Precious Knowledge is a 2011 educational and political documentary that centers on the banning of the Mexican-American Studies(MAS) Program in the Tucson Unified School District of Arizona. The documentary was directed by Ari Luis Palos and produced by Eren Isabel McGinnis, both founders of Dos Vatos Productions.
Precious Knowledge interweaves the stories of students and teachers in the Mexican-American Studies (MAS) Program-also known as "la Raza Studies"- at Tucson Magnet High School. It narrates the progression of local legislation proposed by the former Arizona Department of Education Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne, and other Arizona legislatures to eliminate the program, arguing that it fosters ethnic chauvinism and teaches "anti-American" values. Proponents of the program argue that the program has made a positive academic impact on the students and that the removal of the program would send an underlying message that Mexican-American students and their culture don't belong in America. Although the MAS Program was removed, MAS teachers and students challenged the banning at federal court. On August 22, 2017, a federal judge ruled that the ban on the program was racially discriminatory.
Video Precious Knowledge
Plot
The opening scene introduces Crystal Terriquez, Priscila Rodriguez and Gilbert Esparza, all Mexican-American students participating in the Mexican-American Studies Program at Tucson High Magnet School in Tucson, Arizona. Crystal shares that she plans to attend college in order to set a proper example for her younger siblings. In the following scene, Priscila is shown preparing the dinner table and saying grace with her family. One seat at the dinner table is empty. Months earlier, Priscila's father had gone to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) but failed to return home; their family was later informed of his detention and deportation due to his status as an undocumented immigrant. Priscila states that the MAS Program saved her from dropping out of high school during her freshman year and set her on a college-bound path. Sitting in a MAS Program classroom, Gilbert speaks about his academic struggles. After enrolling in the program, Glibert states that for the first time in his academic career he was enthralled by what he was being taught, resulting in an improvement of his grades. Over the course of the film, Crystal, Priscila, and Gilbert transform from reserved, disinterested individuals to academically challenged students--as well as engaged citizens within their community--advocating to keep the MAS Program alive.
Precious Knowledge also depicts the program's overall positive academic impact on students, citing a decrease in the dropout rate among Mexican-American students and an increase in the graduation rate. At the time, it was estimated that the dropout rate for Mexican-American students across the United States was approximately 50%. This percentage rate was particularly startling for the Tucson Unified School District given that their Latino student population was around 32,500.
According to Dr. Agustine Romero, the Director of Student Equity of Tucson United School District, who's featured in the documentary, the educational experience of the majority of Latino children had been inadequate for some time in the United States. In the 1950's, Chicano students were prohibited from speaking Spanish in school. In addition, minority students were subjected to corporal punishment at a 4:1 ratio, and Chicano and Chicana students were placed in vocational classes rather than college preparatory courses. In the 1960's, the Chicano Movement emerged as a result of the educational inequalities that generations of Mexican-American students faced during the preceding decades. In 1997, the Tucson city council established a study committee to determine ways to decrease the dropout rate among Latino students and boost educational success among this group. As a result, the Tucson school board voted to create the Hispanic Studies Department which later evolved into the MAS Program. At the time in which Precious Knowledge was being filmed, TUSD reported that students enrolled in ethnic studies courses were demonstrating "significant improvement" on Arizona standardized tests and that the graduation rate within that student group increased to 93%.
The following scene then introduces two MAS Program teachers, Curtis Acosta and José Gonzalez, ''who create a learning environment influenced by what they call the 'social justice pedagogy,'" based on the book Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire. Gonzalez, who teaches American government with a social justice perspective, explains that they teach students to "seek the root of the truth, [and] that in that truth there is a greater justice." They emphasize "the importance of culture, politics, commitment to their community and social activism--factors that contribute to the transformation of students' lives." The next scene cuts to Acosta, who teaches Latino Literature. Described by the Huffington Post as "a Latino version of Robin Williams' portrait of the inspiring poetry teacher in the film classic, Dead Poets Society," Acosta is characterized in the documentary as a charismatic, energetic teacher whom the students grow to trust and even consider as a father figure. Everyday at the start of Acosta's class he leads students in a recitation of "In Lak'ech," a poem by Luis Valdéz, a Chicano playwright. The poem starts with, "You are my other me/ If I harm you / I do harm to myself / If I love and respect you / I love and respect myself."
