Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Judi Kroboth | Downingtown, PA
As an educator, I must help my students to become critical thinkers with a broad understanding of historical truths and how to make the world a better place for all.
Rebecca Brown | Kansas City, KS
As a teacher, I believe that the United States is only as strong as its truth. We must be willing to teach the full history of our nation so that we can truly understand and respect each other enough to work together to fix the problems we face and build a better country for our children.
Anna Guerrero | Goleta, CA
truth is power.
Genevieve Smith | Greensboro, NC
"Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong" by Loewen, J. was published in 1995 and yet the cycle of miseducation continues. If a learner is old enough to experience the oppression, the only folks protected by NOT teaching accurate histories are learners situated in a position privileged enough not to perceive the issues impacting their peers. Yet here we are in 2021 debating Critical Race Theory as a subject as if our students of color do not experience the impact. How interesting to live in a country that shames another for their historical atrocities, i.e. Germany, without accepting not only the accountability for our own nation's atrocities, as well as our participation in those of the countries we shame. Also, education is not about learning lies, right?
Kari Van Gelder | Eastsound, WA
Students deserve the truth.
Doug Baer | Seattle, WA
Young scholars, the next generation, need to know the whole story. We need to know and understand our collective past in order to see its impact on today and how we can learn from it in order to influence and shape the future.
Diane Ghedi | Springfield, MA
It’s the right thing to do
Erin Chapman | Washington, DC
I am a professor of African American history. This legislation would render my whole profession illegal. It is unconscionable for right-wing legislators and activists to deceive the public, to purposefully misinform their constituents and allies, and to suppress historical knowledge. These right-wing efforts are in service of white supremacy and will not be tolerated.
Molly Lohnes | Winona, MN
No more lies!!!
Charlotte Pass | Cortland, NY
Bridget Wojnovich | Manlius, NY
The truth matters, and just because it makes some people uncomfortable doesn't mean it should continue to be suppressed. Perpetuating ignorance is what keeps real change from happening.
Jana Ewing | Bridgeport, WA
The society I live in and value, no longer values me, or my students. I believe the voices of the under-valued need to be heard.
Jennifer Nelson | Bellmead, TX
our children, this country's future leaders, deserve to know the truth about our nation's history so as not to repeat it!
Lisa Vasquez | Hutto, TX
Nicole Thomson | Greece Town of, NY
GIna Tillis | Cordova, TN
Education is the practice of freedom. A powerful tool for empowering ourselves and our community. Providing an education that is culturally relevant and critically responsive to our students' lived experience is the path to individual and collective liberation. Hence, we must continue to engage in critical conversations about our experiences as intersectional beings (race, ethnicity, gender, class, orientation, ability, religion, nationality) that challenge us to reflect on who we are and how we live in this world.
susan samuels | Alexandria, VA
right is right! we should live in the truth not a fabrication. only then can we have a chance to grow together to become better human beings, better neighbors, better leaders.
Elizabeth Soslau | Newark, DE
Because the truth matters and it is time to tell the truth.
Caryn Landau-Walter | Redmond, WA
I am a white parent and educator and I want my own children to learn truth in their classrooms. I am committed to teaching truth in my own classroom. I love my children and my students and I believe that they deserve to learn real history and need the tools to think critically about it. I believe that true patriotism means acknowledging all of the bad in our country and demanding that we do better. I believe that an anti-racist education asks all students to understand the role that identity and privilege play in our society - past and present. It is about asking out students, our schools, our communities and our country to avoid doing things that are harmful and shameful. We must teach truth to grow and do better.
Rita Kamunde | Lawndale, CA
Truth matters!
Kevin Pioli-Hunt | Williston Town of, VT
This work matters!
Cristin Cash | Takoma Park, MD
history matters
Jessica Parsons | West Des Moines, IA
I am an aspiring Antiracist Educator
Stacey Peterik | Urbana, IL
Corinne Greskiewicz | West Chester, PA
As a country, we should not be scared to analyze our past and learn from our mistakes. Knowledge is power, and critical thinking will lead to a better country.
Selected Pledges
Click on pledge below to read many more.
As an educator who is serious about teaching the truth I will not be bullied into silence. I will do my part in the fight for equity and equality by making sure my students are most equipped to fight this ugliness in the real world.
Yes, the truth of American history needs to be taught, but also its impact on the rest of the world, such as its role in WWII. I just finished teaching a college-level course on the Holocaust, and could not believe how little the students knew about the rest of the world’s participation in the war! They seemed to believe that WWII was ended by the US alone!
“When you begin to do things that raise the achievement of the poorest and disenfranchised students, you may not always get applause. You need to be ready for that.” Dr. Asa Hilliard
“Resistance is a powerful motivator precisely because it enables us to fulfill our longing to achieve our goals while letting us boldly recognize and name the obstacles to those achievements.”
Dr. Derrick Bell
Our young people deserve the truth and it is our kuleana (responsibility) to give space and opportunity for the truth and the difficult conversations.
If we don’t teach it all, we teach nothing…
Social justice is a major theme of my Humanities 7 course, and my school uses Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s HILL framework (development of identity, skills, knowledge, Criticality) to frame our entire curriculum. Student agency through research work and essay writing, and action-oriented civic engagement work, define what we “cover” in my course.