An attack from AZ
 

I received an email from a list I belong to this morning. It described a bill in Arizona (SB1108) that is sponsored by the White-supremacist Russell Pearce. I say he is a White-supremacist because his bill will ban the teaching of Mexican-American/Chicano/a studies! This bill would have a severe impact on what people will recognize as legitimate scholarly work, and what people will write off as opinion. Mecha, and Chicano/a studies has had a positive impact by teaching people about the history of what is called the US.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/114048

Its all over the place
 

Last November the American Libraries published an offensively fallacious article against having Spanish language materials in our libraries. This article crushed me. I was really offended and hurt that the ALA would allow such a logically weak piece to be presented in its magazine. I am in library school right now and this taught me a lesson I didn't want to learn about libraries in the US. I mean I knew I just don't like seeing it presented by a respected organization.

http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/index.cfm

Scholarly frauds

Much of this weak article reminds me of Sam Huntington's (a so-called scholar--and they [bigoted idiots] think Chicano studies is offensive--at Harvard) crap called "Who are we?"

http://tinyurl.com/3vvgvg

SB1108 and M.E.Ch.A.
 

SB1108 would also outlaw student groups such as M.E.Ch.A. M.E.Ch.A is a student organization. One of its stated goals that Xenophobes are scared of is it's dedication to the liberation of Aztlán. This statement is open to interpretation and can most likely be interpreted as meaning gaining equality in our homeland (to use a word tossed around by this culture) M.E.Ch.A is not a Racist group as the bill claims. Here are M.E.Ch.A's requirements for membership:

"General membership shall consist of any student who accepts, believes, and works for the goals and objectives of M.E.Ch.A. Including the liberation of Aztlán."

http://www.nationalmecha.org/

 

I suggest we all write the AZ legislature and tell them what we think. I don't think it will matter so much that you don't live there. What will matter is that we tell them this kind of institutional racism will NOT be tolerated.

Arizona State Senate
Capitol Complex
1700 West Washington
Phoenix, AZ 85007-2890
Info Desk (602) 926-3559
Fax (602) 926-3429
Toll Free: 1-800-352-8404
WEBSITE: http://www.arizonasenate.org/

Tucson Office
400 West Congress St.
Suite 201
Tucson, AZ 85701
Senate Info Desk (520) 398-6000
House Info Desk (520) 398-6000
Fax (520) 398-6028
Toll Free: 1-800-352-8404

Arizona House of Representatives
Capitol Complex
1700 West Washington
Phoenix, AZ 85007-2890
Info Desk (602) 926-4221
Toll Free: 1-800-352-8404
WEBSITE: http://www.azhousetv.org/

We should also contact our state representatives and congress persons and let them know how we feel about this ethnocentric law:

State legislatures (Wikipedia just kicks butt sometimes—don't it?)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_legislatures

US senate:  http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

US house:  http://www.house.gov/