Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights
Showing posts with label Chicanos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chicanos. Show all posts

May 8, 2015

Death by police and COINTELPRO: UN Reviews US Human Rights Violations on Monday


United Nations hears US human rights violation on Monday: Death by police, theft of Indigenous children, coal and uranium mining cancer alleys, border migrant abuse, unjust imprisonment, spying, torture and assassinations

 By Brenda Norrell
The United States human rights violations will be reviewed on May 11, 2015, before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. The murder of unarmed blacks by police officers, COINTELPRO, and freedom for Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu Jamal, are on the agenda.
Racial discrimination and unjust imprisonment top the list of human rights violations by the United States. The seizure of Indigenous children from their homes, and death by environmental pollution, particularly for Native Americans in the Southwest, are included in the United States human rights atrocities. 

The fact that the US continues to fund Israel, while Israel carries out Apartheid in Palestine, is in the human rights violations. As expected, the US has already attempted to defend its record on spying, torture and targeted assassinations.
Taking the lead, the US Human Rights Network, in its statement for the upcoming Universal Periodic Review on Monday, calls for the release of political prisoners Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu Jamal.
"More than 20 racial and social justice activists and human rights defenders languish in prisons throughout the U.S. These political prisoners are COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Eraxxvi activists who were persecuted because of their political beliefs and activities. They are now indigent, aging, infirmed, and entitled to immediate relief. UPR Recommendations 92.94, 92.153 and 92.154 call on the U.S. government to “end the discrimination against persons of African descent;' and to 'release all of its political prisoners…including Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu Jamal.”
The US Human Rights Network points out the environmental racism, which has resulted in widespread death for the poor in the US. The example is New Mexico, where coal-fired power plants, uranium mining and atomic testing poison the region, and target both Native American and Chicano communities. Coal-fired power plants and uranium mining poison the Navajo Nation, while the Pueblos have been scarred with the legacy of death from both uranium mining and atomic testing.
The Human Rights Network states, "Throughout the U.S., communities of color and Indigenous Peoples are disproportionately exposed to environmental pollution. In New Mexico for example, they suffer disproportionate health impacts - primarily cancer - from pollution caused by industrial and extractive activities (including uranium mining and processing), yet many are denied effective legal recourse."
On the issue of global human rights, the US Human Rights Network points out that the US continues to fund Israel, in the face of Israel's ongoing human rights atrocities in Palestine.
"Since 2010, Israel is, by far, the largest recipient of U.S. foreign military assistance. Providing military assistance to Israel in the face of longstanding impunity for human rights crimes represents an ongoing failure of the U.S. to fully implement International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and accountability measures required under the U.S. Leahy Laws." Read the full report of the US Human Rights Network: http://www.ushrnetwork.org/sites/ushrnetwork.org/files/upr_exec_summary_of_stakeholder_reports.pdf
US State Department glosses over violations

 Meanwhile, in what Russell Means, Lakota, often called "another dog and pony show," the US State Department has already submitted a statement glossing over its human rights violations.

In the US State Dept. response, there is no mention of the United States drone assassinations. The US has little to say in its own defense about spying on its citizens (which the US Appeals Court has just ruled illegal) or spying on the world's leaders and citizens.

As for the US response concerning its own spying, if it were not tragic, it would be laughable.

The US State Dept. response is brief: "See general comments. We collect information about our citizens only in accordance with U.S. law and international obligations."

The US State Dept. actually denies its own assassination programs, which has been well-documented by former CIA agents and whistleblowers. The US responds in its statement:

Recommendation 142: Halt selective assassinations committed by contractors, and the privatization of conflicts with the use of private military companies.
U.S. position: See general comments. Our contractors are not authorized to engage in direct hostilities or offensive operations or to commit assassinations. Like U.S. government personnel, contractors may only use force consistent with our international and domestic legal obligations. We have expressed support for the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers.

As expected, the US State Dept. denies it has violated the Geneva Conventions by carrying out widespread torture, disappearances and targeted assassinations. Further, the US denies its role in the ongoing abuse of migrants at the borders and prison-for-profit schemes involving migrants. The US assumes no responsibility in the militarization of the US border, or confesses that US Homeland Security selected Israel's defense contractor Elbit Systems to build spy towers on the Arizona border this year, including on the Tohono O'odham Nation.

