by David Safier Question: which is harder to define, obscenity or political speech? It's a tough one. Both are in the eyes and ears of the beholder. But if I had to make a choice, I'd say political speech is the slipperier of the two. If Lori Klein's two bills become law, both obscenity — … Read more
by David Safier Lisa Chan starred in a political ad shown in Michigan during the Super Bowl which has been widely panned as being racist. It was clear Chan was an actress reading from a script, not stating her own beliefs. She could easily have ducked responsibility by "apologizing" to people who imagined the words … Read more
by David Safier While he was being interviewed on KNST radio, TUSD Board member Michael Hicks made a vile, unsubstatiated comparison between a group of TUSD students attending a UA Mexican-American Studies class and the sexual abuse which allegedly occurred at Penn State. When given an opportunity at Tuesday's school board meeting, Hicks refused to … Read more
by David Safier Christine Sleeter is "a professor emerita of teacher education at California State University, Monterey Bay, and the president of the National Association for Multicultural Education." I put that information first to acknowledge where her priorities are. Sleeter is a strong advocate for multicultural education. That said, she has written a paper, The … Read more
by David Safier
On Friday, I sent an email to each of the TUSD Board Members concerning Michael Hicks' statement on a radio show comparing TUSD middle school students attending a UA Mexican-American Studies course to the alleged sexual abuse at Penn State. You can read the text of my letter at the end of the post.
That same day, Michael Hicks sent me an email response:
Thank you for your email.
I had concerns about how the statement I made was interpreted by the public. I'm attaching a copy of a letter that I sent to the Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Thank you again
I'm including a pdf of the letter Hicks wrote to Dr. John P. Jones, Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, as an attachment.
Hicks also called me — I included my phone number in the email I sent to the Board. I wasn't home, so he left a message inviting me to call him back if I had any further questions.
I called him this afternoon. The phone call ended when, after a 10-15 minute conversation, Hicks decided he didn't want to talk with me anymore and hung up.
My summary of the phone conversation is going to take awhile. If you're interested, you can read it below the fold.