Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

January 8, 2015

Banning of Native American books, Mexican American Studies, goes to federal court

The banning of Mexican American Studies, and Chicano and Native American books, in Tucson schools, exposes Arizona's white privilege government


By Brenda Norrell
Censored News original
English/Dutch

The banning of Chicano and Native American authors, and the Mexican American Studies program, in Tucson Public Schools, proceeds before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday.

The lawsuit is sure to attract more attention since the defendant, former Superintendent John Huppenthal, has recently claimed that a song by Rage Against the Machine is an instrument to overthrow the government.

The United States Court of Appeals 9th Circuit Court will hear oral arguments in the lawsuit on Monday, Jan. 12, 2015, regarding the elimination of Mexican American Studies in Arizona’s Tuscon Unified School District.  The plaintiffs, including Tuscon teachers and students state that the elimination of Mexican American Studies in public schools is discriminatory, unconstitutional and a violation of the First Amendment. 
The banned books include
'Rethinking Columbus,'
essays by some of
the most famous Native
American authors.

Outrage was the response to the news that Tucson schools has banned books, including the book "Rethinking Columbus," with an essay by award-winning Pueblo author Leslie Marmon Silko, who lives in Tucson, and works by Buffy Sainte Marie, Winona LaDuke, Leonard Peltier and Rigoberta Menchu.

Among the authors in 'Rethinking Columbus' is Rosalie Little Thunder, Lakota, who passed to the Spirit World after the book was banned. Little Thunder was a voice for the buffalo at Yellowstone. 

All books and materials of the forbidden Mexican American Studies classes were seized from the classrooms, in an act by school officials that traumatized students.

Acoma Pueblo Professor, Author and Poet Simon Ortiz told Censored News, "I am very stunned and very shocked and very pissed off the Tucson Unified School District would ban Mexican American Studies and books like Rethinking Columbus: The Next Five Hundred Years that includes works by Indigenous (Native) authors Leslie Marmon Silko, N. Scott Momaday, Winona LaDuke, Buffy St. Marie, Joy Harjo, Wendy Rose, Joseph Bruchac, Jimmie Durham, Peter Blue Cloud, Luther Standing Bear, Gail Trembly, Jose Barreiro, Phillip Martin, Suzanne Shown Harjo. 

"The banning explicitly and pointedly shows it is not only Mexican American Studies and people and so-called illegal immigrants that are targeted but Indigenous studies and people as a whole," said Simon J. Ortiz, Regents Professor, at the Arizona State University Department of English, American Indian Studies.

In a statement today, People Power said, "The defendant, TUSD Superintendent, John Huppenthal, has criticized the Mexican American Studies Program as ‘a promotion to overthrow the U.S. government’.  Huppenthal’s most recent attack came on his last day in office as Superintendent, stating that a TUSD Mexican-American history class was in violation of Arizona’s legislature because of their use of the song 'Take the Power Back' by Rage Against the Machine in the classroom.  

"The Arizona ethnic studies ban prohibits curriculum that 'promotes the overthrow of U.S. government or the Constitution, resentment towards any race or class, and/or advocates ethnic solidarity instead of individualism.'  The plaintiffs argue that the legislation is vague and is a violation of their Constitutional and Civil Rights.

"In the years following The Civil Rights Act of 1964, educators began to advocate for the inclusion of the history and accomplishments of ethnic minorities in school curriculum. Up until 1970, much of the U.S. educational curriculum had been essentially Eurocentric, foundationally highlighting European migrants accomplishments. The histories of most American minorities were omitted, and even the earliest Americans- Indigenous Peoples, were absent in many educational history books. 

"The TUSD Mexican American Studies Program successes include, increasing college readiness and raising the graduation rate of Hispanic/Latino students to 94%, combating the national statistic of the high 54% drop-out rate of Hispanic/Latino students.

"Georgina Perez, an El Paso Librotraficante activist and founder of Tu Libro, an organization dedicated to the distribution of free bilingual and banned books to disenfranchised children, will travel San Francisco to speak on a panel at the Ethnic Studies Solidarity summit and teach-in on the Saturday leading up to the oral arguments. Perez, who advocates for the inclusion of Ethnic Studies in Texas, states: “Mexican American–Indigenous Studies is being attacked in Arizona and Texas, and this affects all our children. This is the only scientifically proven program that closes the achievement gap for the Xicano/Latino demographic… the denial of effective education is a denial of our human and civil rights.” The panel discussion, “Contemporary Ethnic Studies” will also include, Tony Diaz, founder ofLibrotraficante, an organization prompted by the Arizona legislation banning Mexican American Studies, Liana Lopez, co-host ofNuestra Palabra Radio, and co-producer Brian Parras.