Read the US State Department's full statement for the Review: http://www.state.gov/j/drl/upr/2015/237250.htm

UN High Commissioner lists some violations of Indigenous rights

 Meanwhile, in its summary for the upcoming Review, the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights has listed US human rights violations -- as stated by what the UN refers to as "stakeholders."


The children who never came home
Carlisle Indian School, Penn.
Photo by Brenda Norrell
The removal of Indigenous children from their homes is among the current human rights violations listed. This follows generations of abuse, torture and murder of Native American children who were kidnapped by US agents and forced into US boarding schools, leaving behind missing children, fractured families and generations of trauma. The boarding schools also militarized Native children, resulting in Natives joining the US armed forces in large numbers and serving in the same US military force responsible for the widespread genocide of Native Americans.

 Currently the seizure of Native American children from their homes and families by social services and other US agents, in violation of law, is being fought by Lakotas in the Dakotas and other Native Americans throughout the US.

 In its report, the High Commissioner states: "JS10 stated that indigenous children are removed from their families and communities at disproportionate rates as compared to other children and once removed they often suffer psychological, economic and cultural harms."

 One of the crimes largely ignored by the media in the US is medical research targeting people of color without their knowledge. What type of research was Johns Hopkins carrying out at Fort Defiance PHS hospital in Arizona, and elsewhere, all those years? Many of the Navajos who went there did not speak English and trusted the doctors and translators to make decisions for them. Johns Hopkins is being sued for infecting Guatemalans with STDs.

 Also, has Indian Health Service been collecting DNA without American Indian patients knowledge? (A Native youth was recognized for her achievement in creating a DNA kit for IHS.) 

 The facts are known that Indian Health Service systematically sterilized American Indian women in the US, many in the 1970s, as documented by Censored News in this video interview with Jean Whitehorse, Dine', at the AIM West gathering. Extensive investigations are now revealing how Native children in Canada in boarding schools were secretly used in medical and psychological experiments. Less is known about those experiments in US boarding schools and hospitals. Video interview with Jean Whitehorse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26-QlIGhXcE

In the High Commissioner's report on the United States, some of the human rights violations of "Minorities and indigenous peoples" are listed.
JS46 stated that Alaska and Hawaii were each a state of peoples recognized under the law of nations and international law as nations, claiming self-determination and self governance. According to JS46, the US submitted misleading reports to cloak the violations of the Charter of the United Nations and international law.250 87. While acknowledging the efforts made by the Government in recent years to advance the rights of indigenous peoples, JS5 noted with deep concern that indigenous peoples, including American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian peoples, still face significant challenges that are related to historical discrimination, acts of oppression, and inadequate government policies.251 JS5 recommended the Government to adopt measures to effectively protect sacred areas of indigenous peoples against environmental exploitation and degradation. 252 JS19 made similar recommendations.253 88. JS48 requested that the UPR Working Group recommend that the US fully implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples without seeking to diminish the inherent rights of Indigenous Peoples to, inter alia, self-determination, free, prior and informed consent, rights to traditionally owned, occupied and used lands, territories and resources, cultural rights and sacred areas.254 JS44 made similar remarks and recommended protecting cultural landscapes and sacred areas of indigenous peoples and A/HRC/WG.6/22/USA/3 11 ensure that consultations are held with the communities affected by development projects and exploitation of natural resources.255 JS42 made a similar recommendation.256 89. JS26 stated that the principle of free, prior and informed consent relating to indigenous peoples must be central to domestic and foreign policy. Sacred sites must be protected across the country.257 90. JS40 stressed that the reclamation of traditional lands and natural resources is a primary goal for the Nipmuc Nation and the Chappaquiddick Wampanoag Tribe. 258 Tribal members are continually challenged in their right to hunt and fish without license. Some cases have resulted in arrests of tribal members.259 WSNC recommended that the Government respond to WSNC requests for negotiation on treaty and land rights.260 91. JS48 indicated that the US continues to make unilateral decisions to extract resources (gold, uranium, coal, timber, water, etc.), and to carry out development projects with devastating impacts on the sacred areas, including waters and other resources. 261 92. JS48 requested that the UPR WG recommend that the US reconsider its rejection, in its first UPR review, of recommendation 92.154262 regarding the end of the incarceration of the Indian activist Leonard Peltier. 263 93. JS42 asked the UPR WG to recommend that the US engage in peace processes with Indigenous Peoples by providing safe access to land, water and education, and safety from violence. 264

Besides the United States, the Human Rights Council will also review human rights in Belarus, Liberia, Malawi, Mongolia, Panama, Maldives, Andorra, Bulgaria, Honduras, Marshall Islands, Croatia, Jamaica and Libya during the session, which is the 22nd session, May 4 -- 15, 2015.

