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.
The Corona teacher wrote "Educators need to be able to teach truth based on most current information and research. We teach critical assessment and thinking about ideas and uncovering factual information and how our lenses of bias and perspective influence our vision and interpretation. Our students benefit from knowing the richness of history, uncovering lesser known voices and identifying perspectives that may not be surfaced in the documents that we have. We want them to wonder and question, dig deeper for more information, and feel empowered that they can discuss these ideas (in a safe space), make change and move forward. I do not feel like white washing history contributes to students' love of history, learning, questioning, researching, and thinking. We want them to be excited about discovering elements of history even when those discoveries present a complicated and conflicted past. We want them to be able to learn from the past to move forward into a future that they are helping to shift into a better community for all. We need to give them credit for being strong and considerate individuals. Part of how they continue becoming those people is to learn, consider, question, discover, research a wide variety of historical narratives that contribute to our shared experience." when pledging to teach Critical Race Theory.
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 |
|---|---|
| Katherine Olshewsky | Educators need to be able to teach truth based on most current information and research. We teach critical assessment and thinking about ideas and uncovering factual information and how our lenses of bias and perspective influence our vision and interpretation. Our students benefit from knowing the richness of history, uncovering lesser known voices and identifying perspectives that may not be surfaced in the documents that we have. We want them to wonder and question, dig deeper for more information, and feel empowered that they can discuss these ideas (in a safe space), make change and move forward. I do not feel like white washing history contributes to students' love of history, learning, questioning, researching, and thinking. We want them to be excited about discovering elements of history even when those discoveries present a complicated and conflicted past. We want them to be able to learn from the past to move forward into a future that they are helping to shift into a better community for all. We need to give them credit for being strong and considerate individuals. Part of how they continue becoming those people is to learn, consider, question, discover, research a wide variety of historical narratives that contribute to our shared experience. |
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