"On Monday, Mission and Bay Area Aztec Danzantes will conduct a ceremony at sunrise at the courthouse and a press conference is scheduled on the courthouse steps after oral arguments," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States, said of Rethinking Columbus"The original edition made educational history by introducing a startling new view of Columbus … In the revised edition we get even richer material, a marvelous compendium of history, literature, original sources, commentary … an exciting treasure for teachers, students, and the general public."
       


Previous article by Censored News:

Banned book includes Leslie Marmon Silko, Buffy Sainte Marie and Winona LaDuke

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/01/banning-of-books-signals-revolution-in.html
Translation in French:

UPDATE Jan. 18, 2012:
'Custer Huppenthal's Last Big Lie about Seized Books, by Censored News:

TUCSON -- Outrage was the response on Saturday to the news that Tucson schools has banned books, including "Rethinking Columbus," with an essay by award-winning Pueblo author Leslie Marmon Silko, who lives in Tucson, and works by Buffy Sainte Marie, Winona LaDuke, Leonard Peltier and Rigoberta Menchu.

All books and materials of the now forbidden Mexican American Studies classes were seized from the classrooms. This follows the 4 to 1 vote on Tuesday by the Tucson Unified School District board to succumb to the State of Arizona, and forbid Mexican American Studies, rather than fight the state decision.

Students said the books were seized from the classrooms and out of their hands after the vote banning Mexican American Studies, including a book of photos of Mexico. Crying, students said it was like Nazi Germany and they have been unable to sleep since it happened.

The banned book, "Rethinking Columbus," includes work by many Native Americans, as Debbie Reese of Nambe Pueblo reports. The book includes:

Suzan Shown Harjo's "We Have No Reason to Celebrate"
Buffy Sainte-Marie's "My Country, 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying"
Joseph Bruchac's "A Friend of the Indians"
Cornel Pewewardy's "A Barbie-Doll Pocahontas"
N. Scott Momaday's "The Delight Song of Tsoai-Talee"
Michael Dorris's "Why I'm Not Thankful for Thanksgiving"
Leslie Marmon's "Ceremony"
Wendy Rose's "Three Thousand Dollar Death Song"
Winona LaDuke's "To the Women of the World: Our Future, Our Responsibility"

All books in the Mexican American Studies classrooms were seized. The reading list includes two books by Native American author Sherman Alexie and a book of poetry by O'odham poet Ofelia Zepeda.

Jeff Biggers writes in Salon:

The list of removed books includes the 20-year-old textbook “Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years,” which features an essay by Tucson author Leslie Silko. Recipient of a Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas Lifetime Achievement Award and a MacArthur Foundation genius grant, Silko has been an outspoken supporter of the ethnic studies program.

Biggers said Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest," was also banned during the meeting this week. Administrators told Mexican-American studies teachers to stay away from any class units where “race, ethnicity and oppression are central themes."

Other banned books include “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” by famed Brazilian educator Paolo Freire and “Occupied America: A History of Chicanos” by Rodolfo Acuña, two books often singled out by Arizona state superintendent of public instruction John Huppenthal, who campaigned in 2010 on the promise to “stop la raza.” Huppenthal, who once lectured state educators that he based his own school principles for children on corporate management schemes of the Fortune 500, compared Mexican-American studies to Hitler Jugend indoctrination last fall.

Bill Bigelow, co-author of Rethinking Columbus, writes:

Imagine our surprise.
Rethinking Schools learned today that for the first time in its more-than-20-year history, our book Rethinking Columbus was banned by a school district: Tucson, Arizona ...

As I mentioned to Biggers when we spoke, the last time a book of mine was outlawed was during the state of emergency in apartheid South Africa in 1986, when the regime there banned the curriculum I’d written, Strangers in Their Own Country, likely because it included excerpts from a speech by then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela. Confronting massive opposition at home and abroad, the white minority government feared for its life in 1986. It’s worth asking what the school authorities in Arizona fear today.