Read the UN High Commissioners full statement: http://www.ushrnetwork.org/sites/ushrnetwork.org/files/summary_of_stakeholders_information_usa_upr_2015.pdf

 Also see: Hungry Aboriginal children used in bureaucrats experiments in Canada:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/hungry-aboriginal-people-used-in-bureaucrats-experiments-1.1317051
NOTE: Please forward additional statements submitted to the UN, for publication in Censored News to: brendanorrell@gmail.com

 Dutch translation by Alice Holemans, NAIS


Home » Nieuws » * DOOD DOOR POLITIE EN COINTELPRO: VN ZAL SCHENDINGEN VAN MENSENRECHTEN BEOORDELEN.
* DOOD DOOR POLITIE EN COINTELPRO : VN ZAL VS SCHENDINGEN VAN MENSENRECHTEN BEOORDELEN
 Verenigde Naties horen VS mensenrechtenschendingen op maandag: Dood door politie, diefstal van inheemse kinderen, kolen en uranium mijnbouw –kankers, mishandelingen van migranten aan de grens, onrechtvaardige opsluitingen, spionage en moorden.
Vertaald door NAIS: www.denaisgazet.be

Gen.jpg
De mensenrechtenschendingen door de VS zullen op maandag 11 mei 2015 beoordeeld worden door de Verenigde Naties in Genève. De moord van ongewapende zwarten door politieagenten, COINTELPRO, en vrijlating van Leonard Peltier en Mumia Abu Jamal, staan op het agenda.
Rassendiscriminatie en onrechtvaardige opsluitingen kronen de lijst van schendingen tegen mensenrechten gepleegd door de Verenigde Staten.
Het wegnemen van inheemse kinderen, en dood door vervuiling van het milieu, in het bijzonder voor Native Amerikanen in het Zuidwesten, maken ook deel uit van de wreedheden tegen mensenrechten.
Het feit dat de VS doorgaat met het financieren van Israël, terwijl Israël openlijk Apartheid voert in Palestina, is een schending van mensenrechten.
Zoals te verwachten was heeft de VS reeds een poging gedaan om zijn dossier over spionage, folteringen en doelgerichte moorden te verdedigen.

Het US Human Rights Network zal maandag de spits af bijten met zijn verklaring voor de komende ‘Periodic Review’ over de roep tot vrijlating van politieke gevangenen Leonard Peltier en Mumia Abu Jamal.
“ Meer dan 20 raciale en sociale activisten voor rechtvaardigheid en mensenrechten kwijnen weg in de VS gevangenissen. Deze politieke gevangenen zijn COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Eraxxvi activisten die werden vervolgd voor hun politieke overtuiging en activiteiten.
Nu zijn zij behoeftig, oud, ziek, en hebben zij recht op onmiddellijke vrijlating.
UPR Recommendations 92.94, 92.153 and 92.154 roept de VS regering op om een einde te maken aan de” discriminatie tegen personen van Afrikaanse afkomst; en al zijn politieke gevangenen, waaronder Leonard Peltier en Mumia Abu Jamal, vrij te laten.”

Het US Human Rights Network wijst op het milieu racisme, dat resulteerde in wijdverspreide sterfgevallen bij de armen in de VS.
Het voorbeeld is New Mexico, waar door kolenaangevoerde elektriciteitscentrales, uraniumontginningen en kernproeven het gebied vergiftigen, en zowel de Native Amerikaanse als de Chicano gemeenschappen bedreigen.
Kolenaangevoerde elektriciteitscentrales en uraniummijnen vergiftigen de Navajo Natie, terwijl de Pueblo’s getekend zijn met de erfenis van sterfgevallen door uraniummijnen en kernproeven.

