An article written by Rheana Muray, for the NYDailyNews.com, and dated January 16, 2012, discusses a lengthy list of banned books in an Arizona school district. She states the school district is made up of mostly Mexican-Americans. The school district has slashed its ethnic studies program, and adds, “now the books are going too.”

Muray states that the Tucson Unified School District released a lengthy list that removes every book dealing with Mexican-American history, and even Shakespeare. She reports the school district’s intention is to change the school’s curriculum to avoid, “biased, political and emotionally charged” teaching. Adding, the teachers were urged to stay away from any books where “race, ethnicity and oppression are central themes.”

The article continues to say that schools will face multimillion-dollar fines if they do not comply with the ban. Muray implies that this ban has caused a backlash, citing opinions of bloggists’, text book writers, and university professors.

She states the opinion of Bill Bigelow, a text book author and editor of Rethinking Schools magazine, who says, “The only other time a book of mine was banned was in 1968, when the apartheid government in South Africa banned ‘Strangers in Their Own Country,’ a curriculum I’d written that included a speech by then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela.” He continued to report, “We know what the South African regime was afraid of.  What is the Tucson school district afraid of?”

This article was rich on the subject of banning ethnic studies and the text books that went with them. Muray gave excellent, professional opinions, and statistics, on why the ethnic studies and the corresponding text books should remain. It gave pertinent information to question why the Tucson School District would do such a thing, given the fact that more than 60% of the students in the district were of Mexican-American descent. The author answered the question she raised by noting the state superintendent John Huppenthal pushed for the changes, and the ban. The only other question it did not answer is why the superintendent pushed for those changes. In my opinion, that is where the next story should focus.


http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-01-16/news/30633590_1_book-ban-mexican-american-studies-ethnic-studies