What is going on in Arizona?: State bans ethnic studies in schools

First it was a law that would force President Obama to show his birth certificate in order to be on a primary ballot, then it was an immigration law that allowed for the racial profiling of Hispanics, and now non-white students in Arizona will not be permitted to study the history of their own ethnic background in public schools. Which leads me to ask, 'what the f*ck is going on in Arizona?'

It's one thing to attempt to curb an immigration problem because illegal immigrants are in fact illegal - although I would argue the methodology - but to not teach children the truth about Mexican-American history because you don't like the outcome, doesn't mean you have the right to create a law that bans teaching it in schools. Because if that is the case, why don't they just take all of the terrible things that happened in our history out of school text books. I mean who needs to know about the near-extermination of Native Americans, or the enslavement and segregation of blacks, or the stealing of Mexican land, or the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, or any of the other gross injustices that have taken place in this country since its inception. The fact is that we already mollify these harsh truths in our text books enough and now we are just going to stricken it from teachings in order not to incite Hispanic students. And anyway, when has there ever been a backlash from these students due to these teachings? And maybe they should be a little pissed. I mean African Americans have the right to be upset over slavery and segregation, so shouldn't Hispanics have the right to be upset over the way they have been treated by this country? Especially in light of the new immigration bill.

The saddest part about this new law is that Superintendent Tom Horne was a major supporter of the bill. He says that such studies divide students, which leads me by this reasoning to ask, 'doesn't teaching white/European history also divide students?' All I know is that if I were a parent in Arizona, I would be calling for this man's resignation. It's one thing for some narrow-minded law maker to support such a bill, but for man who is in charge of educating students to support this, is like an editor supporting a ban on the Freedom of Information Act - it just wouldn't make any sense to give up the truth in a profession that demands the truth to be successful.

The reason why this is an important issue, which I believe to be unconstitutional at first glance, is that it is important for all of us to know the truth - White, Black, Asian, Native American, Hispanic and every other group that has settled in America. For if we don't learn our own history, we are doomed to repeat it! Which seems to be the case right now in Arizona. And if they don't start changing their attitude, then long after these laws have been repealed, and possibly even sooner, our history books will be including these same individuals - and who wants to be remembered for something as evil as racism, I guess Arizona.