In attempts to offer a balanced coverage on the controversy surrounding the MAS Program, Precious Knowledge also explores the views held by those advocating to shutdown the program. Tucson Unified School District Superintendent Tom Horne makes an early appearance in Precious Knowledge, but his viewpoints are only fully explored until the latter half of the documentary. Horne denounces the MAS Program, claiming that it breeds racial segregation by "treating students separately due to ethnicity." Ironically, the following scene shows students reading hate comments left online about them: "the race studies program teaches Tucson students to hate America.. what a great use of our tax dollars," one user writes. In response, students engage in meaningful dialogue to brainstorm project ideas to bring their community closer together.
The filmmakers also document the multiple attempts made by members of the Arizona legislature to pass bills aimed at terminating the MAS Program. The proposed bills shown in the documentary include Arizona Senate Bill (SB) 1108, Arizona Senate Bill (SB) 1069, Arizona House Bill (HB) 2281 and Arizona Senate Bill (SB) 1070. Introduced on April 16, 2008 by State Senator Russell Pearce, SB 1108 sought to authorize the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne, to withhold public monies and take regulatory action if a public school was found to include curriculum that conflicted with the values of American citizenship. Although not explicitly stated, the legislation appeared aimed largely at the Tucson Unified School District's ethnic studies programs and ethnic-based organizations by characterizing them as "anti-American." In support of SB 1108, State Representative John Kavanagh testified:
"This bill basically says, you're here. Adopt American values... if you want a different culture, then fine, go back to that culture."
Tucson resident Laura Leighton stated:
"We find that hate and revolution is being taught in their books. Mexico I believe is orchestrating this and they have an agenda known as 'la reconquista,' the reconquest. Many of our Chicano elected officials I believe are working directly for Mexico and towards the take over..."
Governor Janet Napolitano threatened to veto the bill if it made it to her desk. However, her veto wasn't required because the bill died on the House side of the legislature. SB 1069 was introduced into the legislature by Pearce during the next session. Similar to SB 1108, SB 1069 sought to eliminate ethnic studies classes by threatening to cut 10 percent of any school district or charter school's monthly funds if they continued to offer ethnic studies classes. Pearce characterized the MAS Program as "anti-American" and hate-mongering. Mariah Harvey, a MAS Program student, attended the session. She testified:
"It doesn't teach us to be anti-American. It teaches us to embrace America, all of its flaws and all. But certain things like racism, and certain things like oppression do exist. And we go for these classes first off from hearsay, because people that have graduated and gone to these classes have said nothing but positive things. They figure out who they really are as human being and they figure out how to handle situations to their best abilities. So the word 'anti-American' isn't even relevant in our classes."
The next scene shows Horne being questioned by State Senator Richard Miranda. Miranda asks Horne why he hadn't visited the raza classes despite having been invited. Horne initially denies having been contacted by the MAS Program teachers, but he retracts his statement after being told that there was evidence that proved the teachers had in fact reached out to him. Miranda appears skeptic of Horne's intentions given that he was attempting to eliminate the ethnic studies program without having ever stepped foot in a MAS class. Romero also makes an appearance at the meeting, and he is interrogated by John Huppenthal who was a state senator at the time. "In terms of how we interact with students, parents and community, it's about understanding respect and appreciation. That has led to the place where our students perform academically much better than the students not in our courses. That's something that should be applauded," Romero stated. Huppenthal counters by questioning the program's use of the textbook Pedagogy of the Oppressed due to its references to Marx, Lenin, Mao, Che Guevara and Fidel Castro. "Our suspicion is [that] inside these classes these students are being indoctrinated by people who are in power to have a certain mindset of us versus them," Huppenthal states. Despite the testimony from MAS Program supporters, SB 1069 passed out of the committee to be voted on by the full legislature.
