Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Patricia Cooper | Vincent, IA
US students need to understand Reconstruction to understand the history of white supremacy ideology in our country and all that was lost when Reconstruction ended. We witness how citizenship rights were gained then swiftly eliminated. Only with this awareness can students comprehend why our caste system continues today.
Kate Crist | Reno, NV
Michael Levin | Berwyn, IL
Rosemary Herold | Mount Pleasant, SC
Crystal Feimster | New Haven, CT
Sariah Winn | Phoenix, AZ
Laura Murphy | Poughkeepsie, NY
Curtis Austin | Chandler, AZ
Christopher Knaus | Seattle, WA
Danica Dawkins | Holly Springs, MS
Frances Jones-Sneed | North Adams, MA
It is an essential period of US history that gives context to the period that we are now living.
Meghan LeRoux | Colorado Springs, CO
Citizens of the US seem to be unaware of the reasons behind the current racial climate in our country and the systemic reasons for it. If we teach this vital time in history, from a perspective other than the white perspective that has always been taught, maybe future generations will have a better idea of how to end systemic racism.
Caitlin Conley | Chicago, IL
Jennifer Wendlandt | Hudson, WI
Equal rights for all U.S. citizens were not achieved with the end of the Civil War. The coming generations need to be taught the long road of Civil Rights in the U.S. how they have been improved, fought against by some, and continue to this day.
Caitlin Vanderwolf | New Orleans, LA
Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo | Berkeley, CA
Most students who take my U.S. and African American history courses have little or no knowledge of the Reconstruction period. They arrive at my College thinking that the nation's "racial dilemma" was resolved by the Emancipation Proclamation and the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment. Once they understand why Reconstruction represented a period of hope and promise, how that promise was betrayed, and that what replaced it was "slavery by another name," students gain a deeper appreciation of the sacrifices Black citizens made during the long Civil Rights Movement, the enduring manifestations of structural racism, and contemporary struggles for racial justice.
Iely Mohamed | Jackson, MS
It is important to teach about the Reconstruction era because people of color were elected and passed many forward looking legislation, especially in providing free education for ALL PEOPLE AND CITIZENS. It is also needed to see that history is repeating itself through restrictions on voting in elections. Backlashes usually follow progressive forward movement. Also revisionist history is being written and it is stated that the story of the hunted would be different from the hunter's story.
Nancy Herard-Marshall
Maya Burns | Portland, ME
Sedonia Phillips | Chicago, IL
TRUTH
Eric Sheffield | Macomb, IL
Sandra Corr | Newport Beach, CA
It is important to teach about the Reconstruction era because if we don't our students/citizens are not getting the full/true history -- and truth is essential, especially in these increasingly difficult and racist times.
Anonymous | Tucson, AZ
Amanda Seccia | Buffalo, NY
Esther Honda | San Francisco, CA
All Americans need to see examples of how varying groups of society can work to expand rights without it being subtractive if others' rights. My students learn of hope, vision, commitment to democracy and liberty and political empowerment when they study Reconstruction... as well the important cautionary tale of what happens when we don't keep up the fight for expanded rights for all Americans.
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