Arizona Bans Teaching "Ethnic Culture" Classes in Public Schools... Whats next? A State Sized Dome to Keep People from Turning Brown???

You have to be kidding me Arizona? This cannot be true. Your legalization of racial profiling has not even been enacted and you are already going after the non-white children of your state? Guess who those children are? YOUR future governors, senators, representatives, mayors, city councils!!! How can you exclude any ethnic group from your public school curriculums? Is it really what is best for your state? If you guys were not going down the drain; you definitely are now!
Let me tell you something. The History of the World is about oppression. The History of America's longest chapter is about OPPRESSION! From Christopher Columbus slaughtering Natives, Pilgrims murdering and infecting Natives with small pox, Africans being brought to America and forced into slavery, the descendants of those Africans being lynched for well over another century after they were set free, Western settlers raping and murdering Mexicans who were driven from the land that we now call California-Nevada-Colorado-New Mexico-Texas-ARIZONA, the descendants of those aforementioned slavea and lynched Africans being denied rights based on the color of their skin, women and gays being denied rights!!! Did I leave anyone out, I'm sure I did because that is how much oppression this land has seen.
But enough of this rant for now... Let us look at the newest racism to come from the state of Arizona... (Words in CAPS and Bold are actual text from the bill)

A SCHOOL DISTRICT OR CHARTER SCHOOL IN THIS STATE SHALL NOT INCLUDE
IN ITS PROGRAM OF INSTRUCTION ANY COURSES OR CLASSES THAT INCLUDE ANY OF THE
FOLLOWING:
1. PROMOTE THE OVERTHROW OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.
Seriously? I have taken Ethnic culture classes at all levels of my education. I have taken "Black Thought", "Ethnic Thought" "Asian American Lit", "Native American Studies", "Latin American studies", "Gay Culture". Not one of these classes EVER promoted the overthrow of the US Government. These classes were at both High School and College level. Show me!

2. PROMOTE RESENTMENT TOWARD A RACE OR CLASS OF PEOPLE.
Never part of any curriculum I have ever studied. Opinions are going to be based on an individual basis on experiences and education... Something this bill is supposed to promote!

3. ARE DESIGNED PRIMARILY FOR PUPILS OF A PARTICULAR ETHNIC GROUP. I, as a Latino, never felt that any Ethnic history or culture class was not for me. Nor did I ever feel excluded because of my race.

4. ADVOCATE ETHNIC SOLIDARITY INSTEAD OF THE TREATMENT OF PUPILS AS
INDIVIDUALS.
So, we should not identify with those who hold similar ideals? We should be on our own. I'm sorry Arizona, but I do not think I want to be a Latino individual in YOUR state. My American ass might end up in an ICE detention center for forgetting my "freedom papers".

THIS SECTION SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED TO RESTRICT OR PROHIBIT: COURSES OR CLASSES THAT INCLUDE THE HISTORY OF ANY ETHNIC GROUP AND
THAT ARE OPEN TO ALL STUDENTS, UNLESS THE COURSE OR CLASS VIOLATES
SUBSECTION A.
Again can someone please show me the curriculum or textbook that excluded other students from a public school curriculum? Doesn't this contradict the law banning ethnic studies anyways? Who writes this shit?

NOTHING IN THIS SECTION SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO RESTRICT OR PROHIBIT
THE INSTRUCTION OF THE HOLOCAUST, ANY OTHER INSTANCE OF GENOCIDE, OR THE
HISTORICAL OPPRESSION OF A PARTICULAR GROUP OF PEOPLE BASED ON ETHNICITY,
RACE, OR CLASS.
Okay, so you guys have not fully been influenced by the Police state of Iran (Yes, I just compared Arizona to Iran) at least you still recognize that the Holocaust still happened... for now. What about the genocide of the native Americans? The Mexicans? The African Americans? The assassinations of our Civil Rights leaders like Dr. King and Harvey Milk? Will these be part of the curriculum? I doubt it, I had to seek out this knowledge... often times paying expensive tuition to learn of these events. I want to see your curriculum... I doubt these events are portrayed very extensively or at all in your history books, Arizona.

Am I reading the rest of this bill right? Does this bill advocate corporal punishment and physical force against students? What do you think is going to happen in Arizona? WOW.

I cannot see how banning ethnic culture classes in Arizona is going to benefit anyone in that state. I want to see the history and culture books you are going to use that will be beneficial to the students of Arizona, white and non-white alike. You know what the people of Arizona are going to be like without learning about other cultures and having the state pick and choose its truths? Well... I guess... much like the people who are in charge now.

American history did not start when Columbus "discovered" America. Her history is richer than that. America's history dates back to Ancient Egyptians, European Kingdoms, Roman Empires, tribesman and kingdoms of Africa, Asian Dynasties, Spanish Conquistadors, Aztecs, Jesus Christ, Buddah, Muhammad, Abraham, Allah/God. All of these and many more are part of what makes America so great. None of the cultures in America are any better than the rest. We are all part of what makes America so great. We have a rich history and if YOU do not like it Arizona, go ahead and go away. We will not miss you.

Immigrants in Our Own Land

Immigrants in Our Own Land


We are born with dreams in our hearts,

looking for better days ahead.

At the gates we are given new papers,

our clothes are taken

and we are given overalls like mechanics wear.

We are given shots and doctors ask questions.

Then we gather in another room

where counselors orient us to the new land

we will now live in. We take tests.