Precious Knowledge chronicles the days leading up to the bill's final vote deadline. Acosta, Gonzalez and students of the MAS program along with members of the community gather to run 110 miles from Tucson to the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix. That afternoon, the bill ultimately failed to pass, but it wasn't the last time legislatures would challenge the program's legality. Shortly after, Governor Napolitano became former President Obama's new Director of Homeland Security, and she was replaced by Jan Brewer, who had been serving as the Secretary of State of Arizona. Lawmakers grew confident that they could pass two pieces of legislation aimed partly against ethnic studies programs: SB 1070 and HB 2281.
Rhetoric against the MAS Program increased, as demonstrated by cameos of raza studies opponents at a peaceful march orchestrated by MAS Program students, teachers and community leaders to protest the impending ban of ethnic studies. As the students march and chant "Si se puede," counter-demonstrators yell back "U.S.A!" One group white counter-demonstrators are shown burning a Mexican flag.
In one the documentary's scenes, Huppenthal accepts an invitation to visit Acosta's class as part of his research for deciding what his vote would be for the passage of HB 2281. As usual, the class begins by students reciting the poem "In Lak'ech." Huppenthal expresses some of his concerns about the program: "...[we're] concerned that you're breaking away from traditions that we know resulted in freedom and prosperity. There's a real fear when we see books like Pedagogy of the Oppressed... that we're going, 'you know, that's Marxist, Leninist, Collectivist.' That's part of the fear that people have about these kind of studies." One student then challenges Huppenthal's remarks: "But the Civil Rights Movement was something that everybody was afraid of, right?" At one point, Huppenthal takes issue with a poster of Che Guevara hanging on the classroom wall. He wonders why there's not a poster of Benjamin Franklin instead. In he background, one of the program's directors states, "Benjamin Franklin also warned the country of the darkening of the country. And he was against the inclusion of the tawnian [dark skinned] people." Another program director also takes a stand: "It's not a disregard of those founding fathers, but we try to encourage in our students and facilitate a process wherein we have the courage to examine our history for what it is." Later with an interview with the filmmakers, Huppenthal discloses that he didn't think his visit reflected what a typical day was in a MAS class. At the Senate Education Committee voting session for SB 2281, Huppenthal speaks about his visit to Acosta's class. He states that while he was in the classroom, "the founder of la Raza started talking about Benjamin Franklin being a racist" and that he thought that it was "completely inappropriate to trash our founding fathers [who] put their lives on the line for our freedom and prosperity." HB 2281 was approved and sent to Governor Jan Brewer for her signature.
In the next sequence, the film captures students participating in another rally, this time against HB 2281. Acosta gives the following speech to participants:
"We're standing [here] today with and for our community in peaceful protest to the most hateful legislative session in our state's history. And we stand here today with the stories in history of our families-abuelitos, abuelitas and antepasados- who have walked this continent freely for thousands of years, have given their strength of their backs and hands to build this United States and [have] sacrifice[ed] their own blood in defending this country. Regardless of what anybody else says, we have taught you love."
Later at the rally, the Tucson Brown Berets make an appearance to demonstrate their support. A picture of them is displayed one week later at a press conference held by Margaret Dugan, Deputy State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Horne. Dugan explains that the picture of students wearing brown shirts, bandannas and sunglasses demonstrates that the MAS Program is teaching kids to hate the United States. Horne adds that "students are being taught a revolutionary curriculum" and that "anybody who says that kids can't learn unless they're subject to that kind of militancy is the clearest example of racism that [he] could think of."
The sequential segment shows students, teachers and community members staging a sit-down at the state building where Dugan and Horne are holding their press conference. The students' chants are heard inside as a journalist asks Horne if he's ever attended a MAS class. Horne explains that his visit would probably affect what the students were being taught on that particular day and he would therefore not get a true picture of what went on in the classroom. He adds that if he was later asked what went on in the classroom, he would have to say "well it was just this benign class." The students don't get a chance to speak to Horne. Instead, four students and eleven adults are arrested for refusing to leave the state building. They tell a reporter that it was "worth it to make this strong statement."
