walked out. By contrast, teenage Republicans listened politely when
Delores Huerta told the entire student body that “Republicans hate
Latinos.” In hundreds of visits to schools, I’ve never seen students act
rudely and in defiance of authority, except in this one unhappy case. I
believe the students did not learn this rudeness at home, but from
their Raza teachers.
(Horne, June 11, 2007)Just three years after this letter was made public, Arizona citizens passed
laws that brought Horne’s vision of a homogenous and obedient student
body closer to realization:
While much condemnation has rightly been expressed toward
Arizona’s anti-immigrant law, SB 1070, a less-reported and
potentially more sinister measure is set to take effect on January 1,- This new law, which was passed by the conservative state
legislature at the behest of then-School Superintendent (and now
Attorney General-elect) Tom Horne, is designated HB 2281 and is
colloquially referred to as a measure to ban ethnic studies programs
in the state. As with SB 1070, the implications of this law are
problematic, wide-ranging and decidedly hate-filled ... With HB
2281, the intention is not so much to expel or harass as it is to
inculcate a deep-seated, second-class status by denying people the
right to explore their own histories and cultures. It is, in effect, about
the eradication of ethnic identity among young people in the state’s
already-floundering school system, which now ranks near the bottom
in the nation.
(Amster 2011)
Even in parts of the country where ethnic studies and bilingual education
are less volatile subjects, it is not difficult to find school systems with
formal guidelines designed to winnow teachers with social and regional
accents out of the teaching force. In a telephone interview, a high-level
administrator in a major eastern school district was quite candid, speaking
on the matter of accent in the teaching force. He noted that in the
evaluation of potential employees, there are different sets of expectations,
so that