H. Zinn

    Table 21: American History/Mexican American Perspectives, 1, 2 - Texts and Reading Lists
    • Occupied America: A History of Chicanos (2004), by R. Acuna
    • The Anaya Reader (1995), by R. Anaya
    • The American Vision (2008), by J. Appleby et el.
    • Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (1998), by B. Bigelow and B. Peterson
    • Drink Cultura: Chicanismo (1992), by J. A. Burciaga
    • Message to Aztlan: Selected Writings (1997), by C. Jiminez
    • De Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views Multi-Colored Century (1998), by E. S. Martinez
    • 500 Anos Del Pueblo Chicano/500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures (1990), by E. S. Martinez
    • Codex Tamuanchan: On Becoming Human (1998), by R. Rodriguez
    • The X in La Raza II (1996), by R. Rodriguez
    • Dictionary of Latino Civil Rights History (2006), by F. A. Rosales
    • A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present (2003), by H. Zinn

    Course: English/Latino Literature 7, 8
    • Ten Little Indians (2004), by S. Alexie
    • The Fire Next Time (1990), by J. Baldwin
    • Loverboys (2008), by A. Castillo
    • Women Hollering Creek (1992), by S. Cisneros
    • Mexican WhiteBoy (2008), by M. de la Pena
    • Drown (1997), by J. Diaz
    • Woodcuts of Women (2000), by D. Gilb
    • At the Afro-Asian Conference in Algeria (1965), by E. Guevara
    • Color Lines: "Does Anti-War Have to Be Anti-Racist Too?" (2003), by E. Martinez
    • Culture Clash: Life, Death and Revolutionary Comedy (1998), by R. Montoya et al.
    • Let Their Spirits Dance (2003) by S. Pope Duarte
    • Two Badges: The Lives of Mona Ruiz (1997), by M. Ruiz
    • The Tempest (1994), by W. Shakespeare
    • A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America (1993), by R. Takaki
    • The Devil's Highway (2004), by L. A. Urrea
    • Puro Teatro: A Latino Anthology (1999), by A. Sandoval-Sanchez & N. Saporta Sternbach
    • Twelve Impossible Things before Breakfast: Stories (1997), by J. Yolen
    • Voices of a People's History of the United States (2004), by H. Zinn

    Course: English/Latino Literature 5, 6
    • Live from Death Row (1996), by J. Abu-Jamal
    • The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven (1994), by S. Alexie
    • Zorro (2005), by I. Allende
    • Borderlands La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1999), by G. Anzaldua
    • A Place to Stand (2002), by J. S. Baca
    • C-Train and Thirteen Mexicans (2002), by J. S. Baca
    • Healing Earthquakes: Poems (2001), by J. S. Baca
    • Immigrants in Our Own Land and Selected Early Poems (1990), by J. S. Baca
    • Black Mesa Poems (1989), by J. S. Baca
    • Martin & Mediations on the South Valley (1987), by J. S. Baca
    • The Manufactured Crisis: Myths, Fraud, and the Attack on America's Public Schools (19950, by D. C. Berliner and B. J. Biddle
    • Drink Cultura: Chicanismo (1992), by J. A Burciaga
    • Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States (2005), by L. Carlson & O. Hijuielos
    • Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing up Latino in the United States (1995), by L. Carlson & O. Hijuielos
    • So Far From God (1993), by A. Castillo
    • Address to the Commonwealth Club of California (1985), by C. E. Chavez
    • Women Hollering Creek (1992), by S. Cisneros
    • House on Mango Street (1991), by S. Cisneros
    • Drown (1997), by J. Diaz
    • Suffer Smoke (2001), by E. Diaz Bjorkquist
    • Zapata's Discipline: Essays (1998), by M. Espada
    • Like Water for Chocolate (1995), by L. Esquievel
    • When Living was a Labor Camp (2000), by D. Garcia
    • La Llorona: Our Lady of Deformities (2000), by R. Garcia
    • Cantos Al Sexto Sol: An Anthology of Aztlanahuac Writing (2003), by C. Garcia-Camarilo, et al.
    • The Magic of Blood (1994), by D. Gilb
    • Message to Aztlan: Selected Writings (2001), by Rudolfo "Corky" Gonzales
    • Saving Our Schools: The Case for Public Education, Saying No to "No Child Left Behind" (2004) by Goodman, et al.
    • Feminism is for Everybody (2000), by b hooks
    • The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child (1999), by F. Jimenez
    • Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools (1991), by J. Kozol
    • Zigzagger (2003), by M. Munoz
    • Infinite Divisions: An Anthology of Chicana Literature (1993), by T. D. Rebolledo & E. S. Rivero
    • ...y no se lo trago la tierra/And the Earth Did Not Devour Him (1995), by T. Rivera
    • Always Running - La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. (2005), by L. Rodriguez
    • Justice: A Question of Race (1997), by R. Rodriguez
    • The X in La Raza II (1996), by R. Rodriguez
    • Crisis in American Institutions (2006), by S. H. Skolnick & E. Currie
    • Los Tucsonenses: The Mexican Community in Tucson, 1854-1941 (1986), by T. Sheridan
    • Curandera (1993), by Carmen Tafolla
    • Mexican American Literature (1990), by C. M. Tatum
    • New Chicana/Chicano Writing (1993), by C. M. Tatum
    • Civil Disobedience (1993), by H. D. Thoreau
    • By the Lake of Sleeping Children (1996), by L. A. Urrea
    • Nobody's Son: Notes from an American Life (2002), by L. A. Urrea
    • Zoot Suit and Other Plays (1992), by L. Valdez
    • Ocean Power: Poems from the Desert (1995), by O. Zepeda