Roberto Rodriguez, professor at University of Arizona, is also among the nation's top Chicano and Latino authors on the Mexican American Studies reading list. Rodriguez' column about this week's school board decision, posted at Censored News, is titled: "Tucson school officials caught on tape 'urinating' on Mexican students." http://drcintli.blogspot.com/

Rodriguez responded to Censored News on Sunday about the banning of his books at Tucson schools.

"The attacks in Arizona are mind-boggling. To ban the teaching of a discipline is draconian in and of itself. However, there is also now a banned books list that accompanies the ban. I believe 2 of my books are on the list, which includes: Justice: A Question of Race and The X in La Raza. Two others may also be on the list," Rodriguez said.

"That in itself is jarring, but we need to remember the proper context. This is not simply a book-banning; according to Tom Horne, the former state schools' superintendent who designed HB 2281, this is part of a civilizational war. He determined that Mexican American Studies is not based on Greco-Roman knowledge and thus, lies outside of Western Civilization.

"In a sense, he is correct. The philosophical foundation for MAS is a maiz-based philosophy that is both, thousands of years old  and Indigenous to this continent. What has just happened is akin to an Auto de Fe -- akin to the 1562 book-burning of Maya books in 1562 at Mani, Yucatan. At TUSD, the list of banned books will total perhaps 50 books, including artwork and posters.

"For us here in Tucson, this is not over. If anything, the banning of books will let the world know precisely what kind of mindset is operating here; in that previous era, this would be referred to as a reduccion (cultural genocide) of all things Indigenous. In this era, it can too also be see as a reduccion."

The reading list includes world acclaimed Chicano and Latino authors, along with Native American authors. The list includes books by Corky Gonzales, along with Sandra Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street;” Jimmy Santiago Baca’s “Black Mesa Poems,“ and L.A. Urreas’ “The Devil’s Highway.“ The authors include Henry David Thoreau and the popular book “Like Water for Chocolate.”

On the reading list are Native American author Sherman Alexie's books, “Ten Little Indians,“ and “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven.“ O’odham poet and professor Ofelia Zepeda’s “Ocean Power, Poems from the Desert” is also on the list.

DA Morales writes in Three Sonorans, at Tucson Citizen, about the role of state schools chief John Huppenthal. "Big Brother Huppenthal has taken his TEA Party vows to take back Arizona… take it back a few centuries with official book bans that include Shakespeare!"

BANNED MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES READING LIST
Curriculum Audit of the Mexican American Studies Department, Tucson Unified School District, May 2, 2011.
High School Course Texts and Reading Lists Table 20: American Government/Social Justice Education Project 1, 2 - Texts and Reading Lists

Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (1998), by B. Bigelow and B. Peterson

The Latino Condition: A Critical Reader (1998), by R. Delgado and J. Stefancic

Critical Race Theory: An Introduction (2001), by R. Delgado and J. Stefancic

Pedagogy of the Oppressed (2000), by P. Freire

United States Government: Democracy in Action (2007), by R. C. Remy

Dictionary of Latino Civil Rights History (2006), by F. A. Rosales

Declarations of Independence: Cross-Examining American Ideology (1990), by H. Zinn

Table 21: American History/Mexican American Perspectives, 1, 2 - Texts and Reading Lists

Occupied America: A History of Chicanos (2004), by R. Acuna

The Anaya Reader (1995), by R. Anaya

The American Vision (2008), by J. Appleby et el.

Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (1998), by B. Bigelow and B. Peterson

Drink Cultura: Chicanismo (1992), by J. A. Burciaga

Message to Aztlan: Selected Writings (1997), by C. Jiminez

De Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views Multi-Colored Century (1998), by E. S. Martinez

500 Anos Del Pueblo Chicano/500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures (1990), by E. S. Martinez

Codex Tamuanchan: On Becoming Human (1998), by R. Rodriguez

The X in La Raza II (1996), by R. Rodriguez

Dictionary of Latino Civil Rights History (2006), by F. A. Rosales

A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present (2003), by H. Zinn

Course: English/Latino Literature 7, 8

Ten Little Indians (2004), by S. Alexie

The Fire Next Time (1990), by J. Baldwin

Loverboys (2008), by A. Castillo

Women Hollering Creek (1992), by S. Cisneros

Mexican WhiteBoy (2008), by M. de la Pena

Drown (1997), by J. Diaz

Woodcuts of Women (2000), by D. Gilb

At the Afro-Asian Conference in Algeria (1965), by E. Guevara

Color Lines: "Does Anti-War Have to Be Anti-Racist Too?" (2003), by E. Martinez

Culture Clash: Life, Death and Revolutionary Comedy (1998), by R. Montoya et al.

