Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Deborah Abram | Bridgeport, CT
I believe omitting the true history as we teach our students is unacceptable and setting them up to not be socially and crtically aware of the world around them, Specifically the country in which they reside, The United States Of America. So let us as just teachers of truth not allow this omission to happen by speaking out, in addition to signing this petition.
Cliff Hanna | Albuquerque, NM
The past can teach us about ourselves but only if we acknowledge all the evidence, regardless of our personal convictions. Teaching the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth lights our path to a brighter future.
Yael Engel | Pittsburgh, PA
White People | Custer, WA
White people be living in caves before black folx taught them how to bathe. White folx be enslavin us and buyin us from the tribe that captured us. Dat aint right. White aint right. Black power.
Scott Rush | Boston, MA
My students have often discussed the importance of having open and at times uncomfortable conversations about our history. To quote James Baldwin, "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."
Autumn Sannwald | La Mesa, CA
Lydia Cochran | Philadelphia, PA
not doing so would be cheating my students out of a truth that they need to know in order to navigate the world they live in and become contributing citizens of.
Don Collins | Chico, CA
What's the point of studying history if we don't try to get to the truth. Racism is on the wrong side of history.
Stephen Harris | Apex, NC
I refuse to lie to my students.
Carla Garcia | Phoenix, AZ
Students need to be told both sides of history to be able to critically analyze what they can do to improve the community and world they live in.
Juanita Montes de Oca | Providence, RI
Cooper Smallidge | Blue Hill Town of, ME
Dana Bockman | Decorah, IA
it is unethical to withhold truths from our students and for an entity of government to expect educators to change our history. It is our duty as educators to provide facts and allow students to develop their own opinions and beliefs.
Melissa James | Kalamazoo, MI
The truth always matters.
Steve Somerson | Madison, WI
We will not truly heal as a nation and make progress on understanding each other until we... * discontinue the sugar-coated history in our classrooms, * use an equitable lens to teach our youth about oppression as well as the resilience of peoples, * honestly reflect on our past and how these events affect current events
Brandon Hagan | Somerville, MA
Knowledge is the only way forward. We cannot reckon with the past until we address how racism has shaped this country going all the way back to 1619.
Nicholas Smith | Memphis, TN
Margaret Verner | Atlanta, GA
Rebecca Carson | Missoula, MT
English and creative writing classes are about telling stories and exposing students to a chorus of diverse voices. How can I expect my students to create narratives or arguments with integrity and fair examination of all sources if we as teachers are forbidden from doing just that? The story of our nation needs to be told in its entirety. The ugly bits don’t just exist in the past and history will continue to repeat itself until we can consistently offer an educational experience that demands critical thinking and empathy. All voices deserve to be honored.
Allison Levine | Los Angeles, CA
Our students need to know the truth about the good, the bad, and the ugly of our country. If they don't know about it, how will they learn to make this country a better place?
Mari Ann Banks | Decatur, GA
I believe in the right and duty of teachers to tell the truth.I believe in the transformative nature of education.I have seen each consecutive generation in the US move toward the light and I REFUSE to accept a move back toward the ignorance, cruelty, and misinformation of our past.Black Lives Matter
Christopher Peraza | Hollywood, FL
To understand the full breadth of what makes this country great,we must understand where we came from, what we've done wrong, and what we must still overcome. Young people must be presented with the truth of our history, that slaves have been here since the 1620s, that compromises by the government had to be cajoled, because so many were unwilling to grant native born people their rights, and finally that America still does not offer the promise that all men are created equal to all of its citizens.
Elizabeth Sanders | Milwaukee, WI
This is how we heal and how we move forward as a better society.
Matthew Gross | Coral Springs, FL
We, the undersigned educators, refuse to lie to young people about U.S. history and current events — regardless of the law.
Chelsea Griffis | Toledo, OH
What’s the point other than telling the truth to understand the present?
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.