Free Censored 2014 by Mickey Huff Page B

and La Causa among others. 12
    Denial
    To this day, the far right Republican regime denies that books have been banned in Arizona. It will be up to the Supreme Court toconvince them of that. A press release from the Tucson Unified School District, posted on their website on January 17, 2012, denied that it had banned books, though it does admit that enforcers walked into classrooms during class time and, in front of our young, boxed up books by our most beloved authors. 13
    And here is just one quote that is a testament to the doublespeak that George Orwell warned us about: “NONE of the above books have been banned by TUSD. Each book has been boxed and stored as part of the process of suspending the classes. The books listed above were cited in the ruling that found the classes out of compliance with state law.” 14
    Likewise, in Texas, the Republican legislators who proposed HB 1938 and SB 1128 deny that they wanted to attack ethnic studies. I can’t tell you what is in these legislators’ hearts, but I can tell you what was in their bills. These bills would have led to the demise of ethnic studies. We must nip these oppressive laws in the bud, for it’s much harder for them to be taken off the books once they’re in place.
    When asked what brought this issue to his attention, Rep. Capriglione did not refer to the NAS report, although the author and champions of the bill were sitting behind him and about to testify—authors who had so twisted their definition of censorship that they could so easily write a denial of our history into their report: “The kinds of courses that Librotraficante is concerned about will most likely, if the bill is passed, still continue to be offered at Texas public universities as electives. The only change would be that they would not count toward the state US history requirement in general education.” 15
    Rep. Capriglione did, however, cite Jay Leno’s “Jaywalking” segment as proof that Texas college students did not know enough about US history. If discrediting our history is not a big deal, then I suggest that Rep. Capriglione’s Jaywalking comprehensive history course be an elective. We would at least get to see the content of the course, and could then get a better idea of what is in the minds, hearts, and imagi-nations of the far right.
    During this whole period, no one ever showed us the “comprehensive American history course” that the Texan bills and the Republican legislators were advocating. However, they would have gone into effect in just four months, if the law had been passed.
    HB 1938 would have taken US history back to 1938, before ethnicstudies existed. I’m so proud of everyone who stood up for critical thinking, ethnic studies, and intellectual freedom. We look forward to uniting with the broader community to protect intellectual freedom for all.

    TONY DIAZ , “El Librotraficante,” is a novelist and holds a master of fine arts in creative writing. He brings together contemporary Latino arts, culture, and business in ways that have transformed Houston, Texas, and the nation. He made national and international news in 2012 in his role as a leader of the Librotraficante movement, championing freedom of speech. Diaz is also cofounder of Protectors of the Dream, which awards grants and free legal representation to youth of the Dream Act movement. See more at TonyDiaz.net .
    THE SPIN GAME: POLICE ATTEMPT TO HIDE INFILTRATION
OF ACTIVIST GROUPS 6
    Beau Hodai
    Infiltrate: verb [with object]
1. enter or gain access to (an organization, place, etc.) surreptitiously and
gradually, especially in order to acquire secret injormation: other areas of
the establishment were infiltrated by jascists; permeate or become a part
of (something) by infiltration: computing has infiltrated most projessions
now. Medicine (of a tumor, cells, etc.) spread into or invade (a tissue or
organ).
2. (of a liquid) permeate (something)