Let Their Spirits Dance (2003) by S. Pope Duarte

Two Badges: The Lives of Mona Ruiz (1997), by M. Ruiz

The Tempest (1994), by W. Shakespeare

A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America (1993), by R. Takaki

The Devil's Highway (2004), by L. A. Urrea

Puro Teatro: A Latino Anthology (1999), by A. Sandoval-Sanchez & N. Saporta Sternbach

Twelve Impossible Things before Breakfast: Stories (1997), by J. Yolen

Voices of a People's History of the United States (2004), by H. Zinn

Course: English/Latino Literature 5, 6

Live from Death Row (1996), by J. Abu-Jamal

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven (1994), by S. Alexie

Zorro (2005), by I. Allende

Borderlands La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1999), by G. Anzaldua

A Place to Stand (2002), by J. S. Baca

C-Train and Thirteen Mexicans (2002), by J. S. Baca

Healing Earthquakes: Poems (2001), by J. S. Baca

Immigrants in Our Own Land and Selected Early Poems (1990), by J. S. Baca

Black Mesa Poems (1989), by J. S. Baca

Martin & Mediations on the South Valley (1987), by J. S. Baca

The Manufactured Crisis: Myths, Fraud, and the Attack on America's Public Schools (19950, by D. C. Berliner and B. J. Biddle

Drink Cultura: Chicanismo (1992), by J. A Burciaga

Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States (2005), by L. Carlson & O. Hijuielos

Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing up Latino in the United States (1995), by L. Carlson & O. Hijuielos

So Far From God (1993), by A. Castillo

Address to the Commonwealth Club of California (1985), by C. E. Chavez

Women Hollering Creek (1992), by S. Cisneros

House on Mango Street (1991), by S. Cisneros

Drown (1997), by J. Diaz

Suffer Smoke (2001), by E. Diaz Bjorkquist

Zapata's Discipline: Essays (1998), by M. Espada

Like Water for Chocolate (1995), by L. Esquievel

When Living was a Labor Camp (2000), by D. Garcia

La Llorona: Our Lady of Deformities (2000), by R. Garcia

Cantos Al Sexto Sol: An Anthology of Aztlanahuac Writing (2003), by C. Garcia-Camarilo, et al.

The Magic of Blood (1994), by D. Gilb

Message to Aztlan: Selected Writings (2001), by Rudolfo "Corky" Gonzales

Saving Our Schools: The Case for Public Education, Saying No to "No Child Left Behind" (2004) by Goodman, et al.

Feminism if for Everybody (2000), by b hooks

The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child (1999), by F. Jimenez

Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools (1991), by J. Kozol

Zigzagger (2003), by M. Munoz

Infinite Divisions: An Anthology of Chicana Literature (1993), by T. D. Rebolledo & E. S. Rivero

...y no se lo trago la tierra/And the Earth Did Not Devour Him (1995), by T. Rivera

Always Running - La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. (2005), by L. Rodriguez

Justice: A Question of Race (1997), by R. Rodriguez

The X in La Raza II (1996), by R. Rodriguez

Crisis in American Institutions (2006), by S. H. Skolnick & E. Currie

Los Tucsonenses: The Mexican Community in Tucson, 1854-1941 (1986), by T. Sheridan

Curandera (1993), by Carmen Tafolla

Mexican American Literature (1990), by C. M. Tatum

New Chicana/Chicano Writing (1993), by C. M. Tatum

Civil Disobedience (1993), by H. D. Thoreau

By the Lake of Sleeping Children (1996), by L. A. Urrea

Nobody's Son: Notes from an American Life (2002), by L. A. Urrea

Zoot Suit and Other Plays (1992), by L. Valdez

Ocean Power: Poems from the Desert (1995), by O. Zepeda

Dutch translation by Alice Holemans NAIS, thank you from Censored News!



