Arizona School District's Radical Mexican-American Studies Program Exposed

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," May 24, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Arizona's new immigration law isn't the only law that has triggered protests in that state. Another bill recently signed by Governor Jan Brewer prohibits schools from teaching certain ethics study courses.

Now the measure bans any class that promotes the over throw of the U.S. government or promotes the resentment of a certain race. It also prohibits courses that are designed for students of one particular ethnic group.

But one school district in Tucson, Arizona, is refusing to end its Mexican-American studies program claiming its curriculum does not violate the new law. However, a special investigation first reported on by ABC's KGUN-9 in Tucson is raising some serious questions about what students are being taught at the Tucson Unified School District.

Now one textbook used in the class is called "Chicano: The History of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement." Now the book begins by proclaiming that thanks to white Americans, quote, "Mexicans shared with blacks a debilitating burden of oppression."

Now the textbook details the rational behind the "Chicano" movement whose activists believed, quote, "The U.S. violently invaded Mexico, wrested from it what became the American southwest and then subjugated its inhabitants."

Now the book explains that activists saw themselves as, quote, "a conquered people, not an immigrant population." And in its final chapters "Chicano" talks about various walk-outs and protests that occurred in the '60s and '70s, describing in great detail the methods used by these activists.

And wouldn't you know it? KGUN's investigation revealed that some of the exact same images seen in this book have recently been replicated by Tucson area students and residents.

Now take a look at the side by side comparisons courtesy of KGUN-9. Now on the left, you see an image of a walk-out from the actual textbook. On the right is an image from a recent walk-out in Tucson.

Now next on the screen, on the left you see activists pictured wearing brown berets during a protest. And on the right, a recent photo shows community members wearing those very same uniforms.

And finally, fist-pumping during protests was a trademark of the "Chicano" movement. And as you can see, TUSD students have also mimicked that behavior of late.

So is this class responsible for radicalizing students? And does it violate the new Arizona law?

Joining me now is the man who wrote the legislation. He is the Arizona state superintendent of public instruction, Tom Horne.

Tom, welcome to "Hannity."

TOM HORNE, ARIZONA STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION: It's an honor to be with you, Sean.

HANNITY: What's — very simple. It's HB 2281 that bans classes that promote the overthrow of the United States government, resentment toward race of a class of people.

Help me out here. Why are we even on the program debating this? How widespread is this?

HORNE: Well — no, it's only in the Tucson Unified School District and possibly a district south of Tucson called Sunnyside. It's not elsewhere in our state. It came to my attention in 2007. They're dividing the students up by race. They have Raza studies for the Latino kids — Raza means race in Spanish —African-American studies for the African-American kids, Asian studies for the Asian kids, Indian studies for the Native American kids.

It's just like the old south. And I believe that what's important — I believe what is important American value. What's important about people is what do you know, what can you do, what's your character. Not what race do you happen to been born into.

And what the American schools have done is take students from different backgrounds and bring them together and teach them to treat each other as individuals. But in Tucson they're doing the opposite. They're dividing them up, teaching each group only about its own background, and in Raza studies, particularly, it's an extremely radical agenda, anti-capitalist, anti-free enterprise, separatists. They say that we should give back to Mexico the states that we took from Mexico in 1848 including Arizona, California —

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: Now let me add —

HORNE: Go ahead.

HANNITY: Specifically ask about that, because they say in the borders that we have are artificial and that the southwest United States should be taken back by Mexico. Explain —

HORNE: Right.

HANNITY: That they're actually teaching that to the kids in the class?

HORNE: Yes, they call it Aztlan is the area that they say is — these states that I've mentioned — Arizona, California, New Mexico and some other states — that are really northern Mexico that was conquered by the United States and they should be given back.

They are teaching them that there's a white imperialist racist power structure that's out to oppress them. One of their books is called "The Pedagogy of the Oppressed," which is written by Paulo Freire who's a well-known Brazilian Marxist; Marxist all over the footnotes in that book.

And I believe that these kids' parents and grandparents came to this country, most of them legally, because this is the land of opportunity.

HANNITY: Yes.

HORNE: And they trust their kids to our schools. And we should teach this is the land of opportunity and if you work hard you can achieve what you want, not teach them that they're oppressed.

HANNITY: All right. You're pointing out this is anti-American, anti-capitalist, and there's also been threats, as I understand it, against you and your life. There was I guess one particular protest, "Horne, Horne, Horne, we wish were you never born." And they had a skit where they actually killed you?

HORNE: Yes, yes. That demonstrated I think the intellectual level of what they are teaching and the ugly emotions that they're teaching the kids. And the problem for the students is that when they grow up it's a dysfunctional education because they're teaching them not to deal with reasonable disagreements reasonably. But they're teaching them to be rude, to get in people's faces.

And if they act that way as adults they will not be successful adults. So the people that this course is really hurting are the students who are being given a dysfunctional education.

HANNITY: I would agree. In the end, does this become law? Because this doesn't become official law until what? At the end of December, correct?

HORNE: December 31st. Yes. December 31st, and then we will state that they're in violation. And if they don't come into compliance, which they say they won't, we can withhold 10 percent of their funds then they can appeal to an administrative law judge.

I'm running for attorney general because I served eight years as superintendent of school, so hopefully, I will, as the attorney general, help the legal part, while my deputy, Margaret Dugan, who's my deputy running for superintendent of schools, will withhold the 10 percent of funds from them.

HANNITY: All right, Mr. Horne, I wish it was a story we didn't have to cover but we're glad you're out there and that bill passed and we'll watch this story very closely. Thank you for being with us.

HORNE: Thank you, Sean. It's an honor to be with you.

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