"The Eternal Battle of All Time...": H.B. 2281 and the Mexican American Raza Studies Program (Arizona)

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding the Role of Policy in Educational Collaborations: Understandings, Interpretations, and Knowledge Constructions

Abstract

The educational standards of the United States have historically reinforced and maintained a specific status quo as defined by western Eurocentric ideals, and values. The national identity of the country rests upon a prescribed set of values that further reinforce the American Identity (Apple, et. al, 2011; 2000). Historically, Indigenous/Mexican, black, and (im)migrant values have been purposely deemed anti-American, as such completing ethics often challenge mainstream values of individuality, competitiveness, Christianity, and land association (Grande, 2015; Zinn, 2012a). This paper will look to the Ethnic studies ban of the Mexican American Raza Studies Program at Tucson Unified School District, in Arizona, as a clear example of how hegemony imposes westernized ideals and delegitimizes Indigenous/Mexican values, and forms of education.

Author

• Jorge Facio Rodriguez, Chapman University