Arizona Has Lost It

[talon]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/12/arizona.ethnic.studies/index.html?hpt=T1

Yanno, I have never studied, taught, or participated in any ethnic studies class ever that "advocated the overthrow of the US government" (and that includes classes I studied or taught in other countries, not just the US) or that taught "resentment toward a race or class of people".

Apparently the goal was to force one single school district to stop teaching a particular class: The bill was pushed by state school Superintendent Tom Horne, who has spent two years trying to get Tucson schools to drop a Mexican-American studies program he said teaches Latino students they are an oppressed minority.. There doesn't seem to be any sort of proof that the class teaches what Mr. Horne claims, and I would think, if Mr. Horne is the superintendent of that school district, he has the power and authority to force changes in his district. If it's not his district (I haven't looked it up), then he needs to discuss it with the superintendent of that district, not go pushing for a law that applies to the whole state and breeds bad blood among US citizens.

The last thing we need in this country are laws that promote divisiveness, hatred, paranoia, and class/race distinctions.

I would not have boycotted Arizona over their misguided and poorly written border protection law, because I know they have serious problems entering their state from Chihuahua in Mexico and neither Mexico nor the US has done more than bandaid procedures. I don't agree with what they did and how they're going about it, but I can understand the frustration that led to it and the huge mess they've landed themselves in because now they have to re-write it properly and do some repeals and corrections and explanations and it will take a long time to do right what they tried to do hastily. But - I will boycott the state and its products over this because this isn't just frustration and a stupid move; this is vicious, unwarranted, and censorious. The other law was stupid, potentially vicious, and divisive, but it wasn't censorious and there was a widespread problem they were trying to fix ineptly. This law is taking one single problem in one small area and broadening it out to coat everyone in the state.