It is amazing how far some Americans will go to express their racial hatred- to the point of banning knowledge. Instead of hating knowledge how about adding a civics course to all schools?All schools in the country- before we lose whatever institutions of democracy we have left. So future generations can repair the damage the rethugs have done.

Is it right to pick one ethnicity to teach about its history, and not others? What about people whose ancestors in AZ were German or French or Spanish from Spain? Or Asian? And to require it to be taught to people of German ancestry, while not requiring people of Mexican ancestry to learn German history? Shouldn't it just be the history of the state, which would naturally include a lot of Mexican history?

I live in Tucson. When I go to the mall or grocery store, I hear as much Spanish as I do English. Most of the residents were here longer than the white man. Some of them are native Americans as there are tribes all over AZ and in Tucson. The only German or English locals are transplants from other states like me. I didn't grow up here and I respect the natives that have been here for centuries. These kids wanted to learn about Mexican history because it wasn't being taught in the schools.

"the law, which banned courses designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group"

Mexican American studies were prevalent in the state because of the number of people with that heritage - but the law which prohibited those studies did not single out that heritage. It was a blanket ban on teaching about any ethnic groups.

The law was intended to stop teaching about ethnic groups the legislature intended to target but its effects could be extended to any group that a school board wanted to discriminate against.

If the plan was to teach the real history...but that would likely show how those ancestors from Germany, France or Spain weren't above being racists, and treating the indigenous natives, those of mixed blood and Asians, worse then they treated cattle or dogs!!

You imply that ethnic studies and regional history are two different names for the same discipline. They are not.

They are in fact, two wholly separate disciplines with overlap, of course-- much as physics and calculus are two separate disciplines which also borrow heavily from each other.

Is it right to pick one mathematics discipline to teach in a Physics course and not others if irrelevant to that course syllabus?

That said, the proposed law would have prohibited the teaching of any (let's repeat that word: ANY) ethnic group (ergo, the discipline called Ethnic Studies would also have been prohibited from teaching), regardless of its relevance to regional history.

The bigoted right has nothing but contempt for the Constitution.

....Tashima also criticized John Huppenthal and Tom Horne, the former Arizona state superintendents of public instruction who pushed to pass the ban.

“Defendants were pursuing these discriminatory ends in order to make political gains,” the judge wrote. “Horne and Huppenthal repeatedly pointed to their efforts against the [Mexican American studies] program in their respective 2011 political campaigns, including in speeches and radio advertisements. The issue was a political boon to the candidates.”