Over the past few weeks South High students’ attentions may have been brought to a bill banning ethnic studies in Arizona that went into effect on January 1. The bill, HB2281, masquerades as legislation designed to teach students to “value each other as individuals,” and not teach them to “resent or hate other races or classes of people.”

To do this, Arizona has imposed a ban on any classes that “promote the overthrow of the United States government, promote resentment toward a race or class of people, are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group, or advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.” In section B the bill states that Arizona will enforce this by cutting up to ten percent of any school’s monthly appointment of state aid if they are found to be out of compliance with this law.

If this bill were in place in Minnesota, the Human Rights mural located in the stairway leading to the media center would never have been painted and the UMOJA auditorium would not have been able to take place.

This is 2012 America. Banning education on anything for anyone should be met with an automatic and resounding, “No.” Bills that propose punishing schools for attempting to help their students understand their backgrounds should be laughed at – not passed. Students have a right to understand the full history of the United States of America from many points of view no matter how many ugly warts and blemishes it may carry. To ban something on the grounds that it would be better to keep one race’s reputation intact is ridiculous.

Apparently the rules are different in Arizona. Legislators like Tom Horne, Superintendent of Public Instruction and main supporter of HB2281, are abusing their power by deciding which bits and pieces of history students can and can’t talk about.

Students (and all Americans) of all ethnicities have a right to learn about and celebrate their backgrounds. Whatever excuses or defenses Tom Horne and other supporters present; this bill imposes on these rights and therefore should be repealed.