The Difference Between a Political and a Pedagogical Judgments

 White Lies  And  What’s to be Done?By  Rodolfo F. Acuña
When I was a kid there was what we used to callwhite lies.  You distinguished them from lies that were untrue. You toldwhite lies because you did not want to reveal a secret or hurt someone’sfeelings. Children would easily get caught telling lies – we were not too goodat it. However, we got better as we marched into adulthood often believing ourown lies.
I guess I never grew up, a lie remained a lie. WhenI started to write commentaries in the 1980s this got me into trouble with manyof my politico friends. They told me that what they said were not lies butpolitical judgments. The first rule in politics, they said, was to getre-elected.
In L.A., I began to lose friends not only because Ihad to tell it like I saw it, but because as a writer and historian if I gotcaught in a lie, my moral authority suffered and this undermined the purposefor writing. At first it was easy because I concentrated in exposing theinjustices in the system. But as Mexican Americans and Latinos became part ofthe system I found myself criticizing my friends.
The issues that caused me the most anguish werepolice brutality, education and Latino politicians taking large sums ofcampaign funds from the likes of Downtown Real Estate Attorney  Richard Riordanand developer Eli Broad. When I criticized them mutual friends would say thatthey were making “political judgments” and that to be successful and remainplayers that they had to make these sorts of compromises.
I could not live with the contradictions so Idistanced myself -- unwilling to make a complete break because there wereissues where they got it right and benefited the community.
I literally got sucked into the controversies inArizona. I have been interested in the abuse of immigrants there since the1970s with the Hanigan Case where a well-connected rancher and owner of a DairyQueen and his two sons tortured three undocumented Mexican workers. Itinfuriated me that the state court would not convict them.

My interest peaked in the 1980s with the sanctuarymovement and the trial of my friend and poet Demetria Martínez for transportingtwo Salvadoran undocumented workers. Demetria was acquitted but a 25-yearsentence hung over her head and that bothered me.
The persecution of undocumented workers picked up inthe late 1990s as the government closed the corridors carrying drugs and poorLatin Americans into the United States from Baja California and points south. The tactic was inhumane, forcing immigrants to travel through the badlandsof Southern Arizona, which was dominated by right wing ranchers who would huntdown the Mexican workers and their families.
What they could not “roundup,” the boiling sun wouldkill. To date way over a thousand Mexicans and Latin Americans have died on thehot sands of southern Arizona—a thousand fold more than died trying to getacross the Berlin Wall.
SB 1070 was passed in 2010.  It brought animmediate reaction both inside and outside Arizona. A boycott was called, whichquickly dissipated. For a time, unions and progressives outside of Arizona heldrallies in Phoenix. However, Arizona’s anti-racist campaign was quicklyeclipsed as struggles in Wisconsin and Ohio took center stage. Not wanting tooffend local contributors the Democratic Party turned the other way and allowedBlue Dogs and others to make their arrangements as political judgments dictatedtheir choices.
A few progressive writers uncovered the motivationsbehind 1070 for which many people claim credit. Kansas attorney general KrisKobach who considers his anti-immigrant crusade a substitute for militaryservice was one of the hooded authors.  Most claim that the impeachedSenator Russell Pearce was the author of 1070, which was signed into law by ArizonaGov. Jan Brewer (R) in April 2010. 
Meanwhile, other than the legal strategy – from myperspective – much of the outrage over the law leaked from the puncturedballoon. More and more political judgments were made. Politicians of allstripes hardly mentioned that Pearce was only a bag man. The mainstream mediaforgot that the authors of the bill were the Corrections Corporation of America(CCA),and  the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC); they draftedSB1070 “to protect the profitability of private prisons funded with taxpayerdollars.” 
Special interests made a killing on the hate Mexicancampaign.  Hate was and is profitable.
As an early blogger commented “SB1070 cannot beseparated from its drafters, whose sole mission is to craft profitablelegislation. The purpose of a state criminal designation for undocumentedpeople is the diversion of immigrants into for-profit prisons and a tax-subsidizedholding period before federal immigration proceedings can proceed. Not only wasthe law never about Arizona, it wasn't even written by or for Arizonans.” 
ALEC must be remembered controls at least 50Republicans in the Arizona State Legislature and has ties with elitesthroughout the country and state including the Southern Arizona LeadershipCouncil. Its drive to privatize Arizona was made possible by a culture offear. 
