| www.democracynow.org - Public school officials in Tucson, Arizona, have released a list of seven banned books that can no longer be used in classrooms following their suspension of the district's acclaimed Mexican American Studies program. Last year, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal ruled the program violated a new state law, saying it "promote[s] resentment toward a race or class of people." "If all you're teaching the students is one viewpoint, one dimension, we can readily that see it is not an accurate history, its not an education at all, its not teaching these kids to think critically," Hupenthal says. "Instead its an indoctrination." We host a debate between Huppenthal and Richard Martinez, the attorney representing teachers and students trying to save the Mexican American Studies program. "What has occurred here is [Huppenthal] has taken away from our entire community a curriculum that was adopted by our school board, that was developed by our school district, and that has successfully operated for well over 10 years," Martinez says. "It's just part of the same kind of tactics that have been employed in Arizona reflected by [SB] 1070 — the anti-immigrant perspective, it is the anti-Latino perspective that exists in this state." Click here to watch part 2 of 2: youtu.be To watch the complete daily, independent news hour, read the transcript, download the podcast, and for the additional information about Democracy Now!, visit www ... |
