The pledge was signed by no teachers on March 11, the day before. It now has 101 pledges from Brooklyn teachers.
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 Brooklyn teachers included, "a true understanding of American history acknowledges our entire past, not just the celebratory moments or "pale male" centered history. Attempts to deny our complicated past doesn't make students more patriotic - it teaches them that it is okay to lie or omit whatever is unpleasant. Teaching history isn't supposed to make us just comfortable or make us full good - it is supposed to challenge us and show us where we can do better, for everyone!" and "Howard Zinn taught me everything I know".
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 in Brooklyn who’ve pledged to teach Critical Race Theory
| Teachers | Thoughts on Critical Race Theory |
|---|---|
| Abigail Kirchman | No comment |
| Addie Male | No comment |
| Adriana Discipio | The truth is important. All stories and perspectives should be told. Teachers have a responsibility to ensure their students are informed so that they can participate in our democracy. |
| Alejandra Suarez | it is the RIGHT thing to do! |
| Alisa Algava | Education for liberation can and will happen in collectivity. |
| Alivia Nuzzo | I believe that learning the truth can help us move toward collective liberation. |
| Alma Rodríguez | Teaching students the truth is essential to my ethics as well as their well being. They need to know how this country came to be, so that they can be agents of change. |
| Alyssa Smith | No comment |
| Amanda Byam | In order to bring up and teach the leaders of tomorrow, who will make great changes and strides in our world & community, they need to know where we came from and be exposed to ALL SIDES of history! Banning a curriculum is CENSORSHIP. A lot of people would be up in arms if many of the white-focused, one-sided patriotic teachings were banned from classrooms today. Therefore, this should not be done on the other side. Our students deserve to know the whole truth and multiple viewpoints of history. |
| Andrew Haglin | I believe students need to know the true history of our country if we hope to ever hope to address the prejudices and structural inequalities that persist to this day. |
| Arsenia Reilly-Collins | No comment |
| Benjamin Otto | ignoring our true past will cause us to repeat our blunders. Healing starts with truth and this country can be great, so long as we are willing to look honestly at our past, present and possible futures. |
| Brenna McLaughlin | No comment |
| Brenna McLaughlin | I am committed to the un whitewashing of history in American. |
| Brett Baron-Marianetti | It took forever for the truth about the development America to become part of mainstream instruction nationwide and we are not going to allow an ever-shrinking group of White and mostly male power holders to turn back the clock now because they fear their guaranteed advantage is eroding. |
| Brooke Peters | No comment |
| Caitlin Walsh | No comment |
| Danielle Bullock | No comment |
| Deena Heller | If we don’t teach students the truth, they will live and act in lies. |
| Denise Farrelly | The truth in history is sometimes painful, harsh, and humiliating. It sometimes seems easier to sugarcoat our story. Nevertheless, the truth is absolutely necessary, even for young children. Teaching them to think critically and deeply about the multiple perspectives and stories contained in our nation’s history can help prepare them to shape our future as citizens in a democratic society. |
| Dianne Ramdeholl | No comment |
| Dov Lebowitz-Nowak | No comment |
| Elena Jaime | learning about justice and those who fight for it allows all children to reclaim their humanity. |
| Emily Todras | Our kids need to know the truth in order to create a better reality. |
| Erin Carroll | No comment |
| Henry Mills | I am not going to tighten a blindfold around the eyes of my students. |
| Hom Skoolkids | No comment |
| Inan Barrett | It’s due time that we tell the truth about this nation. Only then will we be able to make true progress and become a truly great nation. |
| Isidoro Rodriguez | Education is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet for solving the problems in this country |
| Jaime White | We must free history to free ourselves |
| Jamee Schleifer | No comment |
| Jamee Schleifer | I am interested in future generations to be educated and not indoctrinated about American history. I believe if complete history is taught, empathy for other people can be increased. I am 62 years old and I am learning more now about history then I ever did in all my years in school. As a former public school dance teacher, I was told bu classroom teachers...if it’s not on the test, the teachers don’t teach it. Additionally, subject teachers were so overwhelmed with teaching to the test that there was never any time to even supplement their classrooms. Lesson plans; letters home; books and reading materials are checked by administration and YouTube bans certain video for schools. If schools are to move forward, parents and teachers need to work with their administrations and get the conversation started about how to teach people’s history. |
| Jennifer Garcia | I believe that true education,freedom and empowerment come from truth. |
| Jerry Lim | No comment |
| Jessica Helton | as a Black woman, I cannot stand in front of my students and pretend that the systemic racism that I have seen and experienced personally isn't happening. |
| Jessie Barker | It is our responsibility as agents of change to teach the truth. “Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced,” James Baldwin |
| Jillian Gaeta | No comment |
| John Antush | No comment |
| John Meredith | “That which is not just cannot be law.” — William Lloyd Garrison “When you see the good fight, get in it!” —Vernon Johns“Good trouble.” —John Lewis |
| Joy Canning | No comment |
| Judy Chase-Marshall | It is important that we teach our children the truth and get an accurate account of history from reliable, viable courses. |
| Junior Tidal | No comment |
| Karla Misjan | No comment |
| Katie Moylan | we can’t form a more perfect union without recognizing the times we’ve fallen short of that aspiration and learning about the opportunities we have to grow. |
| Keith Brooks | Because teachers and other educators cannot allow ourselves to be bullied and intimidated from teaching the truths of u.s. history in this right wing assault, much of it under the cover and cudgel of the attack on critical race theory. We need to push back and fight back strong in alliance with students, parents and others against this calculated reactionary campaign of mind control and censorship! |
