Rudy Acuna is hard at work selling the big lie and the big guy. Acuna, the author of Occupied America, and the so called “Godfather of Chicano Studies” has been very active in preserving the revenue producing, hate promoting, and race dividing Mexican American Studies classes at the Tucson Unified School District.
Acuna is pulling out all the stops in his latest sales pitch for a night with TUSD Mexican American Studies “educators” Sean Arce and Joes Gonzales. Acuna’s hyperbolic /delusional rant, employed to pull in a meager $5 per student and $10 per adult, is surprising in its desperation.
However, hyperbole or delirium is no surprise from Acuna. He is the man who has written that there is a fine line between Adolph Hitler and Nelson Mandela. Perhaps delirium is present and Acuna really cannot see there is not a fine line, but a huge gulf, separating critical thinking from creating resentment, and between segregating students and promoting diversity.
The disgusting reliance on references to Hitler, particularly in comparing him to Nelson Mandela, is a common rhetorical tool used by proponents of Mexican American Studies. Jose Gonzales told a student that the horrors experienced by German Jews did not compare to the struggles of Chicanos because like the Native Americans, Chicanos had lost their lands and the Jews had not. Recently an MAS student’s artwork, in which the student replaces the star in the Arizona state flag with a swastika, was made public.
Acuna is emailing friends and foes promoting an upcoming fundraiser at the Northridge Hall at the Student Union of California State University Northridge on December 5, featuring the big guy; TUSD’s Mexican American Studies director, Sean Arce.
In his e-mail plea Acuna claims, “It has been a particularly intense struggle and through the budget the Tucson program has dwindled to a fraction of what it was two years ago.” He fails to mention that every single Arizona school district has faced the same budget cuts from the state. Budget cuts are not the cause of dropping enrollment in the MAS classes. The enrollment has dropped in direct proportion to information becoming more available to parents and students about the real workings of the classes.
He also fails to mention that the Tucson district, partly because of its MAS program, spends barely half its budget in the classroom. This is by far the lowest percentage of classroom expenditure of any large Arizona district.
Acuna fails to mention the fact that during dwindling budgets, the MAS program extravagantly spent money on “curriculum specialists;” Jose ‘I don’t care what scientists from the University of Arizona say’ Gonzales, and Norma ‘embrace your inner Aztec’ Gonzales only to have the Cambium audit and Deputy Superintendent Menconi say there was no real curriculum for the program. All the while TUSD students leave the third grade without reading skills.
In that same e-mail Acuna writes, “in Arizona it is a crime to learn about Mexican American culture. It is a crime for Latinos to get an education.” This is about as far from the truth as anyone can get. Every district in the state has curricula that teach students about Mexican American culture. The only difference between what goes in other Arizona districts and what goes on in Tucson is that in the other districts do not infuse their lessons on the Mexican American culture’s contributions with heavy doses of race hatred and resentment.
While Acuna praises the mythical sacrifices of Arce , he fails to note that Arce has failed TUSD’s Latino students in favor of raising money for his hyped up cause. Last year Arce was reprimanded by his boss, a real crusader for all students Dr. Lupita Garcia, for failing to hold an award ceremony for the district’s Latino students who excelled in different areas of study and extra-curricular activities because he was at a fund raiser for SaveEthnicStudies.
The continuing development of the Mexican American Studies mythology relies on propagandists like Acuna and David Morales. The legal fight requires the selling of the myth due to the fact that none of the legitimate and monied civil rights groups are supporting the classes. The fringe is selling the fringe to the unhinged and they are buying it.