News (Noticias) Tagged ‘Raza Studies’

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne will hold a press conference today to say why he thinks Tucson’s largest school district should “abolish its Ethnic Studies Department.”

Tucson Unified School District officials say the press conference will be nothing more than a rehash of Horne’s personal politics. And they’ve called their own press conference for a half-hour earlier than Horne’s to say so.
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While TUSD’s Ethnic Studies Department has four disciplines with a focus on African-American, Asian-American, Native American and Latino studies, Horne has specifically targeted the department’s Mexican-American/Raza Studies program.”*

TUSD’s Raza Studies is not a divisive program. Raza Studies provided me with a sense of community, empowerment and sense of direction. This class taught me skills that are not taught in textbooks.

Instead, my Raza Studies mentors taught me to think outside the box. This program has not brainwashed me, but has helped mold me into a critical and conscious person. I have also learned to have compassion and respect for my community.
I have witnessed many social inequalities and barriers, such as unequal access to housing and education and environmental hazards in poverty-stricken neighborhoods.”*

Atop the hills of the Nahuatl-speaking village of Ocotepec, Morelos, Mexico, while a colony of red ants is carrying maiz kernels on their backs, an elder explains: “These are the ants of Quetzalcoatl.”

The sensation is magical. In a metaphorical sense, the ants are acting out a cosmic drama. It and similar stories – which can be considered a ceremonial discourse – are recorded in many of the ancient Mesoamerican amoxtlis or codices of how maiz or cintli came to the people. They are also recorded in songs and dances and in the collective memory of the maiz-based cultures of the Americas.
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As a former teacher in Tucson Unified School District’s hotly debated ethnic studies department, I submit my perspective for the public’s consideration.

During the 2002-2003 school year, I taught a U.S. history course with a Mexican-American perspective. The course was part of the Raza/Chicano studies department.

Within one week of the course beginning, I was told that I was a “teacher of record,” meaning that I was expected only to assign grades. The Raza studies department staff would teach the class.”*