Prior to election day more than 400 people marched in downtown Tucson, including many youth. The protest circled the area and took up one lane of traffic. Young Socialists members here set up a literature table and received a number of positive responses. YS members passed out flyers that had a statement on bilingual education as a right. The flyer referred to the pamphlet The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning: The Fraud of Education Reform under Capitalism by Jack Barnes.

Larissa Ortiz, who is a senior at the University of Arizona, said that this proposition would be a return to the English immersion classes, called 1C, that were in place from 1919 to 1967. The program lumped together in one class students of all nationalities and languages, including Hispanic, Native American, and Chinese, and of all ages. Throughout the program's existence there has been a dropout rate as high as 60 percent. The Arizona Daily Star quoted some who had gone through the 1C class as saying, "Immersion gave students just enough English to survive in a world of menial labor." The current proposition requires that all classes be taught in English, and that "English Learners" be placed into one-year immersion programs. Any teacher or school official who refuses to comply will be sued, fired, and not allowed to return to work for five years.

Ortiz continued, "This proposition is racist. It doesn't just affect immigrants but everyone." She pointed to the 21 official Native American tribes in Arizona, many of whose languages are on the verge of extinction. She said that many people want to believe that bilingual education is just for immigrants, when in fact it is multinational and helps Hispanic-Americans and English-speaking Americans to learn Spanish.

On November 6 students at the University of Arizona held a hunger strike against the proposition and camped out on the campus overnight. Throughout the day students stopped by an information table on the proposition and the fight to defend bilingual education. That evening about 35 people marched around campus in heavy rain. Juan Carbajal, a student who is very interested in the problems of education reform, said on the new measure, "No one can become proficient after one year. They shouldn't strip our native tongue, but use it as a foundation to teach another language."

The day the proposition was passed, Erik Ortiz, a member of MEChA (Movemiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan), said, "This is not the first or last attack on minority groups, not only here in Arizona but in the United States. This is the most racist proposition I've heard of."

Ten people held a demonstration near the Federal Building November 2, including several youth who are radicalizing over this issue. Marisela, who is in the sixth grade, said, "We were meant to speak two languages and not just one. The Proposition 203 is not fair. Spanish is our culture."

Chessie Molano is a member of the YS in Tucson, Arizona.  
 
 
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