Fear and Loathing from Texzona
I wasn’t surprised by events in Texas and Arizona or by their timing. I’m not even taken aback by the statements of Fox News contributor and business anchor, John Stossel.
For the last eighteen months, ten Republican members of the Texas Board of Education have systematically rewritten the curriculum to be used in Texas public schools. They labored to eliminate the so-called “liberal bias” they and their party perceived in the way history and social studies were taught. The Board highlighted the Second Amendment over other equally or more important constitutional provisions such as the right to free expression, to the free exercise of religion, to be free from state established religious beliefs, to the freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, and the civil rights amendments. The Board sought to eliminate discussions regarding the separation of church and state embodied in the First Amendment’s establishment clause and to downplay the role of the Civil Rights Movement in shaping our country. The Board even partially succeeded in eliminating any mention of the contributions of ethnic minorities to the cultural, political, and economic development of America.
From Arizona came two major headlines. First, SB1070 became law and made it a state crime to be in the country illegally, exposed law enforcement officers to lawsuits if they mistakenly stop someone for a supposed immigration violation or if they refuse to enforce this monstrously ambiguous and racist law. Second, Arizona enacted a law terminating funding for ethnic studies classes since, the theory goes, such classes tend to promote one ethnic group over another despite reputable research demonstrating that such classes tend to promote racial acceptance and tolerance. But, perhaps that is the problem for some.
John Stossel from Fox News agreed with Tea Party darling Rand Paul that portions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and by implication each subsequent civil rights enactment was wrong. Primarily, Stossel argued that private businesses should be allowed to revert to the segregationist era practice of discriminating against someone on account of race. After all, the argument says, the free enterprise model of business would not tolerate racist practices in the market place. Paul and Stossel ignore the ugly little historical fact that the market model was exactly the one that was in place when the various Civil Rights Acts outlawed segregation and discrimination based upon race, gender, disability, age, ethnicity, and most recently sexual orientation.
The relationship between the three events is as clear as the rallying cry of militant conservatives that they’re “taking their country back.” Their country? Back from what? Our democratic foundations? Our centuries-long multiculturalism? The constitutional mandate that government safeguard the inalienable rights of people and provide for the common good? Perhaps more importantly, the question should be “back to what?” Segregation? No social security? No Medicare? Ethnic minorities relegated to the crappiest schools and the back of the bus? One set of workers making eighty-two cents on the dollar or less? Oops, women still only make eighty-two cents to each dollar men make.
Hunter S. Thompson said it best: “Politics is the art of controlling your environment.” It’s a never-ending, daily struggle. That’s why I wasn’t surprised. The reactionary right’s tactic is clearly meant to demonize, degrade, and thus raise the level of fear of anyone who does not agree with its agenda. They are trying to control the environment so that the rest of us are “put in our place” so much so that we’ll grow too weary or too scared to fight back. At least that’s their hope.
This tactic is masterfully cynical. It’s been used before with devastating consequences. Not too long ago, Hitler, who came to power, plunged the world into war, and committed unspeakable acts of genocide and synthesized the method this way: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.
Sound familiar? Too familiar, perhaps too immediate. We as a people have the right to have our individual votes count equally with all others, to demand our place in the fabric of this country. If we don’t exercise this fundamental right, we all lose and we are all to blame. Our liberty and continuing struggle to make America and the world a better place is bought only with eternal vigilance and courage. I for one am not ready to be put in any particular place.
Raised in a migrant farm worker family in the poverty-stricken area of the Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, Vito de la Cruz was taught to value hard work, education, family, and community by his grandmother and his aunt. Now, he is an instructor at the National Judicial College, National Institute of Trial Advocacy, the National Criminal Defense College, and the ABA-ROLI Latin American trial advocacy programs in Venezuela, Mexico, and Ecuador. De la Cruz is a regular columnist with the Reno Gazette Journal.
