Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Galindo Jack | Glendale, CA
Laura Yaussi | Fort Collins, CO
I believe it is critically important to teach children the truth in all areas of learning. When children are taught the truth they can grow into healthy adults who can handle and process difficult conversations powerfully and without shame. I believe parents are uncomfortable with the truth because they are just now being introduced to the true history of our nation and conversations around race. Imagine how much more able to handle it they would be if they have learned it as children. This is why children must know the truth.
Kelly Nelsen | Boise, ID
My students deserve the truth.
Mary Lou Hall | Albuquerque, NM
I am tired of this racism in our country, and no one seems to be doing anything about it or care. I have lived on this earth for almost eighty five years and things are getting worse instead of better. Oncoming generations, will have to turn the tide that has been here for years. It is time for us to wake up and smell the coffee!
Michael Stapleton | Barkhamsted, CT
We must confront our history… even the dark parts …to move our people closer the the promises of America.
Ryan Howard | Fremont, CA
Jessica Diaz | Henrico, VA
I want to help students learn to use critical thinking and research skills. It’s important to use primary sources and help students develop the skills to understand the events of our history so students can make informed decisions to create a better society today.
Margaret Wessel Walker | Canton, MI
I refuse to lie to my students, who are majority Black, about their own history and generational trauma. I refuse to lie.
Sheba Lo | Los Angeles, CA
Andrea Espinoza | Tucson, AZ
I refuse to lie to my students.
Mika Court | Portsmouth, NH
Teaching and learning about systemic racism and sexism, and (more importantly) regenerative and healing alternatives have been my focus since 1989 when I graduated from high school
Ken Carano | Monmouth, OR
We cannot heal without understanding the varied perspectives people have of history. We won't truly be humanizing people if we refuse to listen to their perspectives. A group of people sharing a common space cannot move forward in a productive manner without doing those items.
Sarah Jackson | Portland, OR
Our children deserve to know the truth.
Melissa Gibson | Milwaukee, WI
Lucy Russell | Warrenton, NC
My students deserve the truth.
Claudia Valles | Norwalk, CA
My students deserve to know that they play an important part of this country. They need to embrace their heritage, race, language, traditions, and beliefs and know that they can make a difference. Understanding the truth about our past is important for them to know, so they can learn from it and not let history repeat itself like we're currently experiencing right now with laws being passed on voting restrictions in so many states.
Samantha Ginzberg | New Haven, CT
Naama Levy | Fort Collins, CO
Kathy Diamond | Portland, OR
We cannot continue to whitewash history
Kathleen Allen | Englewood, CO
All students deserve to know the truth of our country and be inspired to build a more perfect union.
Janis Johnson | Lewiston, ID
Students should not be lied to. Their intelligence and good character should be respected. They should learn the truth of American history and make their own decisions about what they think and what kinds of people/citizens they want to be.
Veronica Velez | Marysville, WA
T. Miller | Memphis, TN
I feel that the truth matters and will be eventually heal many. For too long students, even I as an older American, have heard stories that shared a one sided view of this country. That view has often left many of this country’s people feel left out, not a part of, and non purposeful. It’s time to help a generation understand and accept the all of this country’s history and start true healing that is needed for all Americans young, old and especially those who paid the price of sacrifice.If we don’t teach CRT, why? Please don’t say to keep one group comfortable or because one group will feel bad. That isn’t sufficient because one group has already paved the road that one. The truth could set us all truly free and begin to wash the stain that has soaked so deeply in this country for far too long.Hey the truth is going to stand and come out anyway!
Tiffany R. Payne-Griffin | Chicago, IL
It is deplorable and completely unacceptable for people to navigate through life without understanding that this country and every privilege that non-Black people benefit from is due to the long reaching effects of slavery.
Francois Dupuis | Enfield, CT
This country cannot heal until everyone understands what the injuries are. The work of historians and sociologists in this field constitutes factual evidence that racism in America is systemic and that White Supremacist ideology continues to perpetuate willful ignorance and the myth of meritocracy in America.
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.