10 replies to this topic

[redlion]

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As part of the state-mandated termination of its ethnic studies program, the Tucson Unified School District released an initial list of books to be banned from its schools today. According to district spokeperson Cara Rene, the books “will be cleared from all classrooms, boxed up and sent to the Textbook Depository for storage.”

Facing a multimillion-dollar penalty in state funds, the governing board of Tucson’s largest school district officially ended the 13-year-old program on Tuesday in an attempt to come into compliance with the controversial state ban on the teaching of ethnic studies.

Some of the books included in the ban are Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years, Chicano!: The History of The Mexican Civil Rights Movement, and (!!!)The Tempest by William Shakespeare.

This is a sad day for educators everywhere.

[Waser Lave]

As much as I consider ethnic studies to be pointless that shouldn't be used as an excuse to ban books...

[Ladida]

I don't get it. Why are they packing up the books and sending them into storage? They could donate them to libraries. Just because they don't want to teach that stuff anymore doesn't mean it has to be locked away.

[Russell]

Ladida, on 17 January 2012 - 12:53 PM, said:

I don't get it. Why are they packing up the books and sending them into storage? They could donate them to libraries. Just because they don't want to teach that stuff anymore doesn't mean it has to be locked away.

Imagine your school books going to a library. Most of the books in my school are infested with penii - you see where the problem would be?

Edited by Russ, 17 January 2012 - 01:00 PM.

[Waser Lave]

Ladida, on 17 January 2012 - 12:53 PM, said:

I don't get it. Why are they packing up the books and sending them into storage? They could donate them to libraries. Just because they don't want to teach that stuff anymore doesn't mean it has to be locked away.

Presumably they think nobody should be exposed to that kind of thing but burning them on huge public bonfires would be too politically damaging.

[Bone]

This really grinds my gears.

My school district recently banned two books from AP English because a single parent complained. Fortunately, there has been extreme backlash and we're well on the way to reversing the decision, but it's things like this that make me hate people.

[redlion]

Waser Lave, on 17 January 2012 - 12:35 PM, said:

As much as I consider ethnic studies to be pointless that shouldn't be used as an excuse to ban books...

60% of the school district is latino. That's like asking you not to know who William the Conqueror was. It's their own history. The story of their own civil rights.

Besides, The Tempest?!?! Fuck that shit, that's about a Moor, not a latino.

[Waser Lave]

redlion, on 17 January 2012 - 05:40 PM, said:

60% of the school district is latino. That's like asking you not to know who William the Conqueror was. It's their own history. The story of their own civil rights.

We don't tend to have as much 'separation' as that over here, it's pretty much alien to me so it's pointless in a UK context. Regardless of that though, the way to deal with racial issues isn't to sweep it under the carpet by banning 'offensive' literature, they should be engaging that literature and helping people to understand the issues better.

[punkrockbigmouth]

It's like taking out all the books about slavery or Martin Luther King because you don't want the blacks to get any ideas.

I don't understand what is the benefit of turning a blind eye to your own, or someone else's culture's struggles. Women didn't always have rights. Blacks didn't always have rights. Mexicans were/are treated like second class citizens. Let's not get started on the homosexuals. Learning about these things aren't necessarily to empower these 'minorities' or to make the white man feel guilty, but should aid us in a better sense of equality and learning from our mistakes. You can't just erase the past. What the fuck.

[Waser Lave]

punkrockbigmouth, on 17 January 2012 - 06:07 PM, said:

You can't just erase the past.

I bet I could with a decent budget.

[supertrap]

Arizona Sucks.
Trust me.

West side all the way, but fuck all these conservative retired baby boomers.
They are the ones who elect people like sheriff joe etc.