Het Human Rights Network stelt: “Doorheen de Verenigde Staten zijn gekleurde gemeenschappen en inheemse volken onevenredig blootgesteld aan milieuvervuiling. In New Mexico bijvoorbeeld, zijn er onevenredige gevolgen voor de volksgezondheid- voornamelijk kanker- door pollutie veroorzaakt door industriële en extractive activiteiten (inbegrepen uraniumontginningen en verwerkingen), maar velen worden effectieve juridische bijstand geweigerd.”

Over de kwestie van mondiale mensenrechten, wijst het US Human Rights Network erop dat de VS Israël blijven financieren, ondanks de wreedheden tegen mensenrechten in Palestina.

“ Sinds 2010 is Israël veruit de grootste ontvanger van VS buitenlandse militaire assistentie. Het militaire assistentie verlenen aan Israël, gelet op de langdurende straffeloosheid voor zijn misdaden tegen de mensheid,geeft het falen van de VS weer om volledig de ‘International Humanitarian Law’ (IHL) te implementeren en aansprakelijkheidmaatregelen vereist onder de US Leahy Laws”
Lees het volledige verslag van het Human Right Network hier, ‘Engels):http://www.ushrnetwork.org/sites/ushrnetwork.org/files/upr_exec_summary_of_stakeholder_reports.pdf

Ondertussen, in wat Russel Means, Lakota, meermaals “een andere hond en pony show” noemde, heeft de VS reeds een verklaring, die zijn mensenrechtenschendingen mooi met een laag vernis bedekt heeft, ingediend.

In de verklaring van het VS State Dept wordt met geen woord gerept over de drone- moorden. De VS kon niet veel aanvoeren tot zijn eigen verdediging over spionage op zijn burgers ( wat het beroepshof van de VS net als onwettig verklaard had), of het bespioneren van de leiders en burgers van de wereld.
Moest het antwoord van de Vs betreffende zijn eigen spionage niet zo tragisch zijn, zou het lachwekkend zijn.
Het antwoord van het VS State Dept is kort: “ Zie algemene opmerkingen. Wij verzamelen enkel informatie over onze burgers in overeenstemming met de VS wet en internationale verplichtingen.”

Het US State Dept. ontkent daadwerkelijk zijn eigen moord- programma’s, die wel degelijk gedocumenteerd werden door voormalige CIA agenten en klokkenluiders.
Het VS antwoord in zijn verklaring: “ Recommendation 142: Halt aan selectieve moorden uitgevoerd door opdrachtnemers, en de privatisering van conflicten door het gebruik van private militaire bedrijven.
US positie: Zie algemene opmerkingen. Onze aannemers zijn niet gemachtigd om zich te mengen in directe vijandelijkheden of offensieve operaties of om moorden te plegen. Zoals het VS personeel mogen aannemers enkel macht gebruiken wanneer het consistent is met onze internationale en binnenlandse wettelijke verplichtingen. Wij hebben onze steun uitgesproken voor de Internationale gedragscode voor private Security Service Providers.”

Zoals te verwachten was, ontkende het VS State Dept. dat ze de conventie van Genève heeft geschonden door het uitvoeren van wijdverspreide folteringen, verdwijningen en doelgerichte moorden.
Verder ontkent de VS zijn rol in de voortdurende mishandelingen van migranten aan de grenzen en ‘gevangenis -voor winst- systemen’ ten koste van de migranten.
De VS neemt geen aansprakelijkheid aan in het militariseren van de VS grens, of geeft toe dat US Homeland Security dit jaar Israël’ s ‘defense contractor Elbit Systems uitgekozen heeft om spionnentorens te bouwen op de grens van Arizona, spionnentorens die ook gericht staan op de Tohono O’odham Nation.
Lees de volledige verklaring van het US State Dept hier, (Engels):http://www.state.gov/j/drl/upr/2015/237250.htm
Ondertussen heeft de UN High Commissioner voor mensenrechten in zijn samenvatting voor de komende beoordeling, de schendingen van mensenrechten door de VS opgelijst.
Het verwijderen van inheemse kinderen uit hun families is opgenomen in de lijst van mensenrechtenschendingen.
Deze volgen op generatielange mishandelingen, folteringen en vermoorden van Native Amerikaanse kinderen die ontvoerd werden door VS agenten en in VS kostscholen gedwongen werden, verdwenen kinderen, gebroken families en generaties van trauma achterlatend.

