The only good thing about bigots is that they usually hang themselves if you give them enough rope. That’s just what happened on The Daily Show when Al Madrigal traveled to Arizona to interview a school board member who voted to ban Mexican American Studies in Tucson schools (based on “hearsay,” not facts). If you haven’t seen the segment, you can watch it here. Debbie Reese has also transcribed the interview and you can find that on her blog, American Indians in Children’s Literature. You want to laugh because it’s so ridiculous, but the ramifications of this kind of ignorance are very real—and harmful to our youth and the future of the country. This week Amy Bodden Bowllan is featuring Matt de la Peña on her School Library Journal blog; Matt recently visited AZ after his novel, Mexican Whiteboy, was pulled from the shelves. Amy also gave me a chance to reflect on the Trayvon Martin case and its impact on young readers. THIS is what I’m talking about when I say that “the lack of books for children in our communities IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH.”
Yesterday I told my students that I never used to talk in class; they were amazed to learn that I used to sit in class in college and even in graduate school with my lips sealed shut. And even at the conference in France last month—the keynote speaker was making some really problematic statements, and I sat there hoping someone else would speak up. But no one did, so that’s when I raised my hand and tried to keep my voice from shaking with rage…most days I’d rather disappear, but we don’t only speak for ourselves. We speak for those who have been silenced. We speak because we’ve been given a platform and so many others have not.
I’m reading that book now. Thanks for the link to the interview.
you’re welcome, Evelyn! I’ve only read Ball Don’t Lie and so I need to catch up on Matt’s other books.
You are right, speaking up can be the most difficult thing ever. I think being online and writing on the blog is a much easier way for me to do it – but at the same time it is definitely helping me gain my courage. I thank you and others who get me thinking critically for helping with that. At events in the past year I’ve tried to do my best to raise questions – haven’t always gotten good answers though :P
Yes–we writers always prefer to put it on the page rather than pipe up! there’s a lot of randomness in the blogosphere, but I also appreciate the community I’ve found here.