Despite their best efforts, Governor Jan Brewer signed HB 2281 into law. According to Precious Knowledge, MAS Program teachers proceeded to file an anti-discrimination civil lawsuit in order to prevent the implementation of the law.
The last day of school is also documented. In both Acosta's and Gonzalez's classrooms, students are in a somber mood, yet there also seems to be some hope left within them. Gonzalez tells his students to "always look in the mirror, look at [their] heart, know [their] heart and have Quetzalcoatl precious knowledge of who [they] are as a human being."
Acosta and his students appear very emotional. He tells his students that despite the attacks and hateful comments that he endured, his students made it worth it. "The struggle hasn't ended and it will never end, but it will continue because of us," Crystal says.
Although the outcome wasn't what the students wanted, this experience changed their lives. In one of the closing scenes, MAS students, particularly Crystal, Priscila, and Gilbert, are filmed at their graduation ceremony. Priscila is shown attending the University of Arizona, Crystal gets a tattoo of a hummingbird as a reminder of huitzilopochtli and Gilbert reflects on the lessons he's learned.
The closing credits reveal that before becoming Attorney General, Tom Horne "declared the [MAS] classes in violation of the [HB 2281] and stated that the district's only avenue to compliance was through the elimination of the Raza Studies program." Tucson United School District was forced to cancel the MAS classes and reassign the teachers of the program as a result. Despite its removal, the MAS Program influenced the creation of several ethnic studies programs across the United States. According to Precious Knowledge, the program served as a model in the following places: San Francisco Unified School District, Houston Independent School District, School District of Philadelphia, Los Angeles Unified School District, New Haven Unified School District, Boston Public Schools, Sacramento City Unified School District and Pomona Unified School District.
Maps Precious Knowledge
After the film
In 2011, following the events of the film, an audit was performed by the request of John Huppenthal, in hopes of finding justifications to remove the program. However, the audit's findings showed that the program was in line with the bill passed into law, HB 2281. Despite the results of the audit, the Arizona state government informed the Tucson United School District that the school district would lose $14 million of its funding if the program were to continue. As a result, the Tucson United School District cut the Mexican-American studies (MAS) program in early 2012.
Certain books taught in MAS Program classrooms were also banned from TUSD school for the same reasons used to eliminate the MAS Program. The follow works were accused of presenting "anti-American" sentiments and creating resentment toward America.
- 500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures edited by Elizabeth Martinez
- Chicano! The History of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement by Arturo Rosales
- Critical Race Theory by Richard Delgado
- Message to Aztlan by Rodolfo Corky Gonzales
- Occupied America: A History of Chicanos by Rodolfo Acuña
- Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
- Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years, edited by Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson.
According to eyewitness reports by MAS students, the books were confiscated by school officials in front of students. One student noted, "We were in shock... it was very heartbreaking to see hat happening in the middle of class."
In March 2013, Curtis Acosta, and other teachers and students of the program took the issue to federal court. They challenged the legality of HB 2281 and its application, with the hope that if it were overturned, the MAS program would be reinstated. The plaintiffs took issue with (1) the constitutionality of HB 2281; (2) the fact that there was no "legal justification to eliminate the Mexican-American Studies Program", (because it was in line with the law, evidenced by the audit performed in 2011); and (3) the vague language of the law, which presented opportunity for discriminatory misinterpretation. Ultimately, the federal district court left the law mostly intact. The court nullified only the section of the statute, that restricted classes "designed for a particular ethnic group," because it infringed upon the First Amendment. Unsatisfied with the results, the plaintiffs--at this point reduced to two students Korina Lopez and Maya Arce, as well as the director of the MAS program, Sean Arce (also Maya's father)--filed an appeal. The case went to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on July 7, 2015, as Arce v. Douglas. The appellate court decided to return the case to the district court to give the plaintiffs a trial on their claims of racial discrimination.
