by David Safier
I went to the Ed Supe forum at Rincon High Thursday, audio recorder in hand. All the candidates did reasonably well by themselves. By that I mean, I doubt if many people in the audience changed their vote based on a stellar performance by one candidate or a serious mistake by another.
But while three of the candidates presented their positions by staying reasonably close to actual facts and figures, John Huppenthal showed himself adept in the art of misrepresentations, misstatements and possibly outright lies. In other words, he has mastered the art of being a Republican politician.
I'm planning to take Huppenthal's stretches and whoppers one at a time in a series of posts. Here's the first.
The question was about TUSD's Ethnic Studies program. Huppenthal, as we all know, wants to get rid of Ethnic Studies. But his argument actually showed why we need multiple perspectives in the exploration of history and culture — in other words, why we need courses like those in the ethnic studies program.
Huppenthal argued, if students take an ethnic studies course instead of American History, they miss out on learning the truth about our common history — like the story of our Founding Fathers. He used Ben Franklin as an example. He said,
Ben Franklin . . . was the president of the Abolitionist Society in Pennsylvania, he led the fight against the slave trade, successfully stopping the slave trade. He freed all of his own slaves, and not only freed them but gave them positions of responsibility so that they could grow into leaders.
Full disclosure: I'm not a serious student of history, but I happen to be very fond of Ben Franklin, so I have no reason to put him down. Nonetheless, Huppenthal, who told the audience how Franklin should be presented to students, doesn't have his facts straight.
Franklin did not successfully stop the slave trade. He proposed getting rid of it, but he got nowhere. It sounds very nice to tell students how early our Founding Fathers stopped the transportation of slaves to the country, but it's not true.
True, Franklin became president of the Abolitionist Society, and he did free his slaves, but, according to sources I found, he didn't free them until sometime after he began his fight for abolition. That's an important wrinkle in the story. It tells us, after Franklin decided slavery was abhorrent, he remained a slave owner rather than lose the economic advantage of "owning" human beings, showing his own human frailty at the expense of the people he "owned."
And as for Huppenthal's assertion that Franklin "gave them positions of responsibility so that they could grow into leaders," I found nothing to back that up.
Franklin believed strongly that freed slaves needed to be educated so they could advance in society. If he gave his freed slaves "positions of responsibility," I didn't find it mentioned anywhere I looked.
So, in the course of 50 words, Huppenthal made one absolutely incorrect statement and one questionable statement. He also left out some of the shadings of Franklin's personal weaknesses which add important subtleties to the story of slavery in this country. In other words, Huppenthal was indulging in hagiography at the expense of accurate history.
And that's the reason why we need multiple views of our history. If the old traditions sanctifying our Founding Fathers are perpetuated in American History classes, we're misinforming our students. Apparently, that's OK with people like Huppenthal. But woe be to any teacher or text in an Ethnic Studies course presenting a less-than-flattering picture of the same people. Anglocentric interpretation, even if it contains misinformation, is OK in Huppenthal's world. Similar shadings from non-Anglo perspectives are subversive and must be stopped.
George Washington freed his slaves in his will, after he died, causing him no personal or financial hardship. Thomas Jefferson most likely had a slave for a mistress and fathered her child. These facts show the complexity of our history. I believe Washington, Jefferson and Franklin were great men, but they were far from perfect. Their weaknesses, in this case regarding slavery which all three were against, reveal important aspects of our history and the nature of humanity. Glossing over these issues, as so often happens in standard American History courses, does students — Anglo and non-Anglo — an injustice, one which people like Huppenthal hope to perpetuate.
NOTE: If I got any of my history wrong, feel free to correct me. As I said, I'm not a historian, but I've tried my best to be accurate.
In response to Phillip D… no, Huppenthal was correct. The Ethnic Studies courses that he is concerned with are offered as core credits in junior and senior level English, US History, and American Government. These courses cover the state standards, but are taught from multiple perspectives. It’s important to understand that all of these courses are taken by 16-18 year olds. Some of the more politically-charged aspects of these courses might be handled better by 19-20 year olds in a college course, but if you’re mature enough to drive perhaps you’re mature enough to discuss the heavy issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and poverty.
In response to Tom:
Asked and answered in the pages of this week’s TW, by Mari Herreras:
When asked why Dugan isn’t campaigning with her full last name—Garcia-Dugan—Dugan says the decision came down to campaign signs: Her full name was too long.
“Most of the stuff on my (campaign) website has my full name,” she says.
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/educating-arizona/Content?oid=2135802
Now, if you visit margaretdugan.com, you can check for yourself to see if it is true. I could find no references to Garcia anywhere on the page, but I only did a casual review. There may be some reference somewhere, but it’s not on her bio page, in press releases or anywhere else I looked. Of course, I may also misunderstand the meaning of “most.” Dr. Word, can you help me out?
Phillip, I’m not sure about how this works with Ethnic Studies, so I hope someone else will chime in with a more authoritative answer. But I believe a student can get an American History credit for taking certain ethnic studies courses. If I’m right, Huppenthal is correct on that point. I’m not sure which courses are considered equivalent.
Mr. Safier,
A few months ago, we all watched Huppenthal get embarrassed by a high school student, so much so he decided to get up and leave the interview rather than endure more humiliation, so we already know he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
But reading your statement that Huppenthal argued “if students take an ethnic studies course instead of American History, they miss out on learning the truth about our common history — like the story of our Founding Fathers” really shocks me because I thought ethnic studies courses were in addition to the regular curriculum, not in place of the regular history classes high school students take.
So the question now is: Is Huppenthal that factually challenged that he literally doesn’t know what is going on? Or is he just that dishonest to frame the issue in such an inaccurate way?
Listening to my own thoughts about this right now, I realize you were perfectly correct when you stated simply that Huppenthal has mastered the art of being a Republican politician.
Exception to hijacking rule granted.
Interesting question. I guess “Garcia” is a liability when you’re running in a Republican primary. In the unlikely case she makes it to the general, we might see “Garcia” return to attract some Hispanic voters.
Please forgive me if I am hijacking the thread by asking this, but has anybody publically asked Margaret Garcia Dugan why she has stopped using the name “Garcia?” All through the “Republicans Hate Latinos” Wars of 2006-2009, she seemed to want everyone to know her maiden name and the fact that she was a Mexican-American. Now that she is running for the Republican nomination, for Superintendent, this seems to be a lot less important. I think it might be interesting to hear her take on this.
Tom Prezelski
On video via the Three Sonorans
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS5XMDwctMk