Outlawing Shakespeare: The Battle for the Tucson Mind is a 40-minutes documentary which was directed by Fernando James Orozco in 2012, it details the interdiction of the Tucson ethnic studies courses after being in suspension for nearly one year. The documentary contains interview and testimonies of various stakeholders of Tucson Unified School District to include teachers, parents, and students as well as local politicians. According to the students and teachers, the Mexican American Studies program was beneficial to their learning environment with student achieving higher grades in school. The National Academic curriculum reports highly acclaim the program as being part of the curriculum that helps students in learning, and it was not in any violation of the law ( Planas, 2012) . Lori Klein, Arizona State Senator, publicly declared that the Mexican American Studies program as an outlaw with the claims that the State had the students’ interest at heart. In her veto speech, she articulated that the Hispanic students do not want to learn, they hate America as a consequence they have found a substitute to the program. She further claims the ethnic study promotes gangster attitude to the student and it is a strategy of reclaiming Arizona away from America to Mexico ( Planas, 2012) . Tom Horne Arizona Attorney General who was among the strong opponent of the Mexican American curriculum said that the program creates resentment in students which they learn in school and it is not just a part of the literature but Romanticism of Mexican culture ( Ballantine, Hammack & Stuber, 2017) . Considering that in 2010 the (HB) 2281 bill was signed into law to prohibit the public schools from offering classes that promote the overthrow of the federal government and classes that are specifically tailored for an ethnic group. As a result, the Mexican American study program was dismantled ( Planas, 2012) . Under the sociological theory, Marx and Weber conflict perspective, the documentary presents a case in point of the underway conflict ( Ballantine, Hammack & Stuber, 2017) . Outlawing Shakespeare: The Battle for the Tucson Mind also reveals the extent of complexity in resolving integral institutional problems that are at the core of institutions structure, for instance, education for the marginalized group. Even when the board decided complete ban of the Mexican American program with no appeal, the Hispanic students submit themselves to education that was inequitable.
The conflict theory is much applicable in this context. According to Ballantine, Hammack & Stuber, (2017) Marx depiction of the conflict theory, they say that dispute emerges from individuals or groups with conflicting interests. Marx associated with the groups in power struggles as the “haves” and the “have-nots”; as one party try hard to pull power on their side to impact on the structural along with organizational functionalities which affect the relations of power ( Ballantine, Hammack & Stuber, 2017) . The conflict theory strives hard to change the status quo, in which the haves are working hard to maintain leading to the institutionalization of the oppressed, for the have nots.
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In the documentary, it reveals the people in power used their authority to suppress the Hispanic students and find fault in their education program. For instance, in a parent testimony, she describes how the Arizona Attorney Horne used her daughter Juliana Dion picture in his presentation where he called her Hitler youth without even asking for her permission. During the board meeting when they were summoned she accompanied her daughter only to get harassed by the police and later taken to emergency care for sustained injuries ( Planas, 2012) . In another example the May 3 rd during the board summons to determine the fate of the Mexican American Studies program there over 150 cops around, metal detectors, bomb-sniffing dogs on the building and helicopters were hovering around the vicinity, this was a negative indication of the use of power to suppress those without power or money ( Ballantine, Hammack & Stuber, 2017) . Even if corrective measures or any social change will be applicable in the future, the entire incidence was a big blow to many students, parents, and teacher under this curriculum.
References
Ballantine, J. H., Hammack, F. M., & Stuber, J. (2017). The sociology of education: A systematic analysis . Routledge.
Planas, Roque, (2012). ‘Outlawing Shakespeare’ Documentary Profiles Mexican American Studies Controversy In Tucson. HuffPost
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/05/outlawing-shakespeare-mexican-american-studies_n_2077517.html
