The pledge was signed by no teachers on Jan. 9, the day before. It now has one pledge from Birmingham teacher.
They’re one of the thousands of US teachers pledging to continue educating students about the controversial Critical Race Theory, which explains racism is embedded in US culture and politics.
The Birmingham teacher wrote "Our students deserve to be taught the truth in American history. Teachers like myself also deserve the autonomy to teach all facets of the curriculum they are responsible for covering; that includes the parts of history that reactionaries, white supremacists, and politicians who pander & enable these people, want to gloss over and blot out in the history books. It’s the teachers who are the professionals and know their content- not these noise-makers. Let’s keep #TeachingTruth as we always have!" when pledging to teach Critical Race Theory.
Though the concept was first suggested in the late 70’s, it has recently exploded as a contentious issue between the American right and left in the last two years.
Many who signed the pledge are defying state bans on the teachings. Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas have passed legislation banning discussions about the US being inherently racist.
Other states, such as Montana and South Dakota, have denounced the teachings without passing specific legislation.
In an interview with The Washington Free Beacon', Ashley Varner of the Freedom Foundation accused the Zinn Education Project of providing “left-leaning propaganda to teachers.”
| Teachers | Thoughts on Critical Race Theory |
|---|---|
| William Goble | Our students deserve to be taught the truth in American history. Teachers like myself also deserve the autonomy to teach all facets of the curriculum they are responsible for covering; that includes the parts of history that reactionaries, white supremacists, and politicians who pander & enable these people, want to gloss over and blot out in the history books. It’s the teachers who are the professionals and know their content- not these noise-makers. Let’s keep #TeachingTruth as we always have! |
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