On August 22, 2017, Judge A. Wallace Tashima ruled that "both enactment and enforcement [of] [HB 2281] were motivated by racial animus." He further added that HB 2281 demonstrated prejudice against Latino student, thus violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment." Judge Tashima also ruled that HB 2281 "violated students' [first] Amendment 'right to receive information and ideas."" Racist blog posts and comments from Huppenthal also influenced Judge Tashima's ruling. While he was Arizona's Superintendent, Huppenthal used the pseudonyms "Thucydides" and "Falcon 9" to attack the MAS Program. In one comment, Huppenthal wrote, "Mexican American Studies classes use the same technique that Hitler used in his rise to power." Another comment left by him also said, "No spanish radio stations, no spanish billboards, no spanish tv stations, no spanish newspapers. This is American speak English... I don't mind them selling Mexican food as long as the menus are mostly in English."
In an interview with Ari Bloomekatz, Curtis Acosta spoke about the court's ruling. He stated, "We knew we had the truth on our side, we knew what we went through. We knew who these people were who did this to us, and it's just after so many years of being told you're crazy, and we have tinfoil hats, and down is up and up is down, it was just shocking to hear the clarity and the affirmation, the validity of our program, of my colleagues and me. Our integrity was restored through a 9th Circuit judge."
The large controversy and banning of the program in Arizona led to a rapid spread of school districts in California and Texas to consider Mexican-American Studies programs. The result of this controversy also led Curtis Acosta to start a consulting business in 2013 meant to further spread ethnic studies classes in the states of California, Oregon, Texas, and Washington by guiding the creation, process and training of such a program in these states.
According to the Arizona Daily Star, it is unlikely that the MAS program will be reinstated. The fate of the program rests in the hands of the Tucson Unified School District Board. Since the program was eliminated, the district has been "developing 'culturally relevant courses' to replace ethnic studies programming."
Production
Ari Luis Palos and Eren Isabel McGinnis began filming Precious Knowledge on October 31, 2008, after being granted permission by the Tucson Unified School District. The filmmakers were allowed complete access to the ethnic studies program in Tucson Magnet High School throughout the 2008-2009 school year. Early on, they planned to use a combination of interviews and footage from inside and outside the MAS classrooms to explore various perspectives.
Directors
Ari Luis Palos and Eren Isabel McGinnis had a long history of filming documentaries centered on minorities before embarking on this project. According to McGinnis, their films "give [a] voice to communities often silenced or stereotyped by mainstream media." McGinnis was also particularly invested in this film because she had a son attending Tucson High School during the controversy. Furthermore, both filmmakers are of Mexican descent and have a "deep reverence and love of all things Mexican"
McGinnis also revealed the meaning behind the film's title in an interview that appeared in the academic journal, The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States (MELUS). "Precious knowledge" is a reference to Mayan concepts that say to "self-reflect (Tezcatlipoca), seek out precious and beautiful knowledge (Quetzalcoatl), begin to act (Huitzilopochtli) and ultimately transform (Xipe Totec)." The documentary's focus on Quetzalcoatl--precious knowledge--highlights what the activists in the film are fighting for. This and other emphases on Aztec heritage throughout the film reveal the intent by the filmmakers to remind students of their own deep history and their indigenous ancestors. With this knowledge, Eren McGinnis hopes to support the same message supported by the Mexican-American Studies program that these Mexican-American students "are not 'outsiders' or 'invaders'" of this country.
Film reception
Since its premiere on Independent Lens on May 17, 2012, the documentary is often screened at colleges across the country.
Awards
The film received the following awards:
- Audience Favorite and Special Jury Award, San Diego Latino Film Festival (2011)
- Honorable Mention in the Best Documentary Category, Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (2011)
- Premio Mesquite for Best Documentary, Cine Festival at the Guadalupe Cultural Art Center in San Antonio, Texas (2012)
References
External links
- Official website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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