💥 Explosion of Erasure: Tom Horne Continues Attack on Ethnic Studies and CRT
Tom Horne's continued crusade against ethnic studies and inclusive education, live on the air. Unraveling the interconnected stories of scapegoating, fear, and political manipulation
Based on the 1/14/25 Winn Tucson show on KVOI-1030AM.
🙊 Notable quotes from the show
🔥 Racial and Immigration Commentary:
Betsy Smith on California disaster victims: "We have local gangs. We have illegals..." (Context: Discussing wildfire-related crime)
Tom Horne on "racial entitlements": "We believe it is not racial entitlements. We believe it is an individual merit regardless of the race of the person."
🏫 Education and Identity Quotes:
Tom Horne on Ethnic Studies: "They would draw a line down the middle of the page, and on one side would be the qualities of whiteness. And on the other side would be the qualities of people of color."
On transgender athletes: "Riley Gaines had to compete against a male who, when he was a male swimmer, was like 450th in the country."
🌪️ Political Commentary:
On California's legislative priorities: "California legislature hurried and got into the legislature and did what? They passed $58 million to fight against Donald Trump on the deportation of illegal immigrants."
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
Sometimes grown-ups on the 📻 talk about really complicated stuff that might sound scary 😨, but here's what's really going on: Some people were discussing big problems happening in California with 🔥 wildfires, and instead of just helping people who lost their 🏠, they spent a lot of time talking about who they think might be causing trouble 🤔.
There was a person named Tom who doesn't like when schools teach about different people's 📚 histories, and another person named Betsy who was worried about people trying to trick others out of 💰 during a disaster. They mostly seemed more interested in pointing fingers 👈 and being afraid 😱 than in actually helping people.
The radio show was like a grown-up version of playground gossip 🛴💬, where instead of solving problems, they just complained about how other people might be doing things wrong 🙄. But the good news is that communities like ours are always stronger 💪 than people trying to divide us - we care about each other ❤️ and want to help, no matter what some loud voices on the radio might say. 📢
🗝️ Takeaways
Key Takeaways from the Winn Tucson Radio Rollercoaster:
🔥 Disaster Exploitation Masterclass: Conservative commentators turned California wildfires into a xenophobic playground, blaming immigrants and "roving gangs" for opportunistic crimes during a humanitarian crisis.
🚨 Scam Central: A shocking exposé of predatory tactics targeting fire victims, including:
Animal ransom schemes
Fake celebrity donation pages
Fraudulent relief organization impersonations
📚 Educational Warfare: Tom Horne's continued crusade against:
Ethnic Studies in TUSD
Critical Race Theory
Diversity and inclusion programs
⚖️ Title IX Takedown: A full-blown assault on transgender athletes' rights, reducing complex human experiences to simplistic biological arguments
🏳️🌈 Gender Policing: Explicit attempts to:
Limit bathroom access for transgender students
Restrict sports participation
Enforce rigid gender binaries
💰 Local Political Drama: Tucson's Proposition 414 exposed as a potential bait-and-switch for police and fire department funding?
🌍 Broader Context Bomb: A thinly veiled attack on:
Immigrant communities
Racial equity efforts
Gender diversity
Educational comprehensive representation
🔍 Propaganda Playbook: Conservative media's continued strategy of:
Fear-mongering
Scapegoating
Oversimplifying complex social issues
🌈 Community Resilience: Despite these attacks, Tucson continues to resist, learn, and grow beyond these narrow narratives
🚀 Accountability Alert: Constant vigilance against misinformation, erasure, and systemic oppression remains crucial
Dispatches from the Dial: A Toxic Tour of Tucson Talk Radio
Trigger warning: Buckle up for a rollercoaster ride through conservative cognitive dissonance, served piping hot from the 1030 The Voice airwaves.
On this frigid January morning, Kathleen Winn's radio show became a master class in weaponized ignorance. It featured two paragons of problematic punditry: Betsy Smith from the National Police Association and our local education destroyer-in-chief, Tom Horne.
🔥 California Burning: A Symphony of Scapegoating and Schadenfreude
Let's unpack the most cringe-worthy moment of disaster exploitation. Betsy Smith didn't just discuss the California wildfires; she weaponized them into a xenophobic fever dream.
Quote of infamy:
"We have local gangs. We have illegals. Some are the typical, what we call tourist gangs, who have been victimizing the more expensive areas of LA County and Ventura County..."
