Arizona Opinion: Critical past, critical future: Undocumented youth’s last shot

The beauty of history is not the tale itself, rather it is the inspiration that comes from understanding our complex world better.

For when opportunities come to make our Arizona better, we must be prepared to revise how we, as our current society, can be part of changing history. SCR 1044, proposition number pending, wants to resurrect the American dream for undocumented youth in Arizona by allowing in-state tuition and college financial aid for these students.

As a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) immigrant and a homeowner, I have paid taxes since I started earning an income in Arizona, 10 years ago. Nonetheless, I am barred from a pathway to citizenship, in-state tuition for colleges, and voting for who can best represent me in our state Legislature and in Congress. If I could vote, I would support SCR 1044 not because it is what most Arizonans want, but because being critical of our state’s history will allow us to make better, balanced and fearless decisions.

In an attempt to excite my fifth grade students for the day’s history lesson, I’d shout “no taxation without representation!” My students would always say how pointless it seemed to dump tea in the harbor, as well as harmful to the environment. As educators, we do our best to allow students to understand history through the lenses of critical context. We want our students to understand that the colonists were fighting against injustices carried out by Great Britain. It is vital to know the injustices of the past to recognize the ones of today.

United States Studies is the current fifth grade standard for Arizona history and social sciences. Through the Arizona Department of Education website, teachers across the state, city to rural, access this site for lesson planning and standard tracking. This same site is accessible to public servants, parents and readers like you. For such a reason, it is harsh to see how educators are being framed as instigators or guilt-trippers by legislators through House Bill 2112, which was approved by Arizona’s state House Education Committee. Such initiatives are being moved forward on the notion of fear over what students might learn. I believe lawmakers and Arizonans should be courageous enough to make laws grounded in reality and not fear.

Rather, we should learn from the fear which lead to the passing of Prop. 300 and Prop. 103, which prohibited undocumented folks from any state aid and established English as Arizona’s official language.

This targeted fear is not harmless. All In Education’s MAPA report (‘21-22) highlights many of the disparities Arizona families are facing in education every day. It is evident from the report that Latino students live in a different reality than their white counterparts. For example, Arizona’s Latino third grade reading proficiency stands at a mere 23%. Statistics found in this report demonstrate that Latino students will be less civically engaged, feel less healthy and access less wealth-building potential. This should be alarming in itself, but more distressing is how effective fear can be at putting others down.

To be brave, one needs to first experience fear. It is time to be brave, Arizona.