Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Ashley Leverenz | Milwaukee, WI
Synnika Alek-Chizoba Lofton | Chesapeake, VA
American students need a thorough investigation of American history, including all the racist, sexist, and violent acts that are embedded in that history. America cannot continue to hide its historical sins, while praising specific individuals of the past.
Laura Toerck | Crivitz, WI
erasing or changing history is just what the Nazis did. I'd like to think we're better than the Nazis...
Katy Hopkins | Pocatello, ID
The kids are the future and they need to be armed with the truth
Katherine Catron | Dallas, TX
Lisa Brown | Austin, TX
Student deserve to learn the truth about slavery and its impact on the economy in the colonies and after the United States was founded. Likewise, we must accurately represent the history of discrimination past and present so that we can work toward a more just and equitable nation.
Keith Kohlmann | Racine, WI
Only the truth can set you free...
BARRY FARGO | Upper Marlboro, MD
Christina Held-Hulsing | Buffalo, NY
My students deserve the whole story about our nation's history. Since they are going to be entrusted with creating a more inclusive future, they need to know about the mistakes that we have made in the past.
Corey Beirne | Normal, IL
Adrienne Pierluissi | Saint Francis, WI
I would like solutions to our systemic racism and believe the answers are with the youth. They need to have the difficult conversations in order to create change.
Peter Mader
I was listening to growing up
Helen Kubilus | Hoboken, NJ
We need to reckons with our nation’s history and the only way to do that is to have FULLY informed citizens.
Whitney Alfrey | Portland, OR
Students need to be taught to draw their own conclusions after being presented with multiple perspectives of an issue.
Kyleen Carpenter | Pawtucket, RI
Teaching lessons about our country's historical origins is absolutely key in helping to empower and educate our children, not only our children of color, but our white children, as well. So many stories have not been heard, and so much of history has been told from only one perspective. Our country needs change, and this is one way to launch critically-important change.
DANI GRAF | MILWAUKEE, WI
The truth needs to be acknowledged and taught.
Melissa H Krause | Saint Louis, MO
History must be based in comprehensive fact, not just the cherry-picking of easy truths.
Justine Philyaw | Philadelphia, PA
Kevin Boyle | Hicksville, NY
Magaly Rivera | Framingham, MA
History should be taught accurately and not erased to paint a narrative that favors the dominant culture. It does more harm to keep people in the dark.
Paul Thebert | Detroit, MI
I will not lie to my students to maintain white privilege. Growth rarely happens in comfort.
Shawna McEvoy | Columbus, OH
Meredith Thomson , BCCA
kids deserve to learn the truth.Confronting past atrocities is also happening in schools north of the border, in Canada.
Elise Butler-Pinkham | New Orleans, LA
Michael Eckert | Prairie Grove, AR
This is a shameless attempt to shut down necessary discussions about racial issues infecting society today, not just in the past. This is a massive overreach from republican politicians who will do anything to ensure that America remains mired in the status quo.
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.