No new teachers sign the pledge the week before. It now has 54 pledges from Denver teachers by the end of the week ending Jan. 15.
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 Denver teachers included “telling the truth does not make us weak. Telling the truth is how we learn from our mistakes. Telling the truth, the real truth, IS what makes America so awesome. It is our obligation to ensure that the entire story of history makes it to all children, not just the parts that people feel comfortable with. The United States is an extraordinary adventure because we have grown and changed and learned, and the only way we've done that is by speaking honestly about the past. I'm proud to be an American because the America I know doesn't run from a challenge, we face it, even when that challenge is our own history.” and “The political theater of just telling the truth has got to stop. History is hard. History is unfair. We can at least learn what happened and how it relates to today, that should not be politicized.”.
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 |
|---|---|
| Maya Thieme | I cannot lie to my students who look to me as a trusted adult |
| Randi Dietz | Supressing true history is dangerous to everyone |
| Amanda Cameron | “no comment” |
| Eliza Eaton-Stern | My students of color deserve not to be lied to about their own lived experiences. My white students deserve me treating them like they aren’t too fragile to hear about things our ancestors did. And all my students deserve my unflinching honesty about the world we live in and the past that led us here. |
| Elizabeth Winslow | Racism is wrong. Truth telling is about Justice, truth telling is about modeling right action as an educator, and finally, truth telling is about me! |
| Staci Dugan | “no comment” |
| Alex Ryckman | “no comment” |
| Tina Valtierra | I am committed to preparing fierce culturally sustaining educators who foster liberatory spaces. Moreover, I am committed to the many P-12 educators I partner with who are dedicated to social justice. |
| Marji Karish | we cannot reach our full potential without understanding our past. |
| Carla Cariño | Truth is empowerment. |
| Meghan Jordan | My students have the power to change the world; it is my job to help them construct their own understanding of the forces that shape that world. I will guide them in answering their own questions based on critical inquiry and research, and I will never stand between them and full understanding. |
| Megan Taylor | “no comment” |
| Kathryn Young | The political theater of just telling the truth has got to stop. History is hard. History is unfair. We can at least learn what happened and how it relates to today, that should not be politicized. |
| Richard Woodruff | Truth matters. |
| Jessica Wainman | It is our duty as educators to tell our students the truth. |
| Jessica Shim | “no comment” |
| Patrick Kelsall | You can’t be neutral on a moving train |
| Kelly Morin | “no comment” |
| Katherine Novinski | “no comment” |
| Anne Anzalone | “no comment” |
| Bobbe Hultin | I want to share the unbiassed true history of our country. |
| Shannon McQuillen | It is imperative that students understand the full extent of American history and the obligation we have to those that came before us. We must set the example that owning up to the bad (and working to fix it) is far more valiant than owning up to the good. |
| Lindsay Brown | My students deserve the right to learn the truth and to make up their own minds about what to do with it. |
| Betsy Tribble | “no comment” |
| Michelle Sánchez | “no comment” |
| Jennifer Monson | “no comment” |
| Ambria Reed | My students deserve to examine the complicated history of our country, warts and all. |
| Michael Rollolazo | I am dedicated to fighting willful ignorance one student at a time. |
| Jennifer Courtney-Keyse | ALL of my students should be taught THE TRUTH! |
| Jessica Wainman | I will never lie to my students, knowingly. I will do all that I can to ensure that they know the truth: that white supremacy is in the air and we need to fight against it. |
| Mark Sass | I have a professional and ethical responsibility to the profession and society to ensure students understand where they come from and where we can go. |
| Becky Martinez | “no comment” |
| Caitlin Ross | Students deserve to understand the origins of our nation’s current dilemmas - and that means teaching some ugly truths in order to prepare our students to help solve them. |
| Erin Anderson | “no comment” |
| Briana Gonzales | “no comment” |
| Venessa Valdez | I believe the truth must be told. Our students, my children deserve the truth now. |
| Christian Holmes | The deep inequalities in our country cannot be addressed by hiding the truth. |
| Jessica Perry | “no comment” |
| Cj Hendrickson | How can we make the US better if we don't/ can't/ aren't allowed to speak the truth of the past? Whitewashed history is a lie, told from one perspective only: the white victors. There were millions living here before the Europeans showed up who committed genocide, enslaved people of color, and oppressed women. Germany has admitted to its past, so why can't we? |
| Marc-Paul Johnsen | We cannot compartmentalize the history of the United States to make it more palatable. Our country is defined as much by racism, slavery, and genocide as it is by notions of justice, liberty, and equality. This fragile experiment in democracy hinges upon full and open discourse. To limit that discourse is to embrace ignorant authoritarianism and jeopardize the gains of a society constantly striving for justice. |
| Daniel Lopez | The truth matters. |
| Abraham Ornelas-Palacios | “no comment” |
| Raven Medrano | We cannot move forward as a community if students don’t even get to learn about what really happened in the past/what’s happening in the present. Students deserve the truth. |
| Megan Taylor | Truth seeing is the purpose of history. Without opening or story and being accountable to it, there can be no healing. |
| Molly Ewing | telling the truth does not make us weak. Telling the truth is how we learn from our mistakes. Telling the truth, the real truth, IS what makes America so awesome. It is our obligation to ensure that the entire story of history makes it to all children, not just the parts that people feel comfortable with. The United States is an extraordinary adventure because we have grown and changed and learned, and the only way we've done that is by speaking honestly about the past. I'm proud to be an American because the America I know doesn't run from a challenge, we face it, even when that challenge is our own history. |
| Douglas Moehle | History has been written and experienced in multiple ways by multiple groups and obviously it is important that this diversity is reflected in the education our students receive as well. As our nation leans toward polarization, it is important to share with students our common humanity and ensure that ALL voices are represented in future narratives. |
| Maya Thieme | i can’t teach my students a lie when they are looking to me and others to tell the truth. what good does this lie for them? what does it prepare them for? history may be ugly, be we learn from our past. we will learn nothing if we hide from history. |
| Lauren Snella | “no comment” |
| Ilyanna Kreske | History is messy and complex and, yes, sometimes ugly. That is exactly why we need to revisit the curriculum regularly. If we as a society intend to improve ourselves, we must first honestly examine our past. Only then can we look to better ourselves. |
| Erin Rolf | I will not be complacent. |
| Lisa Hellmann | I believe in teaching truth. |
| Tyrone Yarbrough | I believe in academic and intellectual freedom for educators and those being educated. Education should provide students the opportunity to think critically and give them the tools and the space to develop the skills to do so. Most importantly, the critical study of race in the United States will provide a counter to the traditional use of a whitewashed history to socialize its citizens into accepting what is unacceptable. |
| Carol Hunter | "If children of color are old enough to experience racism, white children can learn about it." It's the responsibility of every person to know the complete and inclusive history of the U.S. Educators (administrators, state and local board members, teachers, staff, other adults) who choose to ignore or selectively present our history are guilty of malpractice. |
| Victoria Tubbs | “no comment” |
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