6 Books Banned In the Tucson Unified School District

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Just over a year ago, a controversial ban (HR 2281) on ethnic studies classes in Arizona public schools went into effect. The law bans classes that “promote the overthrow of the United States government and resentment toward a race or class of people” and also prohibits courses that are designed “primarily for students of a particular ethnic group and those that advocate ethnic solidarity rather than treat students as individuals.” Critics, such as Care2′s Amelia Thomson-Deveaux, contended that the “law openly discriminates against minorities”; certainly the political climate in Arizona has been “unspeakably hostile to immigrants and minorities.”

The ban was proposed in response to the 13-year-old Mexican American history program in the Tucson Unified School District, in which more than 60 percent of the students are from Mexican American backgrounds. Noting that their courses are open to all students, the Tucson school district was initially not worried about the ban. But after being told that it would face a multimillion dollar penalty in the form of the loss of state funds, the district’s governing board has ended the Mexican-American history program.

In addition to the ethnic studies ban, the Tucson school district released a list of books that will be banned from its schools. A number of books from Mexican American studies classrooms have reportedly been boxed up and removed from classrooms.

Debbie Reese at American Indians in Children’s Literature (ACLC) has posted a list of the books from an audit of Tucson’s Mexican American Studies program; the findings were published in May of 2011. She writes that “At this point is is not known if all the books listed below were boxed and removed. They were placed in storage.”

Jeff Biggers at Salon has reviewed the list and found that it contains

Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Brazilian educator Paolo Freire (about the author’s “search for a way to fashion education into a transformative tool for individuals and society“)
Occupied America: A History of Chicanos by Rodolfo Acuña (described as “one of the few books that offers a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the major historical experiences of Chicanos that invokes critical thinking and intellectual discussion”)

Here are six more books that have been sent to the Tucson school district’s Textbook Repository because “race, ethnicity and oppression” are among their “central themes.”

I suppose you could say that it is a bit ironic that the state of Arizona, in the name of banning books about such “themes,” is conducting its own campaign of suppression of knowledge and learning in an effort resembling the tactics of repressive regimes.

Top photo of The Tempest by William Shakespeare via Wikimedia Commons

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Donna H.

9:29AM PST on Feb 18, 2012

Perhaps they'll burn the books next, as the Nazis did.

send a green star

Carola E.

9:27AM PST on Feb 18, 2012

Branda S., thank you for sharing what you've found!

9:24AM PST on Feb 18, 2012

Hi again Tina, I’m sorry if my comments sounded uninformed. I do not live in Tucson nor know anyone from the area personally. A while back John U. commented that there wasn’t a ban on books, so I looked the issue up on the internet (unfortunately my only source) and found two articles, which seemed rather reliable. I also invited John U. to explain further on the subject, since I am not about to believe any article I find online without room for arguments against it. For whatever reason, he didn’t. I understand that media may be biased, and journalists may be uninformed and blindly citing from unreliable sources, but this was all I could go by. The articles I found were these:

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2012/01/17/tusd-banning-book-well-yes-and-no-and-yes
http://www.salon.com/2012/01/18/tucson_says_banished_books_may_return_to_classrooms/

I do not understand what you mean by ‘how racial these classes were’. I have read that ‘Mexican American Studies’ have been suspended. I assume that if the studies are about the history of Mexican Americans, there will be discussion about race and discrimination, and the struggles ethnic minorities have undergone through the years –which is an undeniable fact.

I wonder, and I ask you because I believe you must know first-hand: what were the protests about, where the children chained themselves to chairs? Were they trying to prevent MAS from being shut down? I wonder, when h

Brenda S.

8:37AM PST on Feb 18, 2012

http://www.thenation.com/blog/160232/arizona-uprising-chained-ethnic-studies-students-take-over-school-board-tucson
wonderful article written by a caucasian! don't know how you can state this article is racially biased?

8:28AM PST on Feb 18, 2012

Here is the House Bill that the Tuscon schools are using to justify the banning of the books listed. I think that if you have looked at the books (I have) and the textbooks (I have obtained cHB 2281 prohibits all Arizona school districts and charter schools from including classes that either promote the overthrow of the United States government or promote resentment toward a race or class of people. This is the most important part of the bill:

15-111.Â Declaration of policy

The legislature finds and declares that public school pupils should be taught to treat and value each other as individuals and not be taught to resent or hate other races or classes of people. END_STATUTE

START_STATUTE15-112.Â Prohibited courses and classes; enforcement

A.Â A school district or charter school in this state shall not include in its program of instruction any courses or classes that:

1.Â Promote the overthrow of the United States government.

