Tom Horne, Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction, hates the very idea of ethnic studies. Why? Because they highlight historical oppression, and that's "a downer." A downer? Life is downer for a lot of people, man -- slavery is a downer, war is a downer, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a downer, the Holocaust is a downer . . . Is Mr. Horne suggesting some weird Disney-Hallmark version of history?* Yes, I think he is. Mr. Horn's background is in law; mine is in history. He helped get his law passed in Arizona (AZ HOUSE BILL 2281); I advocate for all kinds of approaches to history everywhere and anywhere, including ethnic and gender studies. Somewhere along the line, Mr. Horne's mind seems to have shriveled in the Arizona sun. And that governor, Janice Drinkwine Brewer (yes, her real name), who the hell is she? Tony Gallaher, a Naval Academy graduate and US Navy veteran who's been teaching history in Metro Detroit for decades now, has a perfect name for the likes of Horne and Drinkwine Brewer: soulless ghouls.
*Mein Gott: that's the way American history WAS taught through the 1950s . . .
Today's Rune: Strength.
Meanwhile, if you want to know about the other weird Arizona, check out Wesley Treat's Weird Arizona: Your Travel Guide to Arizona's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets (2007).
2 comments:
and if we keep people illiterate and ignorant of books that have not all been banned or burned there may be a chance that some few will rise up to the necessary ability to think without the fetters of lies and twisted truth.
You do see this is white (supposedly) Heterosexual America trying everything it can to stay as the dominant population don't you?
This statement undergirds your question: "Arizona is projected to become a minority-majority state by the year 2015 if current population growth trends continue." Haha. Manifest Destiny, indeed. A lot of the Anglos are Mormons and Baptists; the state is also called the "Birthplace of Scientology." -- http://www.ask.com/wiki/Demographics_of_Arizona
Post a Comment