Read Read Read

Arizona lawmakers banned the Ethnic Studies program in Tucson high schools.   The program helps the large population of Mexican-American students to relate to what they learn. It has worked — the students' graduation rates soared. And now they are fighting against their government to get the program back in their schools. You see a great video from PBS that explains it all.

All of this got me thinking about the amount of Latino and Latin writers I've encountered in my high school career. I can't name a single one. That all changed in college, but it's still not enough. Because in the plethora of white male writers that I've collected on my bookshelves, I can't say that I have had a similar racial experience, for obvious reasons. That's important, right?

I'm pretty mixed about all of this. I understand that we live in the United States — white male writers are gonna happen. But we're establishing our own presence in this country, so shouldn't Latinos also be read in the classroom? The same goes for Asian, Native American, and all types of racial and ethnic groups.

I can't blame it all on the school systems, though. I have to take some responsibility and read Latin and Latino writers on my own. The video I made (up above) shows a small sampling of all my book, most of which are written by white male writers. And unfortunately the only Latin and Latino writers I have on my bookshelves are Isabel Allende and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. And then there's a Jim Morrison poetry book that's in Spanish. I have to start reading more Spanish books, too.  

The school systems will come around. They have to. But in the mean time, I think we should all take it upon ourselves to read more about our cultures from people in our cultures. And in our own languages, too! Any words that can get you thinking should always be welcome — no matter what language they are in.