Anti-Ethnic Studies law: Star editorial good, Eugene Robinson column better

by David Safier

It's unfair of me to compare a Star editorial with a column by Eugene Robinson, one of the finest stylists and most incisive analysts in the business. But if you only read one piece, read Robinson's beginning to end. It's brilliant.

The Star editorial, Horne's mind is made up; why bother with facts?, is a terrific smack down of a man who has slammed TUSD's Ethnic Studies program without looking into it himself. The head of Arizona's public schools definitely deserves an F from any teacher for not doing any real research before he handed in his paper, and the Star lets him have it.

Robinson's column, In Arizona, just say no to Latino heritage, dissects the bill and its intent brilliantly. Here's a paragraph near the end which explains what's behind the anti-Ethnic Studies legislation. With our Hispanic population increasing, some non-Hispanics see the growing numbers as a threat.

To counter the threat, solidarity among Mexican Americans has to be delegitimized. The group itself has to be atomized — has to be taught to see itself as a population of unaffiliated individuals. The social, cultural and historical ties that have united people across the border since long before there was a border must be denied.

And here's a classic Robinson paragraph that exposes how the anti-Ethnic Studies law and SB1070 reinforce the notion that Hispanics are oppressed in the state, a fact which Horne's Law says should not be taught.

Horne claims the Tucson classes teach "ethnic chauvinism." He has complained that young Mexican Americans are falsely being led to believe that they belong to an oppressed minority. The way to dispel that notion, it seems, is to pass oppressive new legislation aimed squarely at Mexican Americans. That'll teach the kids a lesson, all right: We have power. You don't.

Read the whole column. Great stuff.