American Civil Liberties Union

(Originally posted on Huffington Post.)

In the wake of the controversy surrounding Arizona's racial profiling bill, S.B. 1070, Gov. Jan Brewer has signed into law yet another bill designed to divide the people of Arizona for political gain. In what has been described as the "ethnic studies bill," H.B. 2281 prohibits schools from having courses which "promote the overthrow of the United States government," "promote resentment toward a race or class of people," "are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group," or "advocate ethnic solidarity instead of treatment of pupils as individuals." This law has the serious potential to deprive students of the opportunity to learn about Arizona's and this nation's rich and diverse cultural history, based simply on the personal whims of government officials.