No new teachers sign the pledge the week before. It now has 30 pledges from Bronx teachers by the end of the week ending Jan. 15.
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.
Comments from new Bronx teachers included “Truth, justice, and inclusive community” and “I believe in being honest and transparent with children. You cannot be educated if you are taught lies”.
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 |
|---|---|
| Diane Yacenda | “no comment” |
| Jessica Hernandez-Speer | I live in a state that still allows me to to teach mostly the way I choose, but I cannot take that for granted. |
| Molly Cavanaugh | The black and brown students in my classroom deserve to learn true history, and so do their white peers who are not in my classroom due to the continued, systemic school segregation and inequality in cities like New York. |
| Dijon Lindsey | Truth matters |
| Joshua Jacobs | “no comment” |
| Kimberly Cummins | I teach in the poorest congressional district in the nation and they deserve the truth! |
| Elizabeth Diaz | We will not be silenced! |
| Gail Jaitin | Truth matters. Facts matter. |
| Emily McLaughlin | I will always teach the truth |
| Jatera Simmons | Promoting an already majority white centered history that also seeks to ban and ignore the contributions of blacks, POC, women and others merely because knowledge of such challenges the status quo and makes people uncomfortable…is fascistic and anti democratic. |
| Myrie D. | Teaching History Is about teaching the truth |
| Lori-Anne Wallen | It's time that we empower our students with the truth. |
| Lauren Peelen | it’s the right thing to do for my students, my community, my country and my world. To develop a nation of the critical thinkers we need, we must allow them to critically think about and analyze the different “truths” of our history. |
| Fayette Colon | “no comment” |
| Kim McLeveighn | “no comment” |
| Leigh Yakubowski | “no comment” |
| Laura Rivera | “no comment” |
| Emma March | My students matter and deserve to know the truth. |
| Jacqueline Lang | Truth, justice, and inclusive community |
| Cassandra Santos | I believe in being honest and transparent with children. You cannot be educated if you are taught lies |
| Jordan Laks | truth is important in history, and history is important for truth. Although U.S. history might be uncomfortable to some, that does not mean it shouldn't be taught. We all need to continue learning. |
| Stuart Chen-Hayes | As a professor of School Counseling at CUNY Lehman College, I center anti-racism and anti-oppression work in all courses for future school counselors as mandated by state regulations and professional codes of ethics. All educators need to do so. The Constitution and tenure protect faculty free speech. |
| Stuart Chen-Hayes | Students deserve the truth of racism, oppressions. Educators deserve freedom of speech and freedom to choose curriculum as we see fit. You can't have democracy with out it. |
| Melissa Cohen | The truth of this country's history must be told - the good, the bad, and the ugly. It's the only way forward. |
| Agnes Lopez | “no comment” |
| Johanna Foster | We cannot move forward and heal in this country if we do not know our past. |
| Avis Terrell | Students need to know who they are to build a healthy self-identity. |
| Rachel Piven | The only way to be a responsible, conscious human is to know the difference between reality and a lie and to know the truth of how humans have behaved across time and space. Only then can people make their own informed choices; only then are we more than meat widgets trained to do others’ bidding. |
| Andre Easton | “no comment” |
| Moskoula Harisiadis | Our students need to know the truth. |
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