| Keith Brooks | i could write a book about why i'm signing. actually, i am writing a book to be titled "MythAmerica: the Hidden Histories, Dirty Little Secrets, Half-Truths and Outright Lies of Amerian History |
| Keith Brooks | we need to mount a major counter-offensive against this right wing attack on teaching what really happened under the cover of the attack on critical race theory ! |
| Kelly Walker | the only way America lives up to its promise is through telling the truth to our young people. Only then might this country become as inclusive and as free as it's always promised to be. |
| Kim Uggerholt | No comment |
| Kimron Thomas | No comment |
| Kimron Thomas | The GOP wants a fight and they’re gonna get it. |
| Laurel Digianni | No comment |
| Lauren Prusecki | No comment |
| Leah Rotkin-Ellman | People who don't learn history will repeat it! |
| Lee Schere | Our democracy depends on a full and true reckoning with this nation's past! |
| Lindsay Cruz | Students deserve to learn the true history of this country and how it has impacted the world we live in today. |
| Lindsay Shields | No comment |
| Louisa Pregerson | We cannot move forward with lies or denial about the past |
| Marc Handelman | No comment |
| Maria Falgoust | I believe this is important. |
| Marjorie Charles | History shouldn't be hidden or it will be repeated. |
| Mary Couri | No comment |
| Maureen Stewart | students need to be critical thinkers by examining history through many experiences, perspectives, and lenses. Historically, there has been racial oppression and this oppression still exists today which students deserve to know in order to enact change. |
| Melissa Singer | The truth matters. |
| Michael Debartolo | No comment |
| Michael Debartolo | The only way we can dismantle white supremacy is by naming it, and understanding how it shapes society today. The dignity, safety, and equity of BIPOC in this country should never be compromised. Teach the truth so we can have the knowledge and tools to build the world we claim to live in. |
| Michael McQuillan | We seek truth with our students to acknowledge, understand and address the moral dilemmas that divide the nation and defy our democratic ideals. Deep thought breeds actions sowing the spirit of community that all of us deserve and to which we are entitled. |
| Michael Schulman | No comment |
| Michele Hamilton | No comment |
| Michelle George | Choosing to teach the truth is choosing antiracism. We can't continue to pretend that police kill more black people and more of us are incarcerated because criminality is in our DNA. We can't understand policing without knowing about slave patrollers, black codes and jim crow. If we are to change America into the antiracist society it could be, we need to begin exposing the truth wherever we find it hidden. |
| Michelle George | Without truth this country will never get to its promise. We cannot continue to live as teach in lies around race and the genesis Of inequality as we talk about America exceptionality in the same breath. America will survive the truth. |
| Michelle Kaba | No comment |
| Mikaela Whitcomb | No comment |
| Mir Finkelman | words matter and truth matters! |
| Miriam Stanford-Cusack | No comment |
| Mjiole Ogbonnaya | Students already feel the discrimination and hatred in this country, so hiding the truth and not fixing any of the issues only makes you look cowardly and makes them feel abandoned as next generation in this country. The sins of this country will not be resolved by turn a blind eye and never addressing it. It will be resolved when the people in power can acknowledge the issue and make active changes towards a better equity in schools and society. |
| Nandini Sinha | Teaching facts are important. |
| Nathaly Warner | No comment |
| Nicollette Ruiz | Students need to know the truth in order to engage in critical thinking about the world around them! |
| Polly Garcia | Immigrants experience racism on many levels. If intervention in their education to become English speakers does not occur, racism and misinformation is propagated and white supremacy is made stronger. It is our duty as teacher of ELLs to commit to anti-racism education. |
| Rachael Barasch | No comment |
| Rachael Sullivan | No comment |
| Roger Green | An education that censors truth, facts, and a scientific method concerning how the concept of race is socially constructed and has been orchestrated by some to rationalize the enforcement of institutional racism within the legislative process, courts, and public institutions of our nation is a moral imperative for a citizenry that must embrace a community of inquiry as it aspires to form a more perfect Union.An education that encourages a critical and active citizenry is the life blood for an evolving democratic- republic. |
| Sabrina Alli | No comment |
| Sarah Konowitz | Truth hurts but lies kill, and if we don’t teach it, who will??? |
| Sheetal Shah | Howard Zinn taught me everything I know |
| Staver Klitgaard | No comment |
| Stephen Simons | Admirer of Zinn |
| Sunisa Nuonsy | The truth matters |
| Suzannah Schneider | No comment |
| Tanishia Williams | I believe in equity and inclusive instruction. |
| Thor Tillberg | No comment |
| Tracey Scronic | ... all people deserve to know the truth about the history of our country and its role in the persistence of oppression across the globe. Teaching the truth is the best way I know to tear down the power structure that maintains the oppressive status quo. |
| Tracy Garrison-Feinberg | a true understanding of American history acknowledges our entire past, not just the celebratory moments or "pale male" centered history. Attempts to deny our complicated past doesn't make students more patriotic - it teaches them that it is okay to lie or omit whatever is unpleasant. Teaching history isn't supposed to make us just comfortable or make us full good - it is supposed to challenge us and show us where we can do better, for everyone! |
| Tracy Garrison-Feinberg | the truth matters and it is our job as educators to provide our students with the tools they need to think critically as they examine our past and our present. |
| Veronica Sousa | No comment |
| Virginia Cooper | No comment |
| William Ehrenfeld | Our children deserve the truth! |
| William Naess | No comment |
| William Noling | No comment |
| Yvette Silver | Students deserve to know the truth and be granted the freedom and independence to form their own opinions and to arrive at their own conclusions, based on the trusted facts they hear from their teachers mouths. |
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