Sunday, March 18, 2012

Tucson School District Releases List of Banned Ethnic Studies Books, Includes Shakespeare

Jan 18, 2012
In Arizona, Tucson school district officials have released a list of books to be banned from the school system following last week’s vote to suspend the district’s acclaimed Mexican American Studies program due to a state ban on the teaching of ethnic studies.



The banned books initially included "Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years," edited by Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson; Shakespeare’s play "The Tempest"; "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" by Paulo Freire; "Occupied America: A History of Chicanos" by Rodolfo Acuña; and "Chicano!: The History of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement" by F. Arturo Rosales.



Later, the list was expanded. Tucson school district officials ordered to confiscate teaching materials, artwork, posters, and more books. Officials said the books were not banned, but the confiscation happened – in some cases, in front of the students – involved more than 50 books. The books are “not banned” (but merely “confiscated”). They have been removed from the classrooms and boxed. It’s as if the presence of these books inside classrooms constitutes a distraction or bad influence. Apparently, students should not be able to even see those books in the classrooms. They include:



  • Critical Race Theory, by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic
  • 500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures, edited by Elizabeth Martinez
  • Message to Aztlán, by Rodolfo Corky Gonzales
  • Chicano! The History of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement, by F Arturo Rosales
  • Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, by Rodolfo Acuña
  • Pedagogy of the Oppressed, by Paulo Freire
  • Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years, by Bill Bigelow
  • The Tempest, by Shakespeare



The MAS-TUSD curriculum comprises some 50 books. All have been or are being removed or confiscated from every classroom; teachers are being told to turn in the books that have not been “confiscated”. This might strike the average person as odd: it’s as if the presence of these books inside classrooms constitutes a distraction or bad influence. Apparently, students should not be able to even see those books in the classrooms.



Teachers have also been informed to stay away from any books where "race, ethnicity and oppression are central themes."
Democracy Now.Com, Tucson Citizens.Com

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