Ah, yes, nothing says "compassionate reporting," like immediately racializing disaster response. Smith's narrative wasn't just a dog whistle; it was a full-blown racist foghorn, transforming human suffering into an immigration hit piece.
The most disturbing revelation? Scammers exploiting fire victims, including the horrific tactic of threatening to euthanize abandoned animals unless ransomed.
Smith's solution? Pray and be vigilant—because, apparently, systemic support is too much to ask.
🎓 Tom Horne: The Architect of Educational Erasure
Speaking of systemic violence, enter Tom Horne—Tucson's own monument to historical amnesia. This is the man who single-handedly decimated Ethnic Studies in TUSD, a program that dared to teach students their own complex, nuanced histories.
Horne's greatest hits from the show include a master class in white fragility:
"I started fighting against critical race theory and ethnic studies in TUSD about 2008-2009. And I felt for a long time like a voice in the wilderness."
Wilderness indeed - a landscape where understanding becomes dangerous and historical truth is considered radical. He proudly recounted his "victory" against TUSD's ethnic studies program:
"They would draw a line down the middle of the page and on one side would be the qualities of whiteness. And on the other side would be the qualities of people of color. And they would say things like the whites interrupt too much..."
Let's be crystal clear: Horne didn't fight against divisiveness. He fought against understanding, against students seeing themselves in the curriculum, and against healing.
💔 The Intersectional Nightmare: Trans Athletes and Title IX
Horne's transphobia reached Olympic-level grotesqueness when discussing transgender athletes. His pearl-clutching reached a fever pitch:
"Riley Gaines, right? She had to compete against a male who in the male, I mean, she was a real champion in that when he was a male swimmer, he was like 450th in the country."
Translation: How DARE someone challenge binary gender constructs? How DARE athletes exist outside prescribed boxes?
🌈 Between the Lines: What They're Really Saying
This wasn't just a radio show. This was a masterclass in preserving white, cis-hetero patriarchal supremacy. Every statement was a carefully constructed weapon:
Against immigrants
Against ethnic understanding
Against gender diversity
Against educational equity
🚨 Local Context Matters
For those unfamiliar, Tom Horne isn't just a radio guest. He's the architect of educational destruction in Tucson. His war on Ethnic Studies wasn't just policy—it was psychological warfare against students of color.
Remember the landmark federal court ruling that found TUSD's elimination of Mexican American Studies unconstitutional? Horne was the primary architect of that systematic erasure.
💡 Community Resistance
But here's the beautiful part, dear readers: Tucson resists. Our community is stronger than these radio soundbites. We continue to teach, learn, and grow despite attempts to silence us.
Horne might have temporarily won institutional battles, but he cannot stop the river of knowledge, of understanding, of community.
🔍 Accountability Check
This isn't just commentary. This is documentation. These are the voices attempting to shape our community's narrative—and we're here to shine a light on every problematic pixel.
Stay woke, Tucson. Stay critical. Stay connected.
Disclaimer: Views expressed are those of the speakers and are about as reliable as a chocolate teapot.
👥 People Mentioned:
Kathleen Winn
Role: Radio show host
Notable for: Driving the conversation, asking provocative questions
Quote: "We are about to have a sales tax here... to get the taxpayers to make up for the deficit of the mayor and council underfunding our police and our fire."
Tom Horne
Role: Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction
Notorious for: Banning Ethnic Studies in TUSD
Memorable Quote: "I started fighting against critical race theory and ethnic studies in TUSD about 2008-2009. And I felt for a long time like a voice in the wilderness."
Betsy Smith
Role: National Police Association Spokesperson
Known for: Inflammatory comments about crime and immigration
Quote: "These people see these disasters, and they decide to profit from them. It is horrific."
Kim Kardashian
Mentioned in context of charity scams
Quote about her: Scammers were "cloning her social media, and then asking for help soliciting money"
Riley Gaines
Mentioned as an example in transgender athlete discussion
Context: Used to argue against transgender participation in women's sports
Karen Bass
Los Angeles Mayor
Criticized for being out of the country during wildfires
Described as firing and then un-firing her fire chief
Maria Shriver
Former First Lady of California
Quoted as saying "LA residents deserve better than their current Democrat leadership"
Pete Hegseth
Mentioned as going through a confirmation hearing
Limited context in the transcript
George Gascón
Los Angeles County Prosecutor
Described as being replaced, noted as a "George Soros prosecutor"
Barack Obama
Quoted indirectly with the phrase "the chickens are coming home to roost"
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