Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Shaktari Belew | Ashland, OR
We cannot learn from our mistakes, as a species, if we refuse to study and learn our history from multiple points-of-view, not just that of the "winner/oppressor" but ALL who are impacted by our decisions, including other species.
Anna Scarpino | Portland, OR
I don't want the people who died fighting for equality to have died in vain.
Valencia Wilson | Cedar Grove, NC
James Dyer | Seattle, WA
History matters. These bills are designed to whitewash the truth, and help maintain the white supremacist power structure that exists. Knowledge is power, and without understanding what happened, or why it happened, that racist power structure won't be questioned, and therefore, can't be toppled. And it needs to be toppled to create a more equitable society.
Paul Dane
The truth must be discussed. We can not move forward, we can not grow until brokenness is acknowledged. Growth mindset means mistakes can help us grow. We can not grow if we can't acknowledge out mistakes.
Esther Oey | Canton, NY
The truth matters. I see and experience the sexism, racism, classism and other forms of this oppressive system every day and see it in our schools whenever kids are bullied and harassed. To turn that around, the rest of society has to acknowledge that they are based on systems of oppression and change it. The first step is seeing it for what it is and educating ourselves about it.
Brian Lynch | Chicago, IL
we don't have the right to forget history because it makes us feel bad
Melinda Alcosser | Branford, CT
It is essential that humans find away to hear ALL aspects of truth and to know humanity will only thrive with ALL parts of the whole.
Terrence Ross | New York, NY
I believe that the truth does set us free.
Michael Fournier | Southwest Harbor, ME
I believe that we must expose young people to the histories of all people. We must also center our teaching on these marginalized perspectives because through acknowledgement we can begin the healing process.
Joanne Masseno | Seattle, WA
Omitting the truth when teaching is spreading propaganda, not education.
Janet Aquino-Dantona | Chaska, MN
I have a moral responsibility to teach the truth. The United States has a lot of blood on her hands, and we all need to own up to our historical truths. Only then can we be called a great nation. Freedom, equality, equity, is for ALL Americans, and not just the privileged.
Shashray McCormack | Louisville, KY
Im giving myself, Permission to be BRILLIANT be speaking truth to power!
Kelly Rodgers | Alpharetta, GA
Students will never understand the America they live in today if they don't understand what we have been in the past. They will never be prepared to be fully participating citizens who can see truth and recognize lies and therefore preserve, protect and defend democracy as the bedrock of American society.
Sedona Hill | Richmond, CA
Vikki Reid | La Grange, IL
Marie Keith | Springfield, MA
I have been teaching Social Justice at my school for five years now. I believe that our students have the right to learn about the truth. The point of teaching is to teach our students to think for themselves using critical thinking.
Karissa Stotts | Blaine, MN
Karen Hawkes | Phoenix, AZ
The thought of censoring the truth of our history in this country at this time in our nation is horrifying. I will not be silenced by frightened white- supremist. We cannot heal and move forward without knowing and understanding the roots of our institutionalized racism.
Krista Dalessandro | Philadelphia, PA
My students deserve the truth about this nation's history, and no less.
Emily Rutter | Indianapolis, IN
Areli Gomez | Milwaukee, WI
history has affects on the present day. It is important to teach about the past and how it affects our world today. This will create more understanding for all people.
laura valent | Portland, OR
our students of color deserve to be represented and the truth to be told
George Cassutto Cassutto | Hamilton, VA
To honor my parents who were Holocaust survivors. I teach to increase understanding between people, but must teach truth to do it. Virginia wants me to whitewash issues of race in my curriculum.
Michael Berger | Boston, MA
Truth matters. We cannot understand today's inequalities without knowing what got us to our current state of systemic racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia. We white people have continually used violence and systems of oppression to maintain our power. If we want our country to improve, we have to face our sins and listen to and uplift all the voices we oppress.
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.