On air: Should you only study the culture of the country you live in?
| 10:08 UK time, Friday, 14 May 2010
Some people would argue this isn't a debate about what you learn but where you learn it. Is it time to stand up and say if you live in a country you should only be taught about its culture at school, you can learn about anything else at home?
Krupa's original post
If you're one for cultural unity, Arizona might not be your favourite place right now.
Following the controversy over its new immigration law, the state has now banned ethnic studies in schools.
Tom Horne has been fighting for this bill for many years. the classes teach children to resent white people.
"The most offensive thing to me, fundamentally, is dividing kids by race,"Mr. Horne said
In an area where over 56% of the students are Hispanic, is it wrong to offer classes in Mexican history or African-American literature? Or does studying the culture you grow up in promote harmony?
The new measure prohibits classes that 'advocate ethnic solidarity, that are designed primarily for students of a particular race or that promote resentment toward a certain ethnic group'.
feels that the move sacrifices ethnic solidarity and ignores the achievements of non-whites in America,
believes that the new law controls information so the opressed do not understand their opression.
'When I was growing up, Puerto Ricans thirsted to have Puerto Rican history taught in public schools. I wanted to see and know my own culture and know of the events that shaped me and other Boricuas. Of course, I had to find other resources to learn my own history and it wasn't until college that I took ethnic studies --- finally, an educational oasis where I was taught of my own culture, history and the significance of colonization. '
thinks the classes are dangerous. She doesn't want to ban them - she wants to reform them.
'Most ethnic studies programs in public schools are at best a waste of taxpayer money, and at worst racially and ethnically divisive indoctrination. But the goal shouldn't be just getting rid of these programs,,, but ensuring that public schools give all students a firm grounding in American history, culture, and government.'
Students have been , but it is not without support.
Libertymeanslife comments on the
'Leave Arizona alone. They are doing the correct thing....The people of this country have lost so much over the years.'
I grew up in a multicultural part of London where white students were a minority. Despite this, studying King Henry VIII came well before studying Indian King Ashoka. The latter I studied at home. It was the norm, I accepted it, I never questioned it. So is up to a family or a school to teach a child about their cultural background?
Will it bring young people together to have a feeling of unity, all learning about the same things and developing a single sense of pride?
