Stegeman and Pedicone: on the wrong side of history

by David Safier

I could write thousands of words about Tom Horne and John Huppenthal and their crusade to deny TUSD students the right to participate in the successful and nationally respected Mexican American Studies program. But why bother? Their anti-Hispanic political agenda is too obvious to need much more discussion. TUSD Board President Mark Stegeman and Superintendent John Pedicone, on the other hand, are in a different category. Unlike Horne and Huppenthal, they are basically decent, intelligent people who aren't trying to use the MAS controversy to advance their careers. But to their great discredit, they have chosen to be on the wrong side of history.

The fights over Civil Rights in the 50s and 60s were far more vicious than Tucson's battles over Mexican American Studies. But if I were to compare the two struggles, I would not compare Stegeman and Pedicone to Orval Faubus, who called out the Arkansas National Guard to try and stop Little Rock's Central High School from being integregated, or George Wallace, who blocked the door at the University of Alabama to stop two black students from entering. No, the Hornes and Huppenthals and Russell Pearces are the Faubuses and Wallaces of present day Arizona.

Stegeman and Pedicone are the enablers, the people who should know better but make it possible for the truly vile politicians in this state to carry out their racist, politically charged agendas.

The forces Stegeman and Pedicone have allied themselves with are the politicians who hope to climb into higher office on the backs of Hispanics — as well as citizens who ardently support SB1070 and similar anti-Hispanic legislation. The two men have joined forces with the right and the far right, groups which we can only hope, like the openly racist anti-civil rights forces of half a century ago, are in their political death throes.

On the other hand, the groups which have spoken in favor of the Mexican American Studies program and condemned TUSD and state politicians for their actions are a Who's Who of academia as well as major literary and civil liberties organizations. A large number of Hispanic groups and authors have voiced their support of MAS along with college-level Ethnic Studies students, professors and departments. However, if they were the only supporters, people could discount them, since you would expect them to be solidly behind MAS.

But they are far from alone in their support of MAS. The staid American Library Association spoke out strongly against TUSD's actions. So did the highly respected, 129 year old Modern Language Association. So did the American Association of University Professors, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, the Association of American Publishers, the Association of American University Presses, the Authors Guild, the International Reading Association, the National Council for the Social Studies, the National Council of Teachers of English, the PEN American Center and the Student Press Law Center . . . among others.

The Annenberg Institute for School Reform published a piece 5 days ago titled, Emulate, Don't Eliminate, Tucson's Mexican American Studies Program. A key passage states:

[Critics of the MAS program] miss the fact that the classes aimed to fully embrace the historical realities and everyday experiences behind being Mexican American and utilized these qualities to develop a rich, rigorous, and engaging course of study that taught students to think critically about issues of politics, race, and identity. Rather than banning what appears to be a highly effective program, education officials and policymakers should instead concentrate their efforts on learning more about whether and how MAS might have contributed to such impressive student outcomes.

On college campuses around the country, professors and students have gathered to voice their support for TUSD students and teachers fighting to reinstate MAS courses. In what must be a first for Tucson, a group of TUSD middle school students Skyped with students and professors who were staging a Teach-in at Yale University — Yale, one of the world's premier institutions of higher learning.

What else needs to be said? Stegeman and Pedicone have some of the most respected nationwide educational, literary and civil liberties groups lined up against them — groups without a significant presence in Tucson or a majority Hispanic membership who feel the issue is of such importance, they were obligated to speak out. And on Stegeman and Pedicone's side are Horne, Huppenthal, Russell Pearce, Michael Hicks, the Tea Party and the rest of the right wing of the Republican Party.

I have little doubt a time will come, possibly years from now, when Stegeman and Pedicone will say they regret the stands they took against TUSD's Mexican American Studies program. They may say they think they had no other choice, or they may say they simply made the wrong choice, but both, I am certain, will some day regret taking a stand on the wrong side of history.