The notion of being American has always been a joke to me because when we say “American,” we often forget it’s not just North America that counts. There’s an entire continent that escapes our notice. When it comes to our history, we also have the tendency to gloss over what we did to the natives to finally settle as our own country in 1776.
Texas used to belong to Mexico, and yet we continually profile Mexicans as “dirty” Hispanics who jump the fence into “America” to steal our jobs — because being American means being exclusively North American descended from the white Europeans who settled here.
To further the polished image white Europeans have managed to maintain, despite countless historical accounts of blatant racism, Arizona’s law banning Mexican-American studies was ruled constitutional.
The Huffington Post reported that the law, which passed in 2010, is still causing problems. It prohibits a Mexican-American studies curriculum in Tucson, which emphasizes Mexican-American literature and perspectives, because it fosters left-wing ideas and resentment of whites. The law bans any ethnic studies class for a specific ethnic group. Conservatives went as far as saying such courses “promote the overthrow of the U.S. government.”
Since when is looking at U.S. history from a non-white point of view indicative of anti-government sentiments? Schools educate students about the Middle Passage, slavery, the cruelties of plantation owners, the bombing of Japan and the killing of natives by giving them smallpox and syphilis, and no one’s attempted a coup or made up a ludicrous conspiracy theory.
According to the Post, even when Erwin Chemerinsky, who recently represented the students challenging the law, presented the findings of an audit of the controversial curriculum and the results of a study published in the American Education Research Journal, Arizona’s attorney, Leslie Kyman Cooper, said the law only aims to discontinue “divisive, segregated, separatist teaching.”
If that’s the case, then it follows that any curriculum that details the historical wrongdoings of whites in the U.S., past and present, should also be forbidden — a terrifying thought. The purpose of history is to learn from past mistakes, and if an entire country refuses to acknowledge its past, then what will its future hold?
The Post said the 2011 audit showed the curriculum promoted critical-thinking and recommended expansion of the program, and the study found that the curriculum helped improve student performance on standardized tests and increased the graduation rate among Latinos in the district.
The fact that the law persists today is appalling because it ignores non-white cultures’ perspectives of historical events. Looking at an issue from just one point of view is not effective. You can understand so much more about the past if you look at as many points of view as possible and not just a whitewashed one. Every point of view is equal in importance and has a place in history and in textbooks. Isolating history to fit the confines of pro-white culture contradicts the goal of education.
Of course, Cooper defended the law, which bans an obviously enriching curriculum, claiming it has no discriminatory nature against Mexican-Americans. I call shenanigans because conservative Arizona lawmakers are essentially targeting one group of people and saying they can’t relate to their cultural roots. Cooper’s argument folded in on itself when she stated that a course on Japanese history would violate the law, just because students of a Japanese background would be more likely to take it. Arizona is right next to Mexico, which means there are probably some Mexican-Americans in Arizona who are interested in taking a course they can relate to.
I can’t imagine a ban on a Canadian-American studies curriculum in a state with a large population of Canadians and Canadian-Americans, like California or Florida. Minus the distance, the case would be exactly the same as in Arizona. But the reason why the law exists in Arizona is because the U.S. has a negative history with Mexico. The law promotes intolerance of non-white culture and bias towards whites.
Cooper said, “I’m not sure it’s the purpose of the public school system to inculcate ethnic pride.” Yet she’s promoting white favoritism in the classroom by shooting down all other racial perspectives.
Meanwhile, a course at Arizona State University called “U.S. Race Theory & the Problem of Whiteness” has come under fire by Fox News for attacking white people and directing the blame for social injustices on whites. Lee Bebout, the white professor of the course, said he received hate mail following the Fox News segment bashing the course. So even when a course is about whites, it has to be how awesome they are and not about racism.
ASU issued a statement that said, “The class is designed to empower students to confront the difficult and often thorny issues that surround us today and reach thoughtful conclusions rather than display gut reactions. A university is an academic environment where we discuss and debate a wide array of viewpoints.”
This is how we should handle ignorant censoring of courses regarding race. By following ASU’s example, race can be talked about constructively. As a delicate, yet controversial, issue, a stand has to be made to promote teaching the truth, not burying it. The only way to combat bigotry is to have educated discussion, which we can’t have if people aren’t being educated in the first place.
Maybe this is why we’re so low in ranking when it comes to education. Close-minded conservatives can’t stand the thought of young people being exposed to the truth of the U.S.’s past, which, unfortunately, is painted red, bleached white and bruised blue, all thanks to racism.
