Anatomy of Banning a Worldview

Anatomy of Banning a Worldview

Saturday, 05 October 2013 10:14
By Roberto Cintli Rodriguez, Truthout | Opinion


I have heard authors openly complain of never having had their books banned by Arizona's Grand Inquisitors. I suppose it's a form of street cred, yet the truth is that censorship and banishment are not a badge of honor - but evidence of something very sick.

The Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) book ban was part of the district's shutting down of a curriculum and a department. Even more importantly, in collusion with the state and its anti-ethnic-studies law, HB 2281, it banned a worldview, or at least attempted to do so.

That effort included the banning of books, yet it is important to understand two things. First, when the state began its assault on Tucson's highly successful Raza Studies Department, there was nothing wrong with the department, except its size: It was too small. Second, that assault was undeniably predicated on the idea, compliments of then-state Superintendent of Schools Tom Horne, that Raza studies resides outside of Western civilization.

In 1997, when the department was founded, I was co-writing a nationally syndicated weekly column with Patrisia Gonzales. Throughout the life of the department, we were in regular contact with the director and its teachers, who used our weekly columns or books as part of the curriculum. We often spoke in classrooms or conferences. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/19184-anatomy-of-banning-a-worldview