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| Banning books: A new kind of prohibition |
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What is at stake in the banning of books in Tucson, Arizona is really based on the intrinsic nature of man; his essence, his fears and to what extent he will exhibit his insecurity. It is a tragedy to prohibit students from exploring truth; it bespeaks of malicious prejudice present in the hearts of men, afraid and threatened on one level and prone to race conscious acts that destroy other men on another. Banning unorthodox books is a direct attack on intellectual freedom and freedom of the press. It is a more overt form of educational hegemony.
As reported by Brenda Norrell in this week’s issue, “Arizona school head John “Custer” Huppenthal and Tucson school officials began their big lie over the books by Chicano and Native American authors seized from Mexican American Studies classrooms. While school officials attempt to twist and manipulate the facts, the truth is that [Tucson Schools officials] are confiscating] all Mexican American Studies books, lesson plans and materials.” This kind of prejudiced behavior is the only tactic a state can use, especially a state whose minority population is swelling in numbers, ready to take its rightful place in American history.
For La Raza, this is not new. Witch hunts and unconscious desires to burn effigies of famous authors remain and have been translated into the prohibition of several books that include Bless Me Ultima written by Rodolfo Anaya, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, written by educational guru Paulo Freire, and prolific historian Rodolfo Acuña’s Occupied America. They have been on the chopping block by several states for the last decade.
Banning books resurrects what scholar Emma Pérez describes as the “Decolonial Imaginary” where the author, “argues that the Chicano historical narrative has often omitted gender. She poses a theory which rejects the colonizer's methodological assumptions and examines new tools for uncovering the hidden voices of Chicanas who have been relegated to silence. [These are intellectual ways of saying that human beings construct knowledge and can use it to oppress others.] Within that silence, she uncovers what she describes as ‘third space feminism.’ Although written about the struggle to include women’s voices, Pérez’ theory can be generalized to all oppressed groups who simply want a shot at the written podium.
Further, in Censored News, it states that The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and “Borderlands La Frontera: the New Mestiza, by Gloria Anzaldua have now been lumped into the category of banned books. I was pleasantly surprised that Cool Salsa that houses my signature poem, Bato Loco was selected. Unorthodox books may cause reader indigestion but there are no invisible molotov cocktails hidden in the books. Outlawing books places conservative educators in control of curricula in public education. Ironically, it exposes the inherent contradictions in America the beautiful that these “seditious” books depict. It exposes the Ugly American, the hideous two-faced racist side of a country.
But why would someone ban books, especially at a time when diversity is knocking at the front door—anxious to places its narrative on the proverbial kitchen table—for an open dialogue—not through violence; but the sharing of evidence based alternative perspectives.
Banning books is analogous to placing locks on doors of opportunity for many groups standing in line wondering if allegiance to a country that seemingly hates them is worth the wait. A new narrative might open the closed eyes of many who are blinded by the cataracts of racism. The new presence of a different narrative threatens the omnipresence of an old narrative withering away at the seams.
The books selected for prohibition debunks an old American myth about equality and justice for all. The violence emanating from desperate men is a calculated violence. Its stench infiltrates the consciousness of an oppressed people. Deprivation can be a form of violence; depriving human beings of their history, stealing their narratives leads to self-destruction, a silent violence that destroys human hearts and souls.
Accusing school districts of teaching seditious behavior via La Raza Studies sends the message that we want students to think critically; but don’t you dare question the Master Narrative. To do so would destroy truth. It would create disloyal Americans, unwilling to fight and die for the master. Nothing could be further from the truth. Read La Raza’s history of military participation filtered through the lenses of Chicana/o Studies.
Take a look internally, there is a local curriculum housed in the Denver Public Schools that has gone through the politics of the day. Books used for El Alma de la Raza sit on shelves gathering dust while educators thirsty for alternative perspectives remain in educational deserts. Down with book prohibition!
Dr. Ramón Del Castillo is an Independent Journalist. ©2012 The Weekly Issue/El Semanario, Inc.
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