La Plaza Central

Here’s the title to the story:

Arizona schools superintendent pushes ban on ethnic studies.

What? So…teaching by withholding information is the preferred methodology. This brand of racism is baffling, as evidenced by the quotes drawn in the story, e.g. “The job of the public schools is to develop the student’s identity as Americans and as strong individuals. It’s not the job of the public schools to promote ethnic chauvinism.” Right, since this whole thing isn’t chauvinistically American…

Here’s the bill itself, which was passed by the Arizona State Legislature.  Yet another hole in reasoning: an exception will be made for classes for Native American pupils.

Nice afterthought.

This Saturday, AZ Governor Jan Brewer will pass or veto a new (anti-) immigration bill. Among other things, the bill would allow police officers to determine the legal status of whomever strikes them as suspicious, which will be 1 out of 3 people. For the record, Gov. Brewer has “worked with the legislature to make sure that no public services are being offered to anyone who is in this state illegally,” so I’m a bit worried.

Already, nine university students have been arrested for protesting outside the capitol, as reported by the Arizona Republic. And of all days it has to be Earth Day! At least Reid/Pelosi want to make immigration the next box on the big To-Do List.

As for immigrants in Arizona, I hope they can find a way to support their families without going outside. Oh wait — the bill also gives a free ride to your country of origin (let’s say Mexico) if you are harboring illegals (let’s say your own grandma). Let’s pray Brewer sees the light come Saturday.

UPDATE: Friday was a sad day in America.

The Pew Research Center released a report today quantifying what most people already deduced about the 2008 elections.  Last year’s voting population was more diverse than ever.  African Americans, Latinos, and Asians increased their percentage of all people who voted in the elections to 12.1%, 7.4%, and 2.5%, respectively.  49.9% of eligible Latinos voted in 2008, versus 47.2% in 2004.  Asian participation increased roughly the same, and African American voter turnout increased 4.9%.

Interestingly, much of the increase in Latino voter can be attributed to the recent boom in the Latino popluation.  Between 2004 and 2008, eligible Latino voters grew by 21.4%.  Compare that to the increase in total eligible voters the last four years, 4.6%.  Oh the times they are a-changin’.

Hispanic Voters Divided by Religion

It’s election season, so I’m sure everyone is sick of polling data right around now, but Gallup just released results of a poll they did with the Hispanic population that studied Hispanics’ religion and religiosity as it related to their choice for President of the United States.  The poll found that while Catholic Hispanics supported Barack Obama over John McCain by a 39-point margin, Hispanics who are Protestant or another non-Catholic Christian faith support him Obama by only a 10-point margin.

Also significant was the finding that the more frequently a person attended church, the more likely they were to support McCain over Obama.  Among weekly churchgoers Obama still leads by nine points, 51-40, but the margin is much narrower than his lead among Hispanic who seldom attend church, 72-21.

There’s nothing really earth-shattering here.  Just that Hispanics are like every other voting bloc in that within the population there are many differences that lead to different outcomes in the voting booth.  I think it’s human nature to always paint with a wide brush, but inevitably the subtle variations that make all the difference are missed.  I suppose that is what political strategists are for.