About Me
My name is Tomás Summers Sandoval. I'm Chicano from southern Californian, a GenXer, and a fan of the Dodgers and Elvis. I am a husband, a father of three, and in my spare time I'm an asociate professor of Chicana/o~Latina/o Studies and History at Pomona College.Twitter
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Tag Archives: Arizona
The Struggle for Ethnic Studies
On Tuesday, students in Arizona chained themselves together and occupied the board room where the Tucson Unified School District meeting was to be held. They opposed a scheduled vote which would have further marginalized their Mexican American Studies program. The … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Education, History, News, Personal, Politics
Tagged Arizona, berkeley, ethnic studies, mexican american studies, students, tucson
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It’s not political
There’s a lot to “take away” from the past few days of news and politics. The overriding lesson, for me anyways, is this: The word “terrorist” is journalistic & political shorthand for a “nonwhite” person who perpetrates an act of … Continue reading
Why I Don’t Care (Much) About Hate Speech
Yesterday’s tragedy in Arizona is beginning to foster a national discussion on “hate speech” and “civility” in politics. There is nothing inherently wrong in this. I’d say its even welcome from the millions of Americans who feel politics has grown … Continue reading
Posted in History, News, Politics
Tagged Arizona, arizona tragedy, assassination, democrats, gabrielle giffords, gifford, gifford shooting, GOP, obama, republicans
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Obama and Brewer Discuss Immigration
From our habitually Clintonian moderate President of these United States: THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _______________________________________________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 3, 2010 READOUT OF THE PRESIDENT’S MEETING WITH GOVERNOR BREWER OF ARIZONA The President had a good meeting … Continue reading
Posted in Immigration
Tagged Arizona, brewer, chicana, Chicano, hispanic, Immigration, latina, latino, mexico, obama, racism, the border
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Monday Blues
Not a blues in the traditional musical sense of the term, but emotionally…all the way. The amazingly spectacular Nina Simone in a 1964 live recording. Dedicated to the great state of Arizona.
Posted in Entertainment
Tagged Arizona, blues, Immigration, mississippi goddamn, monday blues, nina simone
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Arizona is a symptom, not the problem
Shall I add to the chorus of the outraged and appalled? Sometimes both sentiments find their expression in angry silence. They’ve been with me for a week now, on my mind and in my gut, never far from reach, finding … Continue reading
Posted in Education, History, Immigration, News, Politics
Tagged Arizona, Chicano, hispanic, illega immigration, immigrant, Immigration, immigration protest, latino, may day, mexican, mexican american, protest, racism, racist, undocumented
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Mexicans after the U.S.-Mexican War
Beginning in spring 1846, after various diplomatic, informal economic, and unofficial militaristic attempts to take and occupy part of Mexico’s northern frontier, the U.S. declared war on its southern neighbor. A decade after their politically unresolved dispute over Tejas, this … Continue reading
Posted in Education, History
Tagged Arizona, california, chicano history, conquest, guadalupe hidalgo, hispanic history, History, latino history, mexican american war, new mexico, texas, us history, us mexico war, war
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Courts Leave Arizona’s Immigration Laws Alone
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to hear any challenges to Arizona’s state laws penalizing businesses who “knowingly hire” undocumented or unauthorized workers. Here are the few details from the Arizona Republic: In September, a three-judge panel of … Continue reading
Transgender Veterans
From the Arizona Daily Star comes this fascinating story about transgender veterans and the struggles they face both in and out of the military. The reporter, Carol Ann Alaimo, published a follow-up story on the VA’s policy banning transsexual surgeries … Continue reading
Posted in History, News, Politics
Tagged Arizona, discrimination, lgbt, patriotism, queer veterans, transexual, transgender, va benefits, veterans
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Joe Arpaio’s Racist War Against Latinos
From the New York Times comes this editorial on the draconian (and horrifically offensive) tactics of Arizona’s modern incarnation of the old Southern racist lawman, Joe Arpaio. October 20, 2008 A War on Janitors The Wild West weirdness of the … Continue reading
