8 more Kalamazoo teachers sign Critical Race Theory pledge in week ending March 12

By Kalamazoo Times

Mar 18, 2022

Critical Race Theory will be taught by eight more teachers in Kalamazoo, according to an online pledge from the Zinn Education Project.

No new teachers sign the pledge the week before. It now has 15 pledges from Kalamazoo teachers by the end of the week ending March 12.

They’re one of the thousands of US teachers pledging to continue educating students about the controversial Critical Race Theory, which explains racism is embedded in US culture and politics.

Comments from new Kalamazoo teachers included “Education needs to be unbiased and based on factual, realistic history” and “We can't learn from the past if we erase chunks of it from curriculum.”.

Though the concept was first suggested in the late 70’s, it has recently exploded as a contentious issue between the American right and left in the last two years.

Many who signed the pledge are defying state bans on the teachings. Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee have passed legislation banning discussions about the US being inherently racist.

Other states, such as Montana and Georgia, have denounced the teachings and are discussing a ban on critical race theory teachings.

In an interview with The Washington Free Beacon, Ashley Varner of the Freedom Foundation accused the Zinn Education Project of providing “left-leaning propaganda to teachers.”

Teachers in Kalamazoo who’ve pledged to teach Critical Race Theory

Teachers	Thoughts on Critical Race Theory
Brianne Pitts	I believe in sharing the full story of our nation's heritage. As a motherscholar, teacher, and pre-service educator, I pledge that I will not hide the truth in my home or classroom.
Kara Applegate	Education is the backbone of our lives, we need education that is accurate and empowering. How we can change people is through education.
Yvonne Unrau	It's essential to teach from facts and to support meaningful conversation about difficulty topics to support connection and shared humanity.
Don Cooney	“no comment”
Melissa James	The truth always matters.
Kellen Deau	“no comment”
Michelle Wilson-Banks	Everyone deserves to know the TRUTH of the history of the United States and beyond. It only breeds "isms" and entitlement when facts are kept out.
Dawn Kahler	My children and all humans deserve to know the truth of who we are.
Rick Searing	“no comment”
Whitney Weiner	Education needs to be unbiased and based on factual, realistic history
Aj Householder	We can't learn from the past if we erase chunks of it from curriculum.
John Cosby	legislation like this would have our students believe that this nation fixed everything with the Civil War, and everything else with Martin Luther King, Jr., and that isn't true.
Takisha Johnson	The truth you don't want to teach is the history of my people and our youth deserve to know the truth.
Victoria Marcetti	It is my job to empower youth to do whatever is needed to create and support strong and healthy communities. None of us can do that without knowing our history. To deny our youth access to the truth is a fascist act.
Andrea Villarreal	I became a teacher to EDUCATE and true education includes the dirty, ugly parts too. Our students need to have honest conversations about their world in order to understand it and improve it.