Sherman Alexie on the MAS book ban

by David Safier

Sherman Alexie, a Native American who grew up on the Spokane Indian reservation and is a marvelous writer with a wide readership, commented about TUSD's book ban. First his tweet:

Here is his longer statement:

Let's get one thing out of the way: Mexican immigration is an oxymoron. Mexicans are indigenous. So, in a strange way, I'm pleased that the racist folks of Arizona have officially declared, in banning me alongside Urrea, Baca, and Castillo, that their anti-immigration laws are also anti-Indian. I'm also strangely pleased that the folks of Arizona have officially announced their fear of an educated underclass. You give those brown kids some books about brown folks and what happens? Those brown kids change the world. In the effort to vanish our books, Arizona has actually given them enormous power. Arizona has made our books sacred documents now.

I have a warm place in my heart for Alexie. When I put together a unit on Native American Literature for my sophomore English students in a suburb of Portland, Oregon, the culmination of the unit was reading works of Alexie's including stories from his wonderful collection, Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. We finished by watching the film, Smoke Signals, based on the collection. He presents harsh truth by combining brilliance and humor with an insider's view which let me see what was previously invisible to an Anglo like me. I once saw him give a talk. He may be the best author/speaker alive.

"Lone Ranger and Tonto . . ." was among the texts used in the MAS curriculum. I don't know if it has been removed from the shelves, but the former MAS teachers have to stay away from it. What a shame. What a loss.

(h/t to Debbie Reese, writer and author of the American Indians in Children's Literature blog.)