Precious Knowledge: Fighting for Mexican American Studies in Arizona Schools

Cultural and linguistic diversity is highly important in my current education classes at Colorado State University. I know that I am extremely lucky to be learning how to be a teacher in this time of social progress and acceptance, but I am also painfully aware that many schools in the U.S. do not have this luxury. The documentary Precious Knowledge: Fighting for Mexican American Studies in Arizona Schools depicts the terrifying reality of modern institutionalized racism and how it affects students.

The documentary follows the students of Tuscon High School, as they develop from resistant and quiet freshman to active, passionate voices in their community. Their growth as students is largely attributed to the school’s Ethnic Studies Program. While “48 percent of Mexican American students currently drop out of high school, Tucson High’s Mexican American Studies Program has become a national model of educational success, with 93 percent of enrolled students, on average, graduating from high school and 85 percent going on to attend college” (Palos, McGinnis). Not only did this program dramatically lower drop-out rates for the high school, but it allowed students to feel validated in their identities and build academic confidence.

Through interviews with the students and teachers in the program, the documentary showed the value of the Ethnic Studies Program better than any statistics. Students learned how to express themselves, the history of their ethnic identities, and how to have pride and confidence for who they are. They started to care about what they were learning, because “there [was] meaning in the work” (Palos, McGinnis) that was tangible and important to them. For the first time, these students were given a positive learning experience that centered around their culture. This led to significant improvement in standardized test scores and a remarkable graduation rate of 93% (Palos, McGinnis).

However, after the hard work of teachers and students, the increased graduation rates and test scores, and the life changing results of the Ethnic Studies classes, the local government of Tuscon demanded a ban on the classes, Attorney General Tom Horne claimed that they were “un-American” (Palos, McGinnis). The students and teachers fought against this proposed ban, desperately clinging to the source of cultural pride and education that had allowed them to succeed in school. After protests, counter-protests, student testimony about the value of the classes, walkouts, an anti-discrimination lawsuit, and multiple arrests, the bill to ban the classes was passed and became a law. The classes were cancelled, the students graduated, and the teachers were reassigned (Palos, McGinnis).

The community around Tuscon High School learned cultural pride and academic integrity. These students started succeeding in school through learning about something they really cared about, their heritage and identity. Tom Horne’s idea that a celebration of culture is “un-American” is absurd. The United States “steadily evolved to define Americans by their shared values, not by their superficial appearance” (Hanson), and it was the diversity brought by immigrants that defined and enriched American culture. Tom Horne’s definition of “American” excluded the cultural identity that allowed these students to succeed in school. The loss of the Ethnic Studies Program was tragic not only for the students who were directly affected, but for the whole of American society that benefits from the diversity of the “melting pot”.

Racism has been prevalent in the education system, seen throughout history in the oppression of all non-white students. In the past, Spanish was not allowed in schools, and corporal punishment was used for Mexican-American students four times more than for white students (Palos, McGinnis). Examples of this racism can be seen in all American institutions. European Americans make up 70% of the population and 30% are in prison, while only 12% of the population is African American and 41% are in prison. This shocking disparity is indicative of a large-scale failure in American institutions, and the racism that persists today. Considering these statistics, it is not at all surprising that these same failures have spread to our education system.

As a college student, I am surrounded by progressive idealism. It is easy to hear professors speak about diversity and imagine all the phenomenal progress that we have made. However, this is not reality faced by most Americans. The story told by Precious Knowledge reminds me just how much work we have ahead of us, and how important it is that I learn how to help my future students fight for their rights.

Works Cited:

Hanson, Victor Davis. “America: History’s Exception.” National Review, National Review, 9 June 2016, https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/06/america-melting-pot-immigrant-culture-made-country-great/.

“Precious Knowledge – Fighting for Mexican American Studies in Arizona Schools.” Kanopy, https://colostate.kanopy.com/video/precious-knowledge.

Image credit and an update on the story:

“Is Teaching Mexican-American Studies Un-American?” To The Best Of Our Knowledge, 26 May 2018, https://www.ttbook.org/interview/teaching-mexican-american-studies-un-american.

http://“Is Teaching Mexican-American Studies Un-American?” To The Best Of Our Knowledge, 26 May 2018, https://www.ttbook.org/interview/teaching-mexican-american-studies-un-american.