Why We Need Humane Education: Books & Mexican American Studies Banned in AZ

Image courtesy of Rethinking Schools.

In 2010 Arizona passed a law that "authorizes the state superintendent to stop any ethnic studies classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, promote resentment toward a race or class of people, are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals." In the last couple of weeks, there has been a lot of fall out from the Tucson school district's decision to suspend its Mexican American Studies (MAS) program in order to avoid being financially penalized. As part of the program's suspension, the district has also decided to "confiscate" seven books from the curriculum and to ask that the other nearly 50 titles used in the MAS program be removed from classrooms. To find out more, here are a few essays & blog posts worth reading:

"Rethinking Columbus Banned in Tucson" by Bill Bigelow of Rethinking Schools

"Mexican American Studies Department Reading List" by Debbie Reese of American Indians in Children's Literature

"Breaking 'the Madness' of the Tucson Book Ban: Interview with Mexican American Studies Teacher Curtis Acosta on The Tempest" by Jeff Biggers of Huffington Post

"Mexican American Studies: Ban Ban or Bad Class" NPR interview with AZ school superintendent John Huppenthal


One of the purported goals of the law (and of the suspension of the MAS program) is to prevent courses that "promote resentment toward a race or class of people," but given that all instruction and curriculum has some bias, how is it possible to completely avoid teaching something that might not "promote resentment toward a race or class of people"? As NPR interviewer Michel Martin asks:

"... if the provision of the law is that a class can't promote resentment, how would you measure that? I mean, couldn't pretty much anything promote resentment, even if historically true? Like, for example, I mean the Holocaust. You mentioned Mein Kampf. I mean, couldn't you presumably learn about the Holocaust and feel resentment if you were a person of a number of backgrounds? If you were a person of Jewish background? If you were a person of - if you were gay or a lesbian, if you were a disabled person, wouldn't that - I'm just wondering how you can teach something in a manner where you are going to guarantee what a student may or may not feel."

And, from a CNN report: "A witness for the school system argued that teaching students 'historical facts of oppression and racism' was less likely to promote 'racial resentment' -- something specifically banned by the 2010 law -- than ignoring that history."

What's happening in Arizona is a great opportunity for discussion in classrooms, but it's also another example of why humane education is so important. If students aren't taught to think critically and deeply about issues, and to consider broader perspectives, different viewpoints, and their own and others' biases, then they're more likely grow up tied to a narrower, stricter worldview that fears differing perspectives and thoughtful discussion and exploration about difficult issues, and to react to that fear in ways that may harm others.

~ Marsha

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