The Banning of Mexican American Studies Revisited: Contemporary Implications for Multicultural Education Praxis

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Perceptions, Frames, and Futures: Interrogating Policies and Programs

Abstract

This paper juxtaposes the 2012 banning of Tucson’s Mexican American Studies (MAS) program with the current multi-state bans of critical race theory and of discussion of institutional racism in K-12 and higher education settings. Situating the MAS program and its ban within a broader historical struggle for equitable Chicano education, interviews with nine former MAS educators elucidate insights that will guide the praxis of equity-minded educators in similarly challenging professional contexts. Results highlight the importance of a) understanding bans in their historical context b) exemplifying collective critical pedagogical excellence in multidimensional ways and c) preparing for the professional and personal trauma. Equity-oriented educators must be prepared for and supported through current attacks that will have personal and professional consequences.

Authors

• Julie Ellen Hector, Florida Atlantic University

• Dilys Schoorman, Florida Atlantic University