    UPDATE, Monday, January 16, 2012
    The list above is not complete. As I learn of other titles that have been boxed, I will add them to the list.
    • Bless Me Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
    • Yo Soy Joaquin/I Am Joaquin, by Rodolfo Gonzales
    • Into the Beautiful North, by Luis Alberto Urrea
    • The Devil's Highway, by Luis Alberto Urrea

    UPDATE, Tuesday, February 21, 2012
    I'm inserting a list of items taught by Curtis Acosta in his Social Justice course.

    Non-Fiction - Personal Reflections
    • My Dungeon Shook by James Baldwin
    • La Conciencia de la Mestiza: Towards a New Consciousness by Gloria Anzaldua
    Short Stories
    • Selections from Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie
    • Eleven by Sandra Cisneros
    • Vatolandia by Ana Castillo
    • Love in L.A. by Dagoberto Gilb
    • Lindo y Querido by Manuel Munoz
    • Brisa by Dagoberto Gilb
    • Aurora by Juno Diaz
    • Lost Girls by Jane Yolen
    • Selection from Tuff by Paul Beatty
    Counter Story Telling and Cultura Through Teatro 
    • And Where Was Pancho Villa When You Really Needed Him? by Silviana Wood 
    • Culture Clash in America and Culture Clash: Life, Death and Revolutionary Comedy by Culture Clash
    Shakespeare, Colonization, and Critical Race Theory
    • The Tempest by William Shakespeare
    Immigration - La Lucha Sigue
    • The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea
    Resistance Through Rhetoric
    • The Puerto Rican Dummy and the Merciful Son by Martin Espada
    • Jesse Jackson's speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention
    • Barack Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
    • Speech at the Afro-Asian Conference by Ernesto "Che" Guevara
    • "Women, Power, and Revolution" by Kathleen Cleaver
    • "Political Prisoners, Prisons, and Black Liberation" by Angela Davis
    • Message to Aztlan by Corky Gonzales
    • Message to the Grass Roots by Malcom X
    • "Beyond Vietnam" and Where We Go From Here by Martin Luther King Jr.
    • "Does 'Anti-War' Have to be 'Anti-Racist', too? by Elizabeth "Betita" Martinez
    Resistance/Revolution in Spoken Word, Slam Poetry, and Hip Hop
    Poetry
    • Selections from William Carlos Williams, Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Ana Castillo, Tracy Morris, Paul Beatty
    Hip Hop
    Selections from Olmeca, Sihuatl-De, Dead Prez, Common, Kanye West, KRS-1, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Rage Against the Machine, etc.

    _______________________
    In the video below, teacher Yolanda Sotelo (she taught in the Mexican American Studies program that was shut down last week) discusses novels she can no longer teach. They were boxed and removed. Teachers have been told that they will be monitored to make sure they do not teach those novels. Ironically, if Sotelo was teaching at Tucson's college prep school, she'd be able to teach Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me Ultima. [Video source: ThreeSonorans channel on YouTube]




    Update: Tuesday, January 17, 2012, 7:00 AM CST

    Brenda Norrell of Censored News has video interviews of three students at her site. Interviews were recorded at an MLK event yesterday.

    In the first one, the student describes how shelves were cleared of books during class.  In the second, the student points to a double standard. It is only the Mexican American Studies class and books in those classrooms that are being targeted. Those books include more than just ones by Latino/a authors. Amongst the curriculum are books by African American, Asian American, American Indian, feminist, and progressive writers. Other ethnic studies programs are being left alone.  In the third video, the student talks about the importance for all Americans of knowing the histories of all Americans.

