Dispatch From The Inferno State: Ethnic Cleansing In Arizona Public Schools

Spanish accent, you’re fired. Sound like Ward Burton? No problema!

-by Doug Kahn



The Wall Street Journal had the initial report on the firing of teachers, on April 30th. I talked to people in line at the Joe Biden/Democratic Heritage Dinner here on May 1st, and got an unexpected serving of attitude from more than one person when I mentioned I’d read about it. I was wearing the button I got at the State Capitol protest earlier in the day. Almost everyone in line who saw it was spontaneously talking about SB1070, and very critically, as we waited for the security line to move. A few made frosty remarks, annoyed, as if I were inventing a new outrage. 


It wasn’t the defensive attitude I’ve noticed among Democrats here about the SB1070 issue. (They’re feeling beset because people are, after all, boycotting Arizona, not Arizona Republicans and/or racists.) It seemed more like the grim, who’s-this-troublemaker stare I got when I started videotaping the Doylestown Township Supervisors’ meetings in 2001. That was Pennsylvania suburban Republicans, though, not loyal Arizona Democrats contributing to the Party campaign account. 

Democrats here want me to support the state party, and their legislative candidates (many of them Blue Dog types), even though their standard-bearer, AG Terry Goddard, won’t come out and directly oppose Joe Arpaio’s goons. I guess he’s waiting for an indictment from one of the federal grand juries, so he can avoid antagonizing Republicans and Independents who might vote for him in the Governor’s race. I think it’s a legitimate question: exactly what does a Democrat stand for, if not protecting the defenseless against institutional racism and oppression?
 
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano (former AZ Governor and before that Attorney General) could, if she wanted to, immediately cancel Immigration and Customs Enforcement certification for Arpaio’s lockup. Current Attorney General Terry Goddard could, if he wanted to, indict Joe and his goons for a number of things. If you’re saying to yourself ‘Kahn doesn’t know what he’s talking about’: let’s check back together when United States Attorney Dennis Burke, someone with a real appreciation for the Rule of Law, brings charges against Joe. 

I’ve got another prediction: when Arpaio gets indicted, Goddard is going to say he would have spoken out against Arpaio’s MCSO, but it would have been unethical because he’s the State Attorney General. You understand, don’t you? The state’s chief law enforcement officer is prevented from doing anything about a criminal running a fascist militia because said protector of the public is thinking about getting ready to start preparing a process of drafting a plan to do something about it. For 18 years. Bill Clinton appointed Janet Napolitano US Attorney for the District of Arizona in 1993. Elected AZ Attorney General in 1998. Elected Governor in 2002, when Goddard was elected Attorney General. The current year is 2010. 

Today a good-hearted and hard-working local Democrat, someone who’s doing everything she can to make changes here, said she was confident that Goddard would, as soon as he’s elected Governor, step up and do something about Arpaio. But shouldn’t he keep quiet about it during the campaign, so as not to antagonize certain voters? 

No. He should not keep quiet. His silence is shameful. It’s a dark shadow on the reputation of every Democrat in the State of Arizona. 

I’m not much of a writer. Mike Lux explains this better: 

“Democrats need to pull themselves together, do the right thing, and then confidently sell what they have done to the American people, not give in to the fear mongering.”
 
The Arizona Department of Latino Removal
 
The State Superintendent of Education is sending around ethnicity inspectors, with the aim of ridding English classes of teachers who aren’t ‘fluent’ in speaking English. I’m sorry, I mean, to fire Hispanics who sound like furriners. When the Democrat running for Governor is gutless, this is the kind of thing that goes unanswered.
 
How do you get from the idea of English teachers being ‘fluent’ in English (and Math teachers knowing math etc.) to firing teachers who, by some unwritten and therefore arbitrary standard, have an accent that makes them difficult to understand? Hop on Interstate 10 and drive from the United States of America over to the Inferno State.  

First of all, I think you have to pay careful attention to the words and phrases people are using. What does ‘fluent’ mean, anyway? “Able to express oneself readily and effortlessly.” (From the American Heritage Dictionary.)

“This is just one more indication of the incredible anti-immigrant sentiment in the state," said Bruce Merrill, a professor emeritus at Arizona State University who conducts public-opinion research.
 
