(no subject)
If I rarely post to LJ anymore, it's because I'm busy student-teaching and taking courses and silly certification exams. But I did come across this posting in a blog I occasionally read...
In Arizona, bad ethnic studies bill becomes law
If you think that Arizona state government officials would have something better to do with their time than to go after an ethnic studies program that they don’t like, you’d be wrong.
The governor, Jan Brewer, has signed into law a bill that was passed because the state superintendent of public instruction, Tom Horne, who happens to be running for attorney general, dislikes a Mexican-American studies program in Tucson Unified School District that allows students to learn in history and literature courses about how particular ethnic groups influenced history, the Associated Press reported.
The bill, about which I wrote last week, prohibits any classes that:
* Promote the overthrow of the United States government.
* Promote resentment toward a race or class of people.
* Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group.
* Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.
...and made the mistake of scrolling through the 175+ comments of racist hater-ade. There were a few intelligent voices of reason, such as this one (comment dated May 12, 2010 4:33 PM):
I'm always amused by these people who talk about how we're all Americans. Oh really? Now, when the white people in this country are on the verge of being out numbered by the non-white people, some white people want to play the "but we're all Americans" card. However, for the vast majority of the history of this country, we weren't all Americans. White people were Americans. But Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, Samoans, Laplanders, and any other group that wasn't lily white was considered to be something less than American.
I used to live in Mississippi, and I'm old enough to remember when I couldn't even go to the same schools as white children. That wasn't in some long forgotten time. That happened in my lifetime. So, I have little sympathy nor concern for those who claim to be oh so worried about the country becoming divided. The country has always been divided, and it was the white people who did the dividing.
This law isn't about protecting America from Balkanization. This law is about some white people who think they have a God given right to run everything, feeling scared and resentful because they realize they no longer run everything. And please note that I'm saying some white people. Not all white people, not even most white people. But some white people definitely feel that way, and a lot of them seem to live in Arizona.
...and those voices deserve to be listened to. Thank you, sonny2.
In Arizona, bad ethnic studies bill becomes law
If you think that Arizona state government officials would have something better to do with their time than to go after an ethnic studies program that they don’t like, you’d be wrong.
The governor, Jan Brewer, has signed into law a bill that was passed because the state superintendent of public instruction, Tom Horne, who happens to be running for attorney general, dislikes a Mexican-American studies program in Tucson Unified School District that allows students to learn in history and literature courses about how particular ethnic groups influenced history, the Associated Press reported.
The bill, about which I wrote last week, prohibits any classes that:
* Promote the overthrow of the United States government.
* Promote resentment toward a race or class of people.
* Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group.
* Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.
...and made the mistake of scrolling through the 175+ comments of racist hater-ade. There were a few intelligent voices of reason, such as this one (comment dated May 12, 2010 4:33 PM):
I'm always amused by these people who talk about how we're all Americans. Oh really? Now, when the white people in this country are on the verge of being out numbered by the non-white people, some white people want to play the "but we're all Americans" card. However, for the vast majority of the history of this country, we weren't all Americans. White people were Americans. But Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, Samoans, Laplanders, and any other group that wasn't lily white was considered to be something less than American.
I used to live in Mississippi, and I'm old enough to remember when I couldn't even go to the same schools as white children. That wasn't in some long forgotten time. That happened in my lifetime. So, I have little sympathy nor concern for those who claim to be oh so worried about the country becoming divided. The country has always been divided, and it was the white people who did the dividing.
This law isn't about protecting America from Balkanization. This law is about some white people who think they have a God given right to run everything, feeling scared and resentful because they realize they no longer run everything. And please note that I'm saying some white people. Not all white people, not even most white people. But some white people definitely feel that way, and a lot of them seem to live in Arizona.
...and those voices deserve to be listened to. Thank you, sonny2.