Students read banned books in Red Square

Students in Western professor Kristen French’s Education 497 class Seminar in Education Equity participated in a read-in in Red Square Wednesday, Feb. 1.

The read-in aimed at drawing attention to the Tucson Unified School District’s recent book ban on books about the struggles of Mexican Americans and other ethnic studies textbooks. The district instituted the ban after voting that the district's Mexican American Studies and Social Justice Education Programs were in violation of Arizona HB 2281, which prohibits courses that "promote the overthrow of the U.S. government; promote resentment toward a race or class of people; are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group; advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals."