might get those Caucasian-American kids all ethnic solidarity thingy and want to overthrow the government or something :sarcasm:
Eurocentrism Reigns Supreme: Arizona Bans Ethnic Studies
http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/04/30/eurocentrism-reigns-supreme-arizons-bans-ethnic-studies/The classroom is and has always been a political space.
This is a textbook example of Eurocentrism and Whiteness in action–and the irony here is priceless. Pursuant to this new law, children of color and their parents in Arizona should sue to demand that funding be cut off to most public schools because from American history to English to Science and the Arts, the curriculum as presently taught devalues people of color, encourages White solidarity, is designed to reinforce Whiteness as the “normal” and “preeminent” state of being, and generates resentment on the part of those left out of America’s grand narrative.
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Last week Arizona instituted draconian laws that were designed to curb illegal immigration. In an effort to one up themselves, the state legislature has now passed a resolution banning “Ethnic Studies” programs in public schools. Once more, for those of you who are not connecting the dots between white racial resentment and the Tea Party movement; resurgent White Nationalism in the moments since Obama’s election; and White anxiety about the “browning of America,” here is another data point.
When the tea baggers and the Vox Right Wing Populi harp on about taking “their America back,” those dead-enders do in fact want to take America back to the good old days when black and brown folk were silent and obedient–at least as seen by the gaze of the White imagination:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQNQvyuGt0o&feature=player_embeddedAlthough this bill is initially limited to public schools, one should make careful note of the language. “Ethnic Studies” is a particular nomenclature that applies almost exclusively to colleges and universities. On one hand, as someone who loosely works in Ethnic Studies I am emboldened and pleased that the essentially political nature of our work is identified as such by our enemies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTaLZY4SmFI&feature=player_embedded