Home » Nieuws » * BOYCOT VAN NATIVE AMERIKAANSE BOEKEN-MEXICAANSE STUDIES, KOMT VOOR FEDERAAL GERECHTSHOF
* BOYCOT VAN NATIVE AMERIKAANSE BOEKEN-MEXICAANSE STUDIES, KOMT VOOR FEDERAAL GERECHTSHOF
Het verbieden van Mexicaans- Amerikaanse Studies, en Chicano en Native American boeken in de scholen in Tucson, toont de blanke superioriteit van de regering van Arizona.
Door Brenda Norrell – Censored News: www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
Vertaald door NAIS: www.denaisgazet.be
Tucson1.jpg
De boycot van Chicano en Native Amerikaanse auteurs, en het Mexican - American Studiesprogramma, in de openbare scholen van Tucson, zal op maandag in de ‘Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ (hoger beroep) worden behandeld.

De rechtszaak zal nu zeker meer aandacht trekken sinds de beschuldigde, voormalig directeur John Huppenthal, onlangs nog publiekelijk verklaard heeft dat een lied van Rage Against the Machine een instrument is om de regering omver te werpen.

Het ‘Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ zal op maandag 12 januari 2015 de argumenten aanhoren die betrekking hebben op de eliminatie van de Mexicaans -Amerikaanse studies in het Unified School District, Tucson, Arizona.

De aanklagers, waaronder Tucson leerkrachten en studenten stellen dat de eliminatie van de Mexicaanse -Amerikaanse studies in openbare scholen, discriminerend, ongrondwettelijk en een schending van het Eerste amendement van de grondwet zijn. (*)

De reactie op het nieuws dat Tucson scholen boeken hadden verbannen, waaronder ook het boek“Rethinking Columbus”, waarin een essay werd opgenomen dat geschreven werd door Pueblo auteur Leslie Marmon Silko, die in Tucson woont, en werken van Buffy Sainte MarieWinona LaDuke, Leonard Peltier en Rigoberta Menchu.

tucson2.jpg
Onder de auteurs in ‘Rethinking Columbus’ vinden we ook Rosalie Little Thunder, die na de verbanning overgegaan is naar de geestenwereld. Little Thunder gaf een stem aan de wilde bizons van Yellowstone.

Alle boeken en teksten van de verboden Mexicaans- Amerikaanse studies werden op een brutale manier uit de klassen verwijderd door de schoolambtenaren. Op een manier die traumatiserend was voor de studenten.

Simon Ortiz, Acoma Pueblo, auteur en dichter vertelde Censored News: “ Ik ben met verstomming geslagen, in schok, hoe is ’t mogelijk dat het Unified School District van Tuscon Mexicaanse studie wil bannen en boeken zoals “ Rethinking Columbus’: The Next Five Hunderd Years, waarin werken van inheemse schrijvers zijn opgenomen: Leslie Marmon Silko, N. Scott Momaday, Winona LaDuke, Buffy St. Marie, Joy Harjo, Wendy Rose, Joseph Bruchac, Jimmie Durham, Peter Blue Cloud, Luther Standing Bear, Gail Trembly, Jose Barreiro, Phillip Martin, Suzanne Shown Harjo. 

“ De verbanning toont expliciet en nadrukkelijk dat niet enkel de Mexicaans-Amerikaanse studies en de zogenaamde illegale immigranten het doelwit zijn, maar inheemse studies en het volk in zijn geheel,”aldus Simon J. Ortiz, Regents professor, aan de Arizona State University Department of English-American Studies.

People Power zei vandaag in een verklaring: “ De beklaagde, TUSD directeur John Huppenthal, heeft het Mexicaans- Amerikaans Studie programma bekritiseerd als “een aanzetten tot het omverwerpen van de regering van de Verenigde Staten.”
Huppenthal’s recentste aanval lanceerde hij op zijn laatste dag als directeur, toen hij verklaarde dat de TUSD Mexicaan -Amerikaanse geschiedenis -klas de wetten van Arizona overtreden hebben doordat zij het lied “Take the Power Back” door Rage Against the Machine, in de klas gebruikt hadden.

“ De ban op etnische studies in Arizona verbiedt lesstof die “het omver werpen van de VS regering of de grondwet, wrevel tegenover een ras of klasse, en/of oproept tot etnische solidariteit in plaats van individualisme, bevorderen.”
De eisers zeggen dat de wetgeving vaag is en een schending is van hun grondwettelijke en burgerlijke rechten.