    Update: Tuesday, January 17, 6:40 PM CST

    There are conflicting reports on how many books were removed. Cara Rene, spokesperson for the Tucson Unified School District says:
    "The books... have been moved to the district storage facility because the classes have been suspended as per the ruling by Arizona Superintendent (of) Public Instruction John Huppenthal," 
    The Tempest was not removed. According to the news story at Arizona Central (Update, 1/29/2012: Listen to an audio discussion between Curtis Acosta, MAS teacher, and TUSD administrators, discussing how he can and can not teach Tempest),
    Rene said the seven books removed from the classrooms were: "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 Acuña; "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" by Paulo Freire; and "Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years" by Bill Bigelow.


    UPDATE, TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 9:20 PM, CST:

    The Tucson Unified School District website has a statement with contradictory statements about the books they boxed up.  Below, I'm reproducing the statement in its entirety, and I am placing the contradictory statements in red. You can find the statement here. The copy below is accompanied with "Last updated: 01/17/2012 14:32:39".

    Reports of TUSD book ban completely false and misleading

    Posted on: January 17, 2012
    Contact: Cara Rene, Communication Director, (520) 225-6101, Cara.Rene@tusd1.org

    Tucson Unified School District has not banned any books as has been widely and incorrectly reported.

    Seven books that were used as supporting materials for curriculum in Mexcian American Studies classes have been moved to the district storage facility because the classes have been suspended as per the ruling by Arizona Superintendent for Public Instruction John Huppenthal. Superintendent Huppenthal upheld an Office of Adminstriation Hearings’ ruling that the classes were in violation of state law ARS 15-112.

    The books are:
    • 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
    NONE of the above books have been banned by TUSD. Each book has been boxed and stored as part of the process of suspending the classes. The books listed above were cited in the ruling that found the classes out of compliance with state law.

    Every one of the books listed above is still available to students through several school libraries. Many of the schools where Mexican American Studies classes were taught have the books available in their libraries. Also, all students throughout the district may reserve the books through the library system.

    Other books have also been falsely reported as being banned by TUSD. It has been incorrectly reported that William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” is not allowed for instruction. Teachers may continue to use materials in their classrooms as appropriate for the course curriculum. “The Tempest” and other books approved for curriculum are still viable options for instructors.

    The suspended Mexican American Studies classes were converted last week to standard grade-level courses with a general curriculum featuring multiple perspectives, as per the directive by the state superintendent. Students remained in classes with their teachers, who are now teaching general curriculum.

    As the district has taken action to comply with the order from the state, the goal of the district has continued to be to prevent disruption to student learning. Books used as instructional materials in the former Mexican American Studies classes were collected only from classrooms in schools where the courses were taught. Again, all the books are still available to students through the TUSD library system.

    In one instance, at Tucson High Magnet School, materials were collected from a filing cabinet while students were in class though teaching did not stop during the process.

    Tucson High Magnet School Principal Dr. Abel Morado acknowledges that the gathering of materials could have been accomplished outside of class time in all instances.

    “We had a directive to be in compliance with the law and acted quickly to meet that need,” says Morado. “Part of that directive is communicating with teachers, students and parents, and collecting materials. We regret that in one instance materials were collected during class time.”


    ________________________________________________________
    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

    Teaching critical thinking in Arizona: NOT ALLOWED

     [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.]
    ______________________________________


    Very early on Saturday, January 15, 2012, I read an article in Salon that said that Rethinking Columbus and the Tempest were being boxed up and removed from classrooms in Tucson, Arizona. They were part of the curriculum of the Mexican American Studies program in the school district. Due to the objection of some people in Arizona, that program has now been shut down.

    On January 13, 2012, Bill Bigelow of Rethinking Schools wrote about Rethinking Columbus being removed. Within its pages are items by Native people, including
    • Suzan Shown Harjo's "We Have No Reason to Celebrate"
    • Buffy Sainte-Marie's "My Country, 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying"
    • Joseph Bruchac's "A Friend of the Indians"
    • Cornel Pewewardy's "A Barbie-Doll Pocahontas"
    • N. Scott Momaday's "The Delight Song of Tsoai-Talee"
    • Michael Dorris's "Why I'm Not Thankful for Thanksgiving"
    • Leslie Marmon's "Ceremony"
    • Wendy Rose's "Three Thousand Dollar Death Song"
    • Winona LaDuke's "To the Women of the World: Our Future, Our Responsibility"


    As the day progressed, I began asking colleagues if anyone had a complete list of the books being removed. As of now (Sunday, January 15, 2012), several people are trying to find out more about the books that are being taken away.