Margaret Dugan, deputy superintendent of the state's schools, disagreed, saying that critics were "politicizing the educational environment."

In the 1990s, Arizona hired hundreds of teachers whose first language was Spanish as part of a broad bilingual-education program. Many were recruited from Latin America. 

Then in 2000, voters passed a ballot measure stipulating that instruction be offered only in English. Bilingual teachers who had been instructing in Spanish switched to English. 

Ms. Dugan said some schools hadn't been complying with the state law that made English the only language in the classroom. "Our job is to make sure the teachers are highly qualified in fluency of the English language. We know districts that have a fluency problem," she said.

[Dugan, you have a grammar problem yourself: ‘qualified in fluency of the English language’? Go stand in the corner.] 

Arizona's enforcement of fluency standards is based on an interpretation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. That law states that for a school to receive federal funds, students learning English must be instructed by teachers fluent in the language. Defining fluency is left to each state, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education said. 

"The teacher obviously must be fluent in every aspect of the English language," said Adela Santa Cruz, director of the Arizona education-department office charged with enforcing standards in classes for students with limited English. 

The education department has dispatched evaluators to audit teachers across the state on things such as comprehensible pronunciation, correct grammar and good writing.

[Crib notes for AG Goddard: just cheat off this statement from Superintendent Kent Scribner, Phoenix Union High School District: "Student achievement and growth should inform teacher evaluations, not their accents.”] 

As to Dugan’s statement about politicizing the educational environment. Margaret Dugan is a candidate for State Superintendent of Education. Let’s have a look at Deputy Dugan’s website. 

3 recent Facebook status updates:

April 11: “Great time at the Paradise Valley Women’s Republican Club Forum on Saturday.”

April 13: “What a great night I had last night at the Ronald Reagan Republican Action Club in Sun City.”

April 15: “Terrific time at Saddlebrooke Republican Club yesterday. I was able to get many signatures and collect 5 dollar contributions to help my campaign.” 

Events:

May 4 2010, 6:30pm: Scottsdale Tea Party -- Fox Sports Grill, 16203 N Scottsdale Road

May 6, 6:30pm: Daisy Mountain Tea Party Patriots Meeting -- 3901 W Pioneer Road, Phoenix
 
Dugan’s boss is Tom Horne, the current State Superintendent. He’s running for AZ Attorney General.
 
Linda Valdez, from her column in the Arizona Republic: 

“They’re off and running to the hard right in the GOP contest for Arizona attorney general.
 
Would-be AG Tom Horne is using his position as Superintendent of Public Instruction to show he’s tough as tough can be on Arizona’s favorite scapegoat: illegal immigrants. Even pint-sized ones.
 
Associated Press reports that he’s telling Ajo Unified School District to return nearly $1.2 million in state funding because he says the schools provided free education to Mexican students who don’t live in Arizona.”

Pop quiz for Terry Goddard, and for every Democratic candidate for office in the state of Arizona. Who said this:

“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.”

Dispatch From The Inferno State: VP Biden, Dolores Huerta Attend Event For Serious Democrats

AG Terry Goddard Shows Up But Neglects to Bring Spine

That's Harold Lloyd to the right of Arizona's Attorney General

-by Doug Kahn

On Saturday I went to the Arizona Democratic Party’s Heritage Dinner, special guest Joseph Biden. I owe great thanks to a dedicated environmentalist and progressive who treated me to dinner at his $10,000 Platinum Sponsor table. (I’m saving my money to ditch 2 Blue Dogs this fall.) I think he keeps forgetting (or forgiving me for) how much I aggravate people in the Democratic Party’s ‘brain trust’ (ahem) here. (Don’t get the wrong idea; I’m not talking about regular Dems, the faithful liberals who are keeping civilization alive here during the Dark Ages.) 

Look, all I was doing was sending tweets to my legions of fans. Okay, I admit it: I only have 9 followers, and one of them is Darrell Issa. I believe in quality: Howie Klein, Cliff Schecter, Jacqrat, David Swanson and BlueGal. My God, I just realized; my good buddy, my favorite Yankee fan, won’t even pay attention to me. 

And no one checked my ID! For sure the Secret Service was all over the place, and I had to go through a metal detector after emptying my pockets. Maybe some of the good people in the Democratic Party here (and there really are a lot of them) wanted the dinner to provide a counter-example to the racists behind SB1070. 

