Melvin votes against allowing teaching of the Holocaust

by David Safier

This is . . . really something.

Al Melvin is all for HB 2281, the anti-ethnic studies bill whose title should probably be "The Tom Horne anti-TUSD La Raza Studies Bill." Melvin voted for it along with his fellow Republicans.

But before the final vote, he voted against an amendment that says you can still teach about "the Holocaust, any other instance of genocide, or the historical oppression of a particular group of people based on ethnicity, race, or class."

The purpose of the amendment proposed by Sen. Linda Lopez (D-Tucson) is to assure that instances of genocide or other oppression of an ethnic group wouldn't be construed as "[promoting] resentment toward a race or class of people," which is forbidden by the bill.

After all, if you teach about Germans trying to exterminate all Jews in World War II or the wholesale slaughter of Tutsis by Hutus in Rwanda, you're likely to condemn one group of people for its actions against another. That could be prohibited by a strict interpretation of the bill.

Every Democrat and all but 5 Republican voted Yes on Lopez's amendment.

Melvin was one of the No votes, along with Sylvia Allen, Steve Pierce, Thayer Verschoor and Bob Burns.

Here's more background on the vote.

Lopez proposed 3 amendments to the anti-ethnic studies bill. The first two were designed to demonstrate the bill's absurdity. One would have banned the teaching of the attack on Pearl Harbor — after all, that might promote hatred of the Japanese. The second would have banned teaching about 9/11, which could stir up ethnic hatred toward Arabs. Those bills were easily defeated.

After she made her point, Lopez proposed a serious amendment that would make sure events like the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the World Trade Center wouldn't be prohibited because of the bill. The amendment reads:

NOTHING IN THIS SECTION SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO RESTRICT OR PROHIBIT THE INSTRUCTION OF THE HOLOCAUST, ANY OTHER INSTANCE OF GENOCIDE, OR THE HISTORICAL OPPRESSION OF A PARTICULAR GROUP OF PEOPLE BASED ON ETHNICITY, RACE, OR CLASS.”

Without looking at the amendment, Republicans voted No en masse. After all, it's a Democratic amendment, so it automatically gets a thumbs down. But then someone wanted to know what was in the amendment. When it was explained, most Republicans realized they had to vote for it. After all, who would vote against teaching about the Holocaust, the attack on Pearl Harbor or 9/11?

Over a period of 7 or 8 minutes — plenty of time for people to understand what the amendment said — all but 5 Republicans changed their votes to Yes.

Senator Melvin didn't budge from his original No vote.