NM Legislator: Keep Mex-Am Studies Books Out Of Schools

By Roque Planas, Huffington Post Latino Voices

A New Mexico state representative wants to keep Hispanic history books out of public schools, following in the footsteps of some of her conservative colleagues in Arizona.

New Mexico state Rep. Antonio Maestas (D-Albuquerque) proposed a memorial on Monday praising diversity in the state’s curricula and slammed Tucson’s decision to ban seven ethnic studies books from classroom use.

That didn’t go over well with Republican state Rep. Nora Espinoza (Roswell).

The memorial — New Mexico’s version of a resolution — calls for the state’s school curricula to reflect “a spirit of acceptance and a celebration of different cultures and beliefs,” and encourages the support for the seven books and any others “that encourage New Mexicans to understand their cultural history while empowering a generation of youth who are proud of their heritage.”

Espinoza, a conservative legislator who is herself Hispanic, went off on a rant against the Latino intellectuals whose books were banished, saying they don’t belong in New Mexico schools.

Espinoza read out loud before the state House Education Committee one of Corky Gonzalez’s poems that contained the sentence “my culture was raped,” and implied the metaphor was not appropriate for young minds.

“These are are extremely racist and hate books,” Espinoza said, according to the report from KRQE. She did not return phone calls or an email asking for comment.

Maestas, who proposed the memorial, told The Huffington Post he was shocked at her reaction. He had intended the memorial as a statement in favor of tolerance.

“What happened in Arizona recently was so un-American, and it’s particularly un-New Mexican,” Maestas said. “New Mexico is a…

READ FULL STORY HERE.

This article was first published in Huffington Post Latino Voices.