Some of us were craftsmen in the old world,

good with our hands and proud of our work.

Others were good with their heads.

They used common sense like scholars

use glasses and books to reach the world.

But most of us didnít finish high school.



The old men who have lived here stare at us,

from deep disturbed eyes, sulking, retreated.

We pass them as they stand around idle,

leaning on shovels and rakes or against walls.

Our expectations are high: in the old world,

they talked about rehabilitation,

about being able to finish school,

and learning an extra good trade.

But right away we are sent to work as dishwashers,

to work in the fields for three cents an hour.

The administration says this is temporary

so we go about our business, blacks with blacks,

poor whites with poor whites,

chicanos and indians by themselves.

The administration says this is right,

no mixing of cultures, let them stay apart,

like in the old neighborhoods we came from.



We came here to get away from false promises,

from dictators in our neighborhoods,

who wore blue suits and broke our doors down

when they wanted, arrested us when they felt like,

swinging clubs and shooting guns as they pleased.

But itís no different here. Itís all concentrated.

The doctors donít care, our bodies decay,

our minds deteriorate, we learn nothing of value.

Our lives donít get better, we go down quick.



My cell is crisscrossed with laundry lines,

my T-shirts, boxer shorts, socks and pants are drying.

Just like it used to be in my neighborhood:

from all the tenements laundry hung window to window.

Across the way Joey is sticking his hands

through the bars to hand Felipe a cigarette,

men are hollering back and forth cell to cell,

saying their sinks donít work,

or somebody downstairs hollers angrily

about a toilet overflowing,

or that the heaters donít work.



I ask Coyote next door to shoot me over

a little more soap to finish my laundry.

I look down and see new immigrants coming in,

mattresses rolled up and on their shoulders,

new haircuts and brogan boots,

looking around, each with a dream in his heart,

thinking heíll get a chance to change his life.



But in the end, some will just sit around

talking about how goodÝ the old world was.

Some of the younger ones will become gangsters.

Some will die and others will go on living

without a soul, a future, or a reason to live.

Some will make it our of here with hate in their eyes,

but so very few make it out of here as human

as they came in, they leave wondering what good they are now

as they look at their hands so long away from their tools,

as they look at themselves, so long gone from their families,

so long gone from life itself, so many things have changed.





Jimmy Santiago Baca

Arizona Law = Jim Crow... Great Commentary from a Classmate of ours...

>>>Do we spot an illegal immigrant by the way they dress, speak, and/or act in a public setting? What assumptions do we make in order to determine that they ARE un-documented? The reason why I am equating this bill with the Jim Crow system is because POLICE ARE USING THE SAME SYSTEM TO IDENTIFY A BLACK PERSON TO DETERMINE IF THEYRE FREED SLAVES OR RUNAWAY SLAVES. I have spoken with descendants of slaves in the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia. So therefore, the way I equated the bill with this system IS valid. Oftentimes, whites will stop Black men and Black women in a public setting thinking they are runaway slaves. And oftentimes if they can't prove it or they don't have their FREEDOM PAPERS with them, they will be prosecuted or beaten. So therefore, their "FREEDOM PAPERS" have to be with them AT ALL TIMES or they risk being thrown back into slavery. SO IN ORDER TO AVOID PROSECUTION. DO HISPANICS HAVE TO CARRY PROPER DOCUMENTS WITH THEM NOW AT ALL TIMES TO PROVE THAT THEY ARE LEGAL ALIENS?

>>>So yes, I am UNEDUCATED, I am IGNORANT, I am MIS-INFORMED. And I, along with many MINORITIES, are prominent LIARS and WE always make baseless allegations of Racism, and the narratives of slaves that have been erased in our history is NOT REAL. And this Arizona Bill is not UNJUST in order to keep these Mother fuckin' Bottom Feeders off "YOUR-Diverse-Everyone-is- Welcoming-COUNTRY." And the US policing system HAS been entirely reformed since slavery… in your white eyes at least. (Read Kristian Williams' "Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America"--- I know you won't because I's un-Educated)

>>>To say the least, the bill's aim is to "identify", prosecute, and deport illegal immigrants. The question is: how will Arizona identify illegal immigrants? That's right… I forgot… the same way law enforcement nationwide has inefficiently identified every Black men & women as runaway slaves when proper document is lacking- the same way law enforcement has inefficiently indentified Black, Brown, and Native men of today with the preconceived notion that they're all criminals until proven innocent.

>>>Remember this: YOU DON'T BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU. Because in reality, you and I know that we middle and upper class people think that these farm jobs are beneath us. This country won't survive without them. Let's say Obama just says: "You white people are right, what was I thinking?… let's haul all of 'em and put these people on produce trucks then drive them to the border"--- Let's just see if your Mammy will be on her knees for 12 hours or more a day in Washington or California farms harvesting potatoes, or picking apples and cherries on orchards. So before you say grace- make sure to Thank the Hispanic people that harvested that lettuce and tomato in your salad.

>>>Since our job as people of color is to make you feel comfortable, It would probably be easier for you if you heard a white man saying what minorities have been saying regarding Racism, so I recommend you read WHITE LIKE ME by an antiracist named TIM WISE. (Again, Tim Wise might not be real "cus Im not learnin nuttin' in da skool house.")

>>>His words would carry more validity, because afterall- I AM un-EDUCATED and "Im not knowin' nothin better then jes cause all these rawkus on white folks." Thank You. Have a Nice Day.