On Tuesday, the governing board of the Tucson Unified School District was supposed to consider a plan that would allow Mexican-American History and Mexican-American Literature to be offered as electives, instead of required courses. A disrupting group of students chained themselves to desks in a form of protest screaming, “Our education’s under attack! What do we do? Fight back!”
In response to these unlawful individuals and those in favor of the implementation of the Mexican-American classes, a group of faculty and community members created a group called Save Ethnic Studies. They are headquartered in Tucson, Ariz. and aim to fight Arizona House Bill 2281 and any efforts that threaten ethnic studies curriculum throughout the state.
Their defense is that this bill will decrease the Latino dropout rate, and provide students with a more “enriching” schooling experience. This is absurd. Latinos dropping out of school is not caused due to a lack of Mexican-American history in the classrooms. Also, taking a single history class will not miraculously create a diverse mindset in these individuals.
Looking at Arizona HB 2281, it clearly reads, “nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict or prohibit the instruction…or the historical oppression of a particular group of people based on ethnicity, race, or class.”
There is no reason to implement diversity intensive classes that are geared toward one demographic. This is an insult to teachers across the country and implies that history classes now are from a Caucasian viewpoint, which certainly is not the case.
According to The New York Times, “nearly all of those attending Curtis Acosta’s Latino literature class on a recent morning were Mexican-American.”
Where is the diversity in this? These classes should be indeed offered; however, they should be available with more than one cultural representation. What good are these classes doing if only the Hispanic population is taking them?
This is not helping anything, and should be proof enough to not make these classes required.
Similar programs for Black, Asian and Native American students have been left untouched. One diversity intensive class cannot be required if others are not.
This is a class that is segregating any implementation of diversity. These classes are still offered to whomever choses to take them, they just are not mandatory. In any school district across the United States, everyone is required to take U.S. History and World History. Both of these have influence on multiple races, ethnicities and anthropological influences. If someone has a desire to become engaged and specialized in one culture or demographic, then they can choose to do so in college. High school is not for specialized areas; it is all about general requirements.
The TUSD planned on meeting this Thursday, but this is ironically Cinco de Mayo, so they will meet Tuesday to discuss further implications of ethnic studies. Education has standards to uphold, and while being affluent in multiple cultures around the world is ideal, this should not be forced.