Arizona’s Tucson Unified School District has removed books that were published by a UH publishing company series from classrooms in order to comply with state law ARS 15-112.
Two of the seven books being removed from classrooms were published as a part of Arte Público Press’ Hispanic Civil Rights series.
“Chicano! The History of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement” by Arturo Rosales and “Message to Aztlán: Selected Writings” by Rodolfo Gonzales were banned, said a UH news release.
Both books deal with the Mexican American civil rights movement, and their removal follows the dismantling of Mexican studies in schools in the beginning of the year.
According to the news release, APP has moved into a larger location at UH’s Energy Research Park. They now have more storage space for books, additional offices for their staff, and room for state-of-the-art book scanners and equipment necessary for working with EBSCO to digitize recovered work written by Latinos from the colonial period to present day.
APP is the nation’s largest and most established publisher of contemporary and recovered literature by US Hispanic authors. Books in the series highlight women’s activism, immigration reform, educational equity, citizen participation in a democratic society, civic culture and racial/cultural relations.
“Twenty-five years ago, our books were stored in university classroom closets, and now they sit in a massive warehouse. But in Arizona, they’re going back into the closet,” said Marina Tristán, APP’s assistant director, in the release.
Faculty members in the history department of UH who deal with Mexican-American history also commented on this recent controversy.
“The decision by the school district to ban Chicano studies courses and ban the books taught is based on the flawed notion that Mexican-American history is not American history,” says Raul Ramos, also an associate professor.
“These policies will have the opposite effect legislators intend, resulting in division and discord rather than unity and mutual understanding.”
By removing records of any single period of history, the school district is keeping its students from fully understanding other historical events, said Monica Perales, an associate professor.
“I am truly saddened by the events taking place in Tucson,” Perales said.
“The thing about history is that there is no single narrative of the past; there are multiple intersecting and sometimes conflicting perspectives. The tragedy here is that not only are Latino students being denied the right to have their history and culture valued, but that all students are going to miss out on understanding the richness and complexity of the American experience.”
It is hilarious to me that the same Daily Cougar that wrote an article condemning a group of business students selling a risque calendar *for charity* would label a *voluntary removal of a booK* as "censorship."
I really wish someone from the Cougar would come forward and defend its disgusting hypocrisy. We get it, you're incompetently progressive. But tell us why, or let us as your readership expose as the hypocritical liars you are. I'll add this to the stack of "articles to present to the Student Activity Fee Committee." We'll get you defunded yet! On second thought, keep going, it just adds to the body of evidence for your disservice to the student body that funds you.
Appeared under a DC Staff byline. Are you not on the staff?
How sad that in 2012 our children have to experience actions of hatred and racism in this beautiful country called United States.
But that's okay…
because for every two exceptional books that get locked inside a dark closet,
hundreds more will be created to continue teaching our children of one undeniable truth–
that American History is but the History of Immigration!!!!!!!!
The Daily Cougar censors a post on a story about 'censorship.' That's how I like my irony served.
I can see a high school or university realigning priorities to fund other things. For a university studies of Mexican-American history may not be as popular computer science or pre-med for example and with funding being limited maybe they had to change offerings to reflect student need and desire. If for example 1/3 of every student is enrolled in science classes every semester then the library needs a LOT more science oriented material. For secondary school I can see a school district focusing on the 3 R's and computing but taking the books out is a little extreme however if the library has limited room and needs more books on math, science etc and those books had low check out rates then it's not censorship it's making choices of need and extracting what is not popular. Really I think the same working for a university library. What gets put into a collection? Additionally the less popular books in terms of check outs could be put into cyber space or make them pdf.'s.
i love that mike is complaining about censorship after he said he wanted the DC defunded (censorship) because he didn't agree with an opinion article. class act, that guy. must've gotten an A in History 1 or something.
>i love that mike is complaining about censorship after he said he wanted the DC defunded (censorship) because he didn't agree with an opinion article
Mike complained about an article that advocated for censorship. He called for the DC to be defunded because it advocates for censorship, when it is nominally a tool for expression of the student viewpoint on news for the community.
> class act, that guy.
Thank you.
>must've gotten an A in History 1 or something.
Well, a 5 on the AP test – but we'll call it an A.
The time has come for Mexican-Americans to fully and finally decide whether they will continue to be regarded and regard themselves as "Latinos" or simply as "Mexican-Americans." "Latino" refers to all Peoples and cultures hailing from Latin America and the greater Hispanic World. Antonio Barrera, a Spaniard, Sofia Vergara, a Columbian immigrant, etc., are all regarded as "Latinos". The difference here is that Mexican-American History is inherently American History whereas the same isn't necessarily true for "Latino History." The Mexican presence in what today is known as the "Southwest" predates the American narrative and even the Spanish narrative (since "Mexican" is equal parts Spanish and indigenous) and consequently that of "Latinos" as well, many of whom were virtually non-existent in the US context as late as 10 to 15 years ago. So long as Mexican-Americans continue to allow others to define them and lump them together with immigrants, their history will forever elude those that determine for all us–institutionally speaking–what the US American litterary, historical, political, etc., canons are.