Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R), it turns out, is not one to shy away from a little controversy. And she seems well on her way to becoming something of a national right-wing hero.
The governor, who sparked a national debate less than a month ago when she signed into law a hotly-contested immigration bill, signed a bill into law yesterday that restricts ethnic studies programs in Arizona schools.
The new law, which says that students “should be taught to treat and value each other as individuals and not be taught to resent or hate other races or classes of people,” bans classes that might promote an overthrow of the U.S. government; that promote resentment toward a particular race or class; are designed for students of a particular ethnic group, or which advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.
Of course, it would seem that few (if any!) school districts would approve of a class whose purpose was to urge an overthrow of the United States government. But HB 2281’s real target is said to be a particular ethnic studies program in the Tucson Unified School District.
According to the AP, state schools chief Tom Horne (who is also, incidentally, running for state attorney general) has long advocated the bill, claiming that the district’s Mexican-American studies program encourages the belief among Latino pupils that they are oppressed by whites. Horne has also said that the program promotes “ethnic chauvinism.”
Not so, say district officials, who contend the program merely provides historical information regarding particular ethnic groups’ roles in history.
Gov. Brewer signed the law without comment only hours after after six United Nations human rights experts released a statement condemning it.