2.Â Promote resentment toward a race or class of people.

3.Â Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group.opies) you will find that there is little to no connection to what is referred to in the House Bill

8:22AM PST on Feb 18, 2012

ave you seen how the children are used in protests chaining themselves to chairs during these meetings? I have. Have you seen how these children were used as a means to advance political racial propaganda? I have. Have you reviewed the content of these books?

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/6-books-banned-tucson.html#ixzz1mkbCiO2E
Why is this peaceful protest wrong? How do you know they were "used" and weren't expressing themselves....They were exercising their constitutional right, and obviously there is more to this issue than is being discussed if you and the students are so impassioned about it. I never heard of the gentleman you were referring to until you mentioned him and upon researching his website, I saw nothing written as you stated...The only reference to the book ban that I found on his site was an argument that the books on ethnic studies were banned but an elective class of Bible studies was added. He wrote an informative article not a persuasive article, nor a person opinion article. I will continue to research this man as you've suggested to see if I can find writings that you've mentioned. If you have any references would you kindly place a URL address so that I could research him further...,l because I only see references to the constitution, and ACLU ....

6:26PM PST on Feb 15, 2012

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/31/arizona-ethnic-studies-ban-controversy_n_1243975.html
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2012/01/mexican-american-studies-department.html---list of all the books including curriculim
these are the literary books that are banned:
Course: English/Latino Literature 7, 8
Ten Little Indians (2004), by S. Alexie
The Fire Next Time (1990), by J. Baldwin
Loverboys (2008), by A. Castillo
Women Hollering Creek (1992), by S. Cisneros
Mexican WhiteBoy (2008), by M. de la Pena
Drown (1997), by J. Diaz
Woodcuts of Women (2000), by D. Gilb
At the Afro-Asian Conference in Algeria (1965), by E. Guevara
Color Lines: "Does Anti-War Have to Be Anti-Racist Too?" (2003), by E. Martinez
Culture Clash: Life, Death and Revolutionary Comedy (1998), by R. Montoya et al.
Let Their Spirits Dance (2003) by S. Pope Duarte
Two Badges: The Lives of Mona Ruiz (1997), by M. Ruiz
The Tempest (1994), by W. Shakespeare
A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America (1993), by R. Takaki
The Devil's Highway (2004), by L. A. Urrea
Puro Teatro: A Latino Anthology (1999), by A. Sandoval-Sanchez & N. Saporta Sternbach
Twelve Impossible Things before Breakfast: Stories (1997), by J. Yolen
Voices of a People's History of the United States (2004), by H. Zinn

Course: English/Latino Literature 5, 6
Live from Death Row (1996), by J. Abu-Jamal
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven (1994), by S. Alexie
Zorro (2005), b

william r.

12:06PM PST on Feb 15, 2012

Books banned from usage as text books are books banned. Book banners are thought police.
The good thing here, I hope and suppose, is that inevitably where books are banned they are being recognized, inadvertently, as potent and of profound interest. And those who believe banning them will quell controversy just may be fine examples of headpieces stuffed with PAC dollars rather than brains. I'm anglo, live part-time in Tucson, and as the firt official poet laureate of Tucson (1997-2002) I wrote and read to the City Council the first Poet Laureate Proclamation, which clearly celebrates the blessing of our multicultural Tucson population.

Tina G.

11:47AM PST on Feb 15, 2012

Carola E. -Research further, please, before you comment. The teachers may continue to use materials in their classrooms as appropriate for the course curriculum. And as I said before they are available in the school libraries. You have no idea as to how racial these classes were, yet you feel you do. Have you attended these school board meetings? I have. Have you seen how the children are used in protests chaining themselves to chairs during these meetings? I have. Have you seen how these children were used as a means to advance political racial propaganda? I have. Have you reviewed the content of these books? I have. Do you live in Tucson? I do. This article was prompted by false reports by Raza propagandist, David Abie Morales, are you familiar with him or his propaganda? I am. Have you really researched any of this? I have, would you care to debate this further? I would.