No one made me take off my Phillies cap, either. I think some of the attendees were bothered that I came in jeans and running shoes. They stared, anyway, although when you’re as insecure as I am it always feels that way. Not that I feel obligated to offer excuses, but my knees just went through Phillies Phantasy Camp (baseball for geezers), then 6 weeks of couch potato-dom (chips and 10 extra lbs. included), and 2 operations to remove obsolete parts. They’re going to look like knees again any week now, but they just don’t fit in any of the dress slacks I’ve got with me in Arizona.
 
I’m sure Joe doesn’t care about that kind of thing anyway, being from Scranton and all. I’ve seen him at one of my favorite diners, just over in Delaware, across the border from where I first lived in Pennsylvania, eating an incredibly greasy breakfast. Actually, he wasn’t eating, because he was talking non-stop. That’s Joe. 

First, I’ve got to say to all the local Democrats with principles, those who were there and those who weren’t, I have a deep feeling of admiration for your persistence in fighting the good fight against incredible odds, year after year. The applause for Joe was polite until he said “We cannot single out people based on the way they look.” Then a 2-minute standing ovation. You deserve so much more than you’re getting from House members Harry Mitchell, Ann Kirkpatrick, and Gabrielle Giffords. Not one of them has made a statement referring to SB1070. (A lot of ramped-up b.s. about drug dealers, “federal inaction,” and “border crackdowns” though, you three-pack of useless weasels. You know, people are getting hurt in Arpaio’s lockup while you twiddle your thumbs; doesn’t that bother you?) I just checked again with Harry Mitchell’s office. “Oh, the press person will get back to you.”  

The Vice President had a schedule to meet, so the order of speakers was inverted. I had never sat through or failed to turn off a Biden oration previously. I believe he brings it from a place of great calm, at least it seems so when he speaks softly. A couple of times the volume went up, effectively. In the end, it was obvious that he had planned his talk to lead up to the most important point he was making, that SB1070 was bad for Arizona and Arizonans because it was meant to hurt, and sprang from racism. 

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon spoke briefly and forcefully, less poetical. Bad laws and bad people (Joe Arpaio was one he mentioned) need to be removed, is how I remember it, and he was going to keep working on getting that done. Damn right.
 
State Attorney General Terry Goddard, the guy responsible for protecting us all from the kind of abuses that have been going on here for over a decade, then conclusively proved himself to be an abject coward. He began by promising to spare us from unnecessary wind, by not repeating what the previous speakers had talked about. As skeptical as I am about candidates for executive office, I never imagined that meant he’d skip saying that SB1070 was wrong. If you want the full effect of the man’s feckless dodges, view this live interview with the local news:



Elsewhere he was quoted saying this: “I think the national reaction is very sad for Arizona because it gives us a black eye, and it also is going to cost us dearly economically,” he said. “The bottom line is we have a serious problem on the border. We need to focus on that, and this bill does not make us safer and I think that’s a tragic misdirection.”

And elsewhere: “The tea baggers and company aren’t the only ones who are frustrated. We need more border patrol,” says Attorney General Goddard, who is running for governor as a Democrat. “But the serious crime is the human smugglers, the dope smugglers. [SB1070] doesn’t do one thing to fight that.” 

Apologizing for teabaggers. Nice work if you can get it. The ‘tragic misdirection’ is the legions of Democrats here and around the country who say how they understand that Arizonans are frustrated with the “broken immigration system.” Like hell. As Digby has so eloquently chronicled, crime is way, way down here, during the decade of the greatest wave of immigration. Especially on the border, in the border towns, like Nogales. This is whipped up nonsense, and the Attorney General knows it, and that makes him a hypocrite. You all need to face up to this, Arizona Democrats. Your standard-bearer is not a leader, he caved to the fear-mongers.
 
At dinner I sat next to a new employee of Rodney Glassman’s (a Democrat running for McCain’s Senate seat), someone who had come out here from Washington to raise money for him. I sent this person and Rodney’s press person the following email, hoping he’d get a backbone and remember what being a Democrat is all about. They promised to get back to me one way or another, and do it today (Tuesday). 
 