“ In de jaren na de ‘Civil Rigths Act’ in 1964, begonnen opvoeders op te komen voor het invoeren in het school curriculum van geschiedenis en prestaties van etnische minderheden. Tot 1970 bestond het US opvoedkundige curriculum meestal uit Eurocentrische, en het in de verf zetten van de verworvenheden van Europese migranten. De geschiedenis van de meeste Amerikaanse minderheden werd overgeslagen, en zelfs over de vroegste Amerikaanse -inheemse volken was er niets te vinden in de meeste geschiedenisboeken.”

“ Onder de successen van de TUSD Mexicaans -Amerikaanse studies zien we een toenemende bereidheid tot studeren en hogere cijfers van Hispanic/latino studenten, wel tot 94%, dit in strijd met de drop-out cijfers van 54%.

“ Georgina Perez, een Librotraficante activiste uit El Paso en stichter van Tu Libro, een organisatie die zich toelegt op de distributie van gratis tweetalige en verbannen boeken aan gediscrimineerde kinderen, zal naar San Francisco reizen voor een panelgesprek tijdens de Etnische studies solidariteit- top en ‘teach-in’ ter voorbereiding van de argumenten.
Perez die ijvert voor het invoegen van Etnische Studies in Texas zegt: “Mexicaans- Amerikaanse studies worden in Texas en in Arizona onder vuur genomen, en dat heeft een impact op al onze kinderen. Dit is het enige wetenschappelijk bewezen programma dat de demografische kloof voor de Xicano/Latino overbrugt..... het verwerpen van doeltreffende educatie is een verwerping van onze mens- en burgerrechten.”

Aan het panelgesprek, “Hedendaagse Etnische Studies” zullen ook deelnemen: Tony Diaz, stichter van Librotraficante, een organisatie die ontstaan is vanwege de verbanning van Mexicaans- Amerikaanse studies- Liana Lopez, Co-host van Nuestra Palabra Radio en co-producer Brian Parras

In de verklaring lezen we ook dat de ‘Mission and Bay Area Aztec Danzantes’ een ceremonie bij zonsopgang zal uitvoeren voor het gerechtshof waar later op de dag ook een persconferentie gehouden zal worden.
Ondertussen heeft Howard Zinn, auteur van A People’s History of the United States, over ‘Rethinking Colombus’ gezegd: “ De oorspronkelijke editie heeft opvoedkundige geschiedenis gemaakt door een verrassend nieuwe kijk op Columbus... In de hernieuwde editie vinden we nog rijker materiaal, een prachtig handboek van geschiedenis, literatuur, originele bronnen, commentaren... een opwindende schat voor leerkrachten, studenten en het grote publiek.”
Nota van NAIS: Waanzinnig detail: ook The Tempest van William Shakespeare hoort bij de ‘verboden boeken.’

Note from NAIS: Crazy detail: even The Tempest from William Shakespeare is one of the ‘prohibited books’.

(*) Amendement I van de Grondwet van de Verenigde Staten is een onderdeel van de Bill of Rights, die in15 december 1791 werd toegevoegd aan de constitutie. Het artikel verbiedt het Congres om wetten aan te nemen die een staatsgodsdienst creëren of één godsdienst boven een ander plaatsen, het recht op vrijheid van godsdienst verbieden, de vrijheid van meningsuiting of de persvrijheid belemmeren of de vrijheid van vereniging hinderen.
Het amendement zelf legt deze beperkingen expliciet op aan de wetgevende macht, maar in de loop der jaren hebben verschillende rechtbanken bepaald dat de verboden ook gelden voor de uitvoerende en rechterlijke macht. Het Federale Hooggerechtshof besliste dat het Eerste Amendement onder de bepalingen van het veertiende amendement ook van toepassing is op de door deelstaten genomen beslissingen

Voor meer:

3 comments:

marcaeoloG said...

Murika, we can ban anyone's books we want!

Morenci Author said...

When is the TUSD going to Schedule their official book burning bon fire ? Are we going to have to wear yellow arm bands "NA" or "CH" or BLK" after that? Why not? That's what the Nazis did in Germany and that's what the TUSD's actions look like. I thought our uncles and grand dads died so that such things couldn't happen here !

Anonymous said...

in order for the arizona mormons to rewrite history to fit their fraudulent fictional book of mormon hoax where they claim all blacks descended from native american while claiming dna is not a factor . the actual recorded anthropology and archeology books have to be altered and destroyed ?