De UN Hihg Commissioner zegt: “JS10 stelt dat inheemse kinderen weggenomen werden van hun families en gemeenschappen in onevenredige getallen in vergelijking met andere kinderen, en eens weggenomen psychologische, economische en culturele schade ondergingen.”

Sommige van de mensenrechtenschendingen van ‘Minderheden en inheemse volken’ worden opgelijst in het rapport van de High Commissioner.

JS46 stelt dat Alaska en Hawaii erkend werden als naties onder de wet van naties en international law; die aanspraak maakten op zelfbeschikking en zelfbestuur.
Volgens JS46 diende de VS misleidende rapporten in om de schendingen van de ‘Charter of the United Nations en International Law250 87’ te verhullen.
Terwijl de inspanningen van de afgelopen jaren die gemaakt werden door de regering om de rechten van inheemse volken te verbeteren wel erkent worden, merkt te JS5 met diepe bezorgdheid dat inheemse volken, waaronder Amerikaanse indianen, Alaska Natives en Native Hawaiian volken, nog steeds belangrijke uitdagingen moeten aangaan die gerelateerd zijn aan historische discriminatie, daden van onderdrukking, en inadequaat overheidbeleid.

251 JS5 adviseert de overheid om maatregelen te treffen die daadwerkelijk sacrale gebieden van inheemse volken beschermen tegen exploitatie van milieu en degradatie.

252 JS19 heeft overeenstemmende aanbevelingen gemaakt.

253 88.JS48 verzoekt dat de ‘UPR Working Group’ adviseert dat de VS de VN verklaring van de rechten van de inheemse volken volledig eerbiedigt, om onder meer: zelfbeschikking, vrije voorafgaande en geïnformeerde instemming, rechten tot traditionele, bezette en gebruikte gronden, territoria en grondstoffen, culturele rechten en sacrale gebieden, zonder te proberen om de inherent rechten van inheemse volken te minimaliseren.

254 JS42 maakt soortgelijke opmerkingen en adviseerde de bescherming van culturele landschappen en sacrale gebieden van inheemse volken en A/HRC/WG.6/22/USA/3 11 verzeker dat raadplegingen gehouden worden met de gemeenschappen die getroffen worden door ontwikkelingsprojecten en exploitatie van natuurlijke bronnen.

255 JS42 gaf een soortgelijke aanbeveling.
256 89.JS26 stelde dat het principe van vrije, voorafgaande geïnformeerde instemming centraal moet staan in het binnenlandse en buitenlandse beleid. Sacrale sites moeten heel het land door beschermd worden.

257 90.JS40 benadrukt dat de terugwinning van traditionele gronden en natuurlijke bronnen de hoofdbekommernis is voor de Nipmuc Nation en de Chappaquiddick Wampanoag Tribe. 258 tribale leden worden voortdurend beknot in hun recht om te jagen en te vissen zonder licentie. Sommige gevallen resulteerden in arrestaties van tribale leden.

259 WSNC adviseert dat de overheid het verzoek van WSNC voor onderhandelingen over Treaty en landrechten inwilligt.

JS48 gaf aan dat de VS verdergaat met het maken van eenzijdige beslissingen om grondstoffen te onttrekken (goud, kolen, hout, water, enzovoort), en met ontwikkelingsprojecten uit te voeren met verwoestende effecten voor de sacrale gebieden, waaronder water en andere bronnen.

261 92.JS48 verzoekt dat de UPR WG aanbeveling doet dat de VS zijn afwijzing, in zijn eerste UPR review, van aanbeveling 92.154262 om de opsluiting de Indiaanse activist Leonard Peltier ongedaan te maken.
263 93.js42 vraagt de UPR WG om de VS te adviseren om zich te engageren in vredesprocessen met inheemse volken door een veilige toegang tot land, water, onderwijs en veiligheid tegen geweld te voorzien.


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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 Marie, Winona LaDuke, Leonard Peltier en Rigoberta Menchu.

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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

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