Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Emily Simpson | Philadelphia, PA
Jennifer Willard | Yarmouth, ME
We must teach the truth. How can anyone understand the challenges of today unless they understand the causes, the bed of fire laid down in history. It is time to explain and examine the frustration and anger that has led us here. It is past time.
Hanin Burnham | Atlanta, GA
Phyllis D.K. Hildreth JD | Nashville, TN
Freedom and justice for all require truth, restoration, reparation, then reconciliation. Teaching complete, if contested, histories of social systems and civic governance is an indispensable predicate to shared and lasting peace in Beloved Community.—pdkh 12 June 2021 #TeachTruth
Erin Haley | West Chester, PA
The manipulation of what CRT is has created a hysterical reaction that undermines the reality that CRT is higher-concept learning at the university level; not taught at primary or secondary levels. As a result, parents and administrators have become equally hysterical and candid in their desire to whitewash history and make it ‘pretty’ rather than truthful.
Lea Kelly | Phoenixville, PA
Stacey Ditlevson | Euclid, OH
I am committed to teaching young people to think critically about the past and the present to create a better future.
Kandice Nelson | Scottsdale, AZ
Our students deserve the truth. It's past time whitewashed history left classrooms forever.
Abby Hood | Portsmouth, NH
Lucia Reyes | Lancaster, CA
Our kids deserve the truth
Julie Antupit Antupit | San Mateo, CA
I feel it's so important to teach children the whole truth about our history and to teach them critical thinking skills to keep learning throughout their lives!
heather may | Rosenberg, TX
Kari Lindstrom | Portland, OR
there is a difference between opinion and fact and as a teacher it is my job to teach the facts the best that I can. I was not taught the facts and have had to relearn so much over the years. We can only get better, do better and be better when we know what happened in the past so we don't repeat or continue racist actions and beliefs.
Geralyn Leannah | Sheboygan, WI
Lisa Bohórquez | San Francisco, CA
We have an obligation to our students and families to teach the truth
Mary Diamond | Auburn, AL
the truth about history matters!
Marisa Oste | Pico Rivera, CA
Constance Thayer | Washington, DC
My students deserve a more just world, which can only start by ensuring the truth is known.
Vanessa Small | Monroe, LA
The Louisiana resource book for 7th grade social studies begins in 1754 (after the French and Indian War) through Reconstruction (including Wade Davis). There is a small picture of Crispus Attucks with a caption under it. After that through the Industrial Revolution, there is not mention of African Americans. When they talk about it, there is a PARAGRAPH. We are supposed to do outside readings of four American American authors' excerpts. Some of them are really hard. There is not mention of African Americans during the Civil War other than mentioning some fought for the Union. There's no mention of African Americans, aside from mentioning them as a group in a few sentences. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!! I bring in outside things and stories for the students to understand it.
Phillip Edmonds | Madison, WI
This is proposed legislation is fear based and promotes deception to gain political strength.
Jessica Jones | Doylestown, PA
All voices in our history need to be heard.
Rebecca Meyer | New York, NY
Kayla Gulbranson | Portland, OR
The truth is important; and if I expect my children to tell the truth, then so should we.
Runa Zaman | Chicago, IL
Stephanie Caesar | Houston, TX
Those who forget the last are doomed to repeat it.
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.