In 1967, MIT linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky wrote the seminal essay, “The Responsibility of Intellectuals,” where he argued, “It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose lies.” Forty-four years later, this statement is relevant to the struggle over ethnic studies in the Tucson Unified School District.
For several years, the state of Arizona has embarked on eliminating or dismantling TUSD’s highly successful Mexican American Studies (MAS) program on the premise that its classes:
• Promote the overthrow of the United States government.
• Promote resentment toward a race or class of people.
• Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group.
• Advocate for ethnic solidarity.
Having never set foot in an MAS classroom or conducted an audit, former State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne embedded these allegations in the 2010 anti-ethnic studies law HB 2281. The law mandates that a school district can lose 10 percent of its state funding if it is out of compliance, and this was how Mr. Horne singled out MAS as his last act in office.
Within this context, TUSD Board President Dr. Mark Stegeman unilaterally proposed changing ethnic studies classes into electives instead of core courses. Dr. Stegeman argued he would be better able to defend the classes as electives. This would, however, effectively dismantle the program because it would force students to take additional English or history classes.
At the state level, Mr. Horne was succeeded by current Superintendent John Huppenthal, who ran campaign advertisements claiming that if elected he would “stop la raza.” He did not claim he would stop ethnic or raza studies; rather, he would stop la raza. It is doubtful he would have run ads claiming he would stop the Blacks or Asians, but won his election demonizing Latinos.
As a new Ph.D., and with many racist lies in the state of Arizona, the question becomes: What is my role in the movement to preserve ethnic studies? I have become aware that the Ph.D. after my name carries weight that can serve to debunk falsehoods. At the request of leadership within the movement, I was asked to speak about the program’s efficacy using my statistical training.
