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talkpoliticsWhile I'm in favor of the immigration laws that will (hopefully) go into effect in Arizona (especially considering the news that an AZ Deputy was wounded today, allegedly by an illegal immigrant), the latest law signed by Gov. Jan Brewer is just ridiculous.
I agree that people should be looked at as equals, you shouldn't ignore history and people certainly shouldn't be forced to learn only one side of any story. Why is it that the law allows Native American studies to continue while other ethnic groups are left out? The law will continue education about the Holocaust, but what about the Japanese internment camps in the United States - will they be ignored?
The immigration law should be open for debate, but banning ethnic studies courses is clearly a separatist maneuver on the part of the Arizona state legislature and should not be tolerated under any circumstances.
The measure targets an ethnic studies program from a Tucson school district. It would prohibit classes that advocate ethnic solidarity, that are designed primarily for students of a particular race or that promote resentment toward a certain ethnic group.Source
The Tucson Unified School District program allows students to take history and literature courses that include information about the influence of a particular ethnic group. District officials believe it would comply with the new bill.
Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction, Republican Tom Horne — who's running for attorney general — has been trying for years to pass a bill limiting the program after learning that Hispanic civil rights activist Dolores Huerta told Tucson high school students in 2006 that "Republicans hate Latinos."
Horne said he believes the district's Mexican-American studies program teaches Latino students that they are oppressed by white people. Public schools should not be encouraging students to resent a particular race, he said.
"A fundamental American value is that we're all individuals, and what race we were born into is not relevant," Horne said.
I agree that people should be looked at as equals, you shouldn't ignore history and people certainly shouldn't be forced to learn only one side of any story. Why is it that the law allows Native American studies to continue while other ethnic groups are left out? The law will continue education about the Holocaust, but what about the Japanese internment camps in the United States - will they be ignored?
The immigration law should be open for debate, but banning ethnic studies courses is clearly a separatist maneuver on the part of the Arizona state legislature and should not be tolerated under any circumstances.
