Censored writers respond.

• Author: Rothschild, Matthew
• Position: Tucson Unified School District banned the Mexican American Studies program

In January, the Tucson Unified School District banned the Mexican American Studies program. It specifically targeted seven books, but the entire curriculum, including some fifty titles, was off limits. School officials actually came into classrooms while students were present and took the books away. We asked the banned writers to offer their reactions, which we posted on our website at progressive.org, where you can find them today. Here are some snippets from their statements.

Rodolfo Acuna

In Tucson, the rich benefit directly from the destruction of the Mexican American Studies program. Brutalizing immigrants and Latino students is part of the grand strategy to keep Mexicans in their place.

Let me be clear: The purpose behind the destruction of the Mexican American Studies program is to intimidate other minorities. African, Native, and other Americans were put on notice that they will suffer a similar fate if they protest too loudly. They heard about Mexican American students being forced to stand by while the banned books were boxed and carted away. Students watched in silence; they sobbed. Books had become important to them.

Rodolfo Acuna is a professor at Cal State Northridge. His "Occupied America: A History of Chicanos" was one of seven books specifically singled out by the authorities in Arizona for banning.

Sherman Alexie

Let's get one thing out of the way: Mexican immigration is an oxymoron. Mexicans are indigenous. So, in a strange way, I'm pleased that the racist folks of Arizona have officially declared, in banning me alongside Urrea, Baca, and Castillo, that their anti-immigration laws are also anti-Indian. I'm also strangely pleased that the folks of Arizona have officially announced their fear of an educated underclass. You give those brown kids some books about brown folks and what happens? Those brown kids change the world. In the effort to vanish our books, Arizona has actually given them enormous power. Arizona has made our books sacred documents now.

Sherman Alexie is a poet, short story writer, novelist, and filmmaker. His book "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" was on the banned curriculum of the Mexican American Studies program.

Jimmy Santiago Baca

When I was in prison in Florence, northeast of Tucson, the warden did the same thing to me: He came in and took my books and tried to force his way of seeing on me. I laughed at the attempt, and never thought in my wildest nightmares that another warden...