    One colleague pointed me to an audit of the program that includes a lengthy list of books that auditors saw in the classrooms. It includes Sherman Alexie's Ten Little Indians and Tonto and the Lone Ranger Fist Fight in Heaven; it also includes Ofelia Zepeda's Ocean Power: Poems from the Desert



    One thing I noted in my quick read of the audit is that the students in the program outperformed students who were not in the program. Further research led me to a broadcast on Democracy Now. On December 29, 2011, Amy Goodman quoted from the audit:
    [A] Tucson Unified School District audit found its Mexican American Studies program gives students a measurable advantage over their peers. The audit was conducted by David Scott, the district’s director of accountability and research. In it, he wrote, quote, "Juniors taking a Mexican American Studies course are more likely than their peers to pass the [state’s standardized] reading and writing ... test if they had previously failed those tests in their sophomore year," and that "Seniors taking a Mexican American Studies course are more likely to persist to graduation than their peers."

    The Mexican American Studies program was built on critical thinking. Students learned how to think critically, to question texts, to look at moments in history and portrayals of Latino Americans and American Indians from more than one perspective.

    The books used in the program are terrific. Some are award winning children's literature, like Matt de la Pena's Mexican WhiteBoy




    Some are by writers who are not Latino or American Indian. An example of that is Jane Yolen's Twelve Impossible Things Before Breakfast. I asked Jane yesterday morning if she knew whether or not her book was being boxed up. She hadn't heard anything. 



    The list has some nonfiction on it, too. The auditors said that some of the books are not age-appropriate. According to the auditors, they belong in college, not high school classrooms. That, in my view, is bull. It is a convenient rationale for targeting those books that allows them to hide their fear of critical thinking. Nonfiction titles on the list include:
    • Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States
    • Jonathan Kozol's Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools
    • bell hooks' Feminism is for Everybody 

    Opponents of the program argued that the classes were promoting resentment toward a race or class of people. That race or class of people is white.

    In their (perhaps) unspoken words, thinking critically about America is dangerous and threatening to the existing power structure.

    I'm pretty sure that Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie is not on the list. Towards the end of that story, Pa learns that the federal government wants squatters (he doesn't use that word) to get off of Indian land. They load the wagon and as they drive away, they look back and see that that "their little log house and the little stable sat lonely in the stillness." Pa says that it is a great country, "but there will be wild Indians and wolves here for many a long day."  Books like Little House teach readers to resent a race or class of people, too, but I doubt it is being removed from classrooms in Tucson. 

    I'll post updates as I get them...  If you're in Tucson and saw books being boxed up, please write to me and provide me with titles. You can use my email address (dreese.nambe@gmail.com) or the Contact option in the menu bar above, or, if you prefer anonymity, use the comment box below.

    UPDATE, JAN 15, 2012, 12:50 PM, CST:
    Due to queries, I uploaded a list of the books listed in the audit:
    Mexican American Studies Department Reading List

    UPDATE, JAN 15, 2012, 1:10 PM, CST:
    Brenda Norrell of Censored News is covering the story and includes a response from Roberto Rodriguez.


    UPDATE, JAN 15, 2012, 4:20 PM, CST:
    For further reading:
    • House Bill 2281 -  "public school pupils should be taught to treat and value each other as individuals and not be taught to resent or hate other races or classes of people." 
    • Arizona District Court document on the Mexican American Studies program.
    UPDATE, JAN 16, 2012, 6:50 AM, CST:
    Precious Knowledge is a documentary about the Mexican American Studies program that includes powerful footage of students and teachers in the program, and, footage of state administrators who characterize the program and people in it as anti-American.  See the trailer and information about the documentary at Precious Knowledge.

    Below is a 30 minute clip about the program. Some of it is from Precious Knowledge. The young man who speaks at the 1:58 mark talks about administrators coming into his classroom last week on Friday and directing teachers to box their books. One young woman who works in the library as an aide says that library copies of books will likely remain on the shelves, but that the teachers cannot teach the books. The young woman at 22:20 said it was heartbreaking to watch their teachers box the books. It concludes in a classroom. The teacher speaks with great emotion, which leads me to think that this footage was filmed after House Bill 2281 was passed. [Video source: Three Sonorans channel on YouTube]



    Below is a clip of teacher, Yolanda Sotelo, talking about books and the events of last week. Administrators will visit classes to make sure the teachers are not teaching the banned books. [Video source: Three Sonorans channel on YouTube]




    UPDATE: MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2011, 2:05 PM CST:
    The Save Ethnic Studies website has an extensive archive of court documents, statements, transcripts, student work. 

    _________________________
    For ongoing AICL coverage, read through AICL from January 15 to the present or go directly to specific posts by clicking on links below:

    Sunday, January 15, 2012

    Tuesday, January 17, 2012

    Wednesday, January 18, 2012

    Thursday, January 19, 2012

    Friday, January 20, 2012

    Saturday, January 21, 2012

    Sunday, January 22, 2012

    Monday, January 23, 2012

    Tuesday, January 24, 2012


    ________________________________________________________
    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