Across the country, teachers are protesting laws that would severely restrict their lesson plans. Lawmakers in at least 15 states want to ban educators from discussing the full impact of racism on American history.
In response, the Zinn Education Project invited teachers to sign a pledge committing to “refuse to lie to young people about U.S. history and current events -- regardless of the law.” Thousands of educators nationwide who signed the pledge held “Day of Action” protests Saturday in 22 cities. In Milwaukee, a group protested at the site of an 1861 lynching of a Black man, dragged down the street and hanged by an angry white mob.
“The rush by states across the country to ban the teaching of critical race theory in schools isn’t really about a real threat,” wrote New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow. “Very few schools even teach C.R.T. as a core part of their curriculums, if at all.”
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In September 2020, former President Trump directed federal agencies to stop funding any training on 'critical race theory' or 'white privilege.' Since then, some Republicans have seized the academic theory as a flashpoint and fought to keep it out of primary education. Florida’s board of education voted to ban the concept from curriculums. Gov. Ron DeSantis argued, “The woke class wants to teach kids to hate each other.”
Coined in 1971 by Derrick Bell -- Harvard Law School’s first Black professor -- critical race theory is a method of analyzing power structures using race as a lens. It is now widely used to label any critique of a whitewashed narrative of U.S. history. Opponents argue it teaches children the country is inherently racist or evil.
“The attacks on critical race theory are clearly an attempt to discredit the literature millions of people sought out last year to understand how George Floyd wound up dead on a street corner,” said Columbia University professor Jelani Cobb in a tweet.
Educators who signed the pledge and protested say they simply want to teach the truth.
“We the undersigned educators will not be bullied. We will continue our commitment to develop critical thinking that supports students to better understand problems in our society and to develop collective solutions to those problems,” said the pledge. “We are for truth-telling and uplifting the power of organizing and solidarity that move us toward a more just society.”
At a Department of Education meeting in Florida Thursday, residents voiced their opposition to the state’s plans to ban teaching critical race theory. “Allow teachers to teach the truth!” yelled Ben Frazier, the founder of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville.
The National Teachers Association said it will defend any teachers who face legal charges because of the pledge. The union is also considering how to fight these bans in court.