HB 2281 was passed shortly after SB 1070; from thebeginning from the beginning it has been eclipsed by the latter. Unfortunately most if not all politicians make political judgments, which arenot necessarily made to improve society. In the case of education they arecertainly not based on sound pedagogical considerations.  I have been an educator for almost sixty years andmy first question is, how does this improve the education of Mexican American,Latinos and other students? Education is my vocation.If Arizona had made a good faith effort to educateMexican American and other students I would have given them the benefit of thedoubt. However, Arizona is 50^th in per capita spending per child in the nation. Ithas been under a court order to desegregate for over thirty-five years. Thehighly respected Tucson Unified School District Mexican American StudiesProgram was created in 1997 and was funded by a Federal Desegregation order andthe product of decades of struggle.Despite this and the closing the Rincon and PaloVerde high schools, the firing of more than 100 teachers and a low approvalrating,  the TUSD Board of Education last month renewed Superintendent ofSchools John Pedicone’s contract through June 30, 2014, which will pay him $211,000 a year plus benefits and allowances plus a $35,000 bonus. Thisis in a city where the cost of living is very low.This is the same Pedicone that dismantled the MASprogram, which Latino politicos have sacrificed on the altar of politicaljudgments. The lives of several MAS teachers have been destroyed, which makesit all the more tragic because those making the political judgments weresupposedly friends of the fired teachers who had worked on their campaigns.This mendacious political judgment waspredictable.  The Board was stacked just after Democratic pro-MAS boardmember Democrat Judy Burns died and was replaced by Republican anti-MASAlexandre Borges Sugiyama. There are rumors of fraud: Sugiyama had not shownprevious interest in education – he unqualified.A five member committee made up of all whiteRepublicans recommended his appointment. His only qualification was that he wasa part time instructor in the same Department as Board President Mark Stegemanand he was approved by Pedicone. The latter two have ties to the SouthernArizona Leadership Council. The Pima superintendent who is part of the TucsonRing made the appointment.If this was not enough, Pedicone had orderedexcessive force against community activists.  Professor GuadalupeCastillo, a longtime friend of many of the Latino politicos, who qasapproaching 70 years old was thrown to the ground by police and arrested. So much for familial and fraternal ties and loyalties.  I guess it was apolitical judgment because it was certainly not a pedagogical one.This abuse of power has turned off some of the beststudents who now have become cynical about government.  It is difficultfor them to distinguish a political judgment from a lie.In speaking to students and parents they aredismayed at the numerous instances of abuse of power. For example, in Januarythere was a White House summit for Latino education. Sean Arce, the coordinatorof MAS, attended and testified. Normally this conduct is protected by thewhistleblower statute. However, Arce was admonished by his superiors andshortly afterwards fired for criticizing the system.  Students and parents also criticized the TUSD’sinfamous censorship of books. At the forefront of these abuses were Stegemanand Pedicone who were licensed by state and local elites.  Thus they makeno pretense at fairness or explaining their actions in pedagogical terms.Rather Stegeman like Tom Horne and John Huppenthal sees MAS a conspiracy toreconquer Arizona. Stegeman made the outlandish claim that he knew MAS was acult when he heard them use farmworker handclap.I wonder what significance he gives to whitestudents clapping to Freddie Mercury’s “We Will Rock You!” at a University ofArizona football game.However, with this said those concerned about HB2281 have to accept some of the blame for the political judgments. As I havesaid before Arizona ushers in a new era. To deal with this new reality we mustadopt new strategies:We have known for some time that Arizona was coming,and we should have adapted. Places like Tucson are isolated and do not have theinternal structure that Los Angeles, for instance, has. If a nationalorganization is not going to help, it should at least hold workshops forpotential plaintiffs. Having gone a large discrimination suit, a rule of thumbis that the plaintiff(s) control the case, not the attorneys.Nothing is gained by calling a politico a vendido(sellout). This cuts communication. The important objective is to win or makeyour case. Palo dado ni díos lo quita. People remember what they perceive asinsults.We must always keep in mind that the case is notpersonal but represents the interests of the community.Working with Salvadoran groups in the 1980s I foundthem much more focused than Mexican American organizations. Run mostly by womenthey insisted that the meeting begin on time. No drinking or smoking wasallowed and you could only speak if recognized. They had a purpose which wasthe liberation of El Salvador.We have to learn and constantly reassess ourtactics.As I have often mentioned, my mother did notcomplete the first grade, she was legally blind and anemic. Because of theMexican Revolution my father completed the fourth grade. When I went out theywould tell me never to soil the family name –that’s all we really had.People can make mistakes but when it comes toeducation, I hold myself to a higher standard.  It is my professionaljudgment that kids are being hurt by Pedicone, Stegeman and company. However,to be effective I have to stay focused and continually ask myself what I amfighting for?Arizona should be ashamed of itself and so shouldprofessionals such as myself who have not learned from the past.Depositions begin this week in the case against HB 2281. Youcan donate by clicking on to http://saveethnicstudies.org/ . We are runentirely by volunteers; however, depositions are expensive. Please donate atleast $5 a month.Depositionshave started in the case against Sean Arce and José González. Four hours ofdepositions were taken of both Arce and Gonzalez. Our side deposed Ward thispast week. Please donate: https://www.wepay.com/donations/144408