Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Suzanne Brazil | Vernon Hills, IL
I am an American and want that to mean something good, true, honorable. The truth is necessary to make this country all it can be.
Christina Bechstein | Portland, ME
DANA DUSBIBER | Sacramento, CA
Alden Dearborn | Brighton, MA
Christine Hagerup | Oakland, CA
Education is a radical and transformative act.
Amy Moore | Evanston, IL
Catherine Compton-Lilly | West Columbia, SC
Sheila Rivers | Louisville, KY
Enough U.S. history is denied already, so why deny students of the entire knowledge of slavery. It did happen and it’s fact. Stop burying that that makes white folks uncomfortable or well forever be forced to deal with racism.
Kirby Green | Seattle, WA
John J. Ferreiro | Bellingham, WA
I see no honest reason to lie to my students.
Jennifer Molin | Camarillo, CA
As a California public school teacher and owner and Head Teacher of a preschool I will never teach CRT to my students, my students are all beautiful and equally important regardless of the color of their skin. They are created in God's image and He calls all of us to turn away from racism of every kind.
Paul Mahler | Pompton Plains, NJ
As President of PROPEL Pequannock I’m working closely with our school librarians to insure they have access to truth telling materials.
Peter Goeckner | New York, NY
it is necessary to encounter the uncomfortable truths of our past in order to move forward. As a wise tweet once said, "Studying history will sometimes make you uncomfortable. Studying history will sometimes make you feel deeply upset. Studying history will sometimes make you feel extremely angry. If studying history always makes you feel proud and happy, you probably aren’t studying history."
Peggy Sharkey | Parma, ID
The truth shall set you free
Peggy Sharkey | Parma, ID
I must tell the truth
Laura Neustaedter | Sherman Oaks, CA
I teach people’s history!
Scott Lundgren | Los Angeles, CA
Because as a white male, I refuse to be complicit
Zack Elway | Seattle, WA
dismantling racial capitalism and building a better world requires an honest and thoughtful reckoning of where we have been.
Jennifer Williams | Oklahoma City, OK
I refuse to continue perpetuating systemic oppression. Talking about and acknowledging the country's ugly history will help all of us learn from it and begin healing--together. Continuing to cover up just allows discrimination to fester and spread.
Marissa Felix | Mesa, AZ
Nina Hyatt | San Jose, CA
It is hideous that educators are being threatened if they tell the truth.
Sarah Hoop | Poughkeepsie, NY
Democracy and the future of this nation depend on classrooms that reckon with the past. If we are truly to live up to the dreams of our founding , then we must grapple with how we got to the place we are.
Linden Higgins | Burlington, VT
We cannot allow a witch hunt to block best practices in teaching and learning.
Angela Gabriel | Santa Fe, NM
I feel like we’re rounding a bend toward a more just society and the powers that are in control want to keep it that way. The more they thrash around, bullying, and pressuring people to bend to their will, the more it shows how afraid they are of the truth.
Delorme MckeeStovall | San Jose, CA
Because as part of my duties as the former Director of the Santa Clara County Office of Human Rights we were involved in providing more accurate information about the history of the residents culture to reduce conflict and create new understanding and respect. Any attempt to destroy or ignore the truth of American history is an attack ok this democratic experiment and the Republic. We must fight to preserve the intellectual capacity and critical thinking of every citizen and resident of this nation.
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.