The pledge was signed by no teachers on March 12, the day before. It now has 15 pledges from Kalamazoo teachers.
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 Kalamazoo teachers included, "The truth you don't want to teach is the history of my people and our youth deserve to know the truth" 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. Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas have passed legislation banning discussions about the US being inherently racist.
Other states, such as Montana and South Dakota, have denounced the teachings without passing specific legislation.
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 | Thoughts on Critical Race Theory |
|---|---|
| Aj Householder | We can't learn from the past if we erase chunks of it from curriculum. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Dawn Kahler | My children and all humans deserve to know the truth of who we are. |
| Don Cooney | No comment |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Kellen Deau | No comment |
| Melissa James | The truth always matters. |
| 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. |
| Rick Searing | No comment |
| 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. |
| Whitney Weiner | Education needs to be unbiased and based on factual, realistic history |
| Yvonne Unrau | It's essential to teach from facts and to support meaningful conversation about difficulty topics to support connection and shared humanity. |
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