 RODOLFO ACU ÑA on his banned book, Occupied America A History of Chicanos
Forty years after it was first published, the book Occupied America The History of Chicanos has been banned, and its author, Rodolfo Acu ña, a widely published professor and prominent immigrant-rights activist thinks he knows why. To Acuña, a member of the National Writers Union, UAW Local 1981, it boils down to two things numbers and control. He says that banning his book and shutting down an ethnic studies program that has been widely successful in Arizona are part of an effort to undermine social inclusion and financial uplift for Chicanos, or people of Mexican descent. Not only has his work come under fire, but Acuña has received numerous death threats from unidentifiable individuals who are at odds with his commitment to improving the system of education and living conditions for Chicanos. This work is very much tied to the immigration issue, which Acuña, who was born in Los Angeles to Mexican immigrants, says, puts panic in people [and makes them think] Were losing our country. This might be why so many po liticians have rallied against his groundbreaking work in Chicano Studies -- an academic program he helped develop in the late 1960s at California State University, Northridge. While this initiative remains the longest running and largest such program, many others have since been established at univ ersities across the country, and even some middle and high schools. Not everyone is so keen on seeing Chican...
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