This is what I have as the Rodney Glassman statement on SB1070: 

"This legislation is a rash attempt to score political points. The federal government has failed to secure our border and that must change. John McCain has been in Washington for 28 years and while he has been on all sides of the issue, our immigration problem has gotten worse under his watch.

"S.B.1070 is the type of legislation that undermines the trust between law enforcement and neighborhoods that so many have worked so long to achieve. It does nothing to secure the border or stop the violence in our border region. It does nothing to address the reasons so many cross our borders without going through legal channels. This bill is nothing more than an unfunded mandate that shifts the financial burden onto cities and towns already grappling with budget cuts."

 
[See how that’s done, how neatly the messy little problem of morality and human rights gets avoided?]
 
I'm going to send in another post in the next 24 hours. Is this the statement you want me to talk about?
 
You will by now have seen other opinion/analysis pieces I've written online. I'm not alone in writing this kind of stuff. I fit in with the writers on the three Blue America sites (Crooks and Liars, Hullabaloo, and DownWithTyranny) because we think along the same lines. Numerous other sites and writers and activists are paying attention to you, to Arizona; and the thoughts I'm having are going through the minds of thousands of other people.
 
It should be obvious that this is an emotional issue; people aren't shunning Arizona on a whim; it's not a fad. (Maybe it's difficult to see that from your perspective as a longtime resident of Arizona?) Boycotts don't just spring up out of nowhere, because the type of people who boycott and campaign for boycotts generally are desperate to help other people; everyone knows that a boycott hurts everyone in the state, not just the small group of people responsible for the wrongs. It's a last resort, a gut reaction reserved for the worst of abuses, perpetrated by the most intransigent and contrary individuals. (Like Russell Pearce and Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas.) People boycotted South Africa because of racism. People boycotted Arizona because of racism. Both were eventually successful. Can you remember any others?
 
We see Raul Grijalva speaking out, and saying what we all feel. But we expect that of him, as someone who experienced the racism, campaigned against it, succeeded despite it. An obvious question arises: Isn't there anyone else in Arizona who'll stand up to these people?
 
I'm just a visitor here; but I've demonstrated in the past my desire to help all of you take your state in the right direction. [I was talking about the $20,000 I contributed to the state party in 2008.] The dinner on Saturday was great until the end; the absolutely gut-wrenching realization that Terry Goddard wasn't going to stand up for what's right. Don't blame the Democrats in Arizona? [A repeated theme at the dinner.] You folks shouldn't say that, if you're not going to back it up. People are going to want to know this: do you get it? 
 

Terry Goddard's focus on the Mexican Drug Cartels (oh, please) and crime along the border (which has declined, obviously, since even the AZ Republic says so) is remarkable in its timidity. The boycott is happening because there are obvious and defiant villains like Joe Arpaio and Russell Pearce. The AG is the chief law enforcement officer in the state. And he won't stand up and say that the law is wrong, that it's bad because it recognizes and confirms and rewards the methods and abuses and racism of Joe Arpaio and the MCSO. The national outrage over SB1070 and that puffed up buffoon Russell Pearce would never have happened if it weren't for the existence of Joe Arpaio and the MCSO, committing abuses every day of the year.
 
If you folks understand politics, and people's gut feelings about politics and politicians, you must understand this already: people outside Arizona wonder if there aren't any white men in Arizona who'll stand up to this bully. I'm just being totally straight here about American society. Do you realize how pathetic it looks for a white man to criticize [Republican Governor] Jan Brewer for not standing up to those guys? In that context, understand that there are only two possible roles in the national media for Terry Goddard and Rodney Glassman: the hero, or the goat.
 
The press statement at the top makes you look weak, because you're obviously dodging a direct confrontation. The more skillful and logical the dodge, the worse it makes you look. This is a time when your previous service and political resume work against you, because if you act timidly, you end up looking like an empty suit. I don't know one single thing about your politics, if you're progressive or not. But I do know that you're incredibly lucky: you have this one shot at becoming a national figure overnight (and, by the way, doing the right thing for all the Hispanic residents of Arizona, doing something they desperately need). Come out swinging against Joe Arpaio and SB1070.  

I’m waiting. I’ll let you know if they call. Meanwhile, it's good someone is speaking up: