The pledge was signed by no teachers on Sept. 27, the day before. It now has 52 pledges from Austin 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 Austin teachers included, "I refuse to lie to young people" and "We cannot continue to rewrite our past so that we feel better about our collective hand in historical events. Doing so does not ameliorate the present; it denies our youth a complete education about societal and economic factors that shape their realities. We become complicit in affording them a narrow worldview. We are heirs to our forefather's ignorance and actions. Together we can either invest that inheritance in attrition and watch as it stagnates and rots us from within. Or we can diversify our portfolio and use those previously learned truths to help us invest in critical enlightenment wherein the rational is marked by freedom of not only self but thought".
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 in Austin who’ve pledged to teach Critical Race Theory
| Teachers | Thoughts on Critical Race Theory |
|---|---|
| Alina Pruitt | I'm a parent, I'm a teacher educator, and I'm an immigrant. Also, I'm compelled by Ida B. Wells and her notion that that a large part of what it means to move towards justice is to "shed the light of truth" on events of the past. |
| Amanda Moore | We cannot continue to rewrite our past so that we feel better about our collective hand in historical events. Doing so does not ameliorate the present; it denies our youth a complete education about societal and economic factors that shape their realities. We become complicit in affording them a narrow worldview. We are heirs to our forefather's ignorance and actions. Together we can either invest that inheritance in attrition and watch as it stagnates and rots us from within. Or we can diversify our portfolio and use those previously learned truths to help us invest in critical enlightenment wherein the rational is marked by freedom of not only self but thought. |
| Amber Watts | No comment |
| Amy Heath | No comment |
| Anne Lewis | The bills against teaching that are moving through the Texas legislature are horrifying. I believe in People's History. I stand in solidarity as a union person with Education Austin and their courageous stand for truth in education. My films have been useful in broadening curriculum -- Fast Food Woman for 11th grade economics in NC; more recently Emma Tenayuca and the 1938 San Antonio Pecan Shellers Strike (4-12) and Annie Mae Carpenter and the Uprising in Nacogdoches (8-12) for history, economics, and ethnic studies. |
| Annie Daly | No comment |
| Arielle Arizpe | No comment |
| Barbara Grant | No comment |
| Caitlin Sweetlamb | No comment |
| Cecelia Stewart | No comment |
| Christopher Winne | No comment |
| Dabney Rigby | Teaching CRT is a no brainer, and in no way more potentially harmful than carrying on without it. It is a long overdue reckoning, and it is what we OWE to current and future generations, as it will very likely begin a foundational awakening and restructuring of the realities of racism within the hearts of individuals, which, as James Baldwin and so many others taught us, is where it is needed the most in order to help steer this country and the world towards a more fair and equitable, as well as safe society. |
| Dale Fritch | No comment |
| Daniel Dawer | I refuse to lie to young people. |
| Deborah Way-Salinas | We are stronger and braver when we stand for truth together. |
| Eileen Wilson | No comment |
| Erin Green | No comment |
| Faye Holland | I want to be able to teach the truth. |
| Jeanne Goka | Education means Teaching the Truth. Truth matters. |
| Jennie Kim | We cannot learn from history if we do not know it. |
| Jessica Garcia | No comment |
| Joanna Batt | I am signing because not trusting our students to know and tackle complex history in all its honesty is not trusting a future where we can be better for it. People's lives, not to mention connected humanity, need and deserve that more equitable future. |
| Kathryn Digioia | No comment |
| Kelli Kirk | Our students deserve the truth, the deserve a peaceful world, they deserve equity. |
| Kerry Alexander | Our children deserve it. |
| Kristin Weigand | It is imperative that we teach our children with truth and integrity and not white-wash our history; it is part of who we are as a nation and it must be part of our collective education and dialogue. Our nation needs to come together to heal and teaching our children the truth about our past even when uncomfortable and inconvenient is part of the solution.This type of divisive legislation is reminiscent of Jim Crow laws and threatens to derail the process we have made in the past 50 years to ensure this great nation is equitable for all. I look to our political leaders to do the right thing and act with moral integrity. Voting against this legislature is doing just that. |
| Kyle Ryan | No comment |
| Lauren Ingber | Open and honest discussions about our country’s history are the first step in acknowledging and ending racism. We have the opportunity to affect change within our classrooms by presenting history from multiple, diverse perspectives. |
| Linda Lessner | I refuse to participate in the telling of half-truths to protect a white-centric America. We are more. |
| Lisa Brown | Student deserve to learn the truth about slavery and its impact on the economy in the colonies and after the United States was founded. Likewise, we must accurately represent the history of discrimination past and present so that we can work toward a more just and equitable nation. |
| Lisa Pilgrim | I did not work as hard as I've worked to become an educator to be bullied by legislators who don't know anything about education or students' needs. I entered this field to support the development of free thinkers and self-advocates. I'm not going to stop. |
| Lisa Smith | Education must be honest |
| Malin Lindelow | An open conversation about race is essential to the health of our democracy. |
| Mary Metcalf | No comment |
| Mary Metcalf | I will not lie to my students. I believe we have a moral and ethical responsibility to teach children the truth about our nation's racist history |
| Matt M. | No comment |
| Melissa Puga | No comment |
| Michael Vazquez | If we truly want an educated citizenry, we need to teach them true history, appropriate for each grade level. No state or school district should be able to opt out of teaching the reality of life experiences that large populations of the US have gone through. |
| Nancy Santucci | truth matters and history should not and cannot repeat. |
| Noah De Lissovoy | No comment |
| Rebecca Flores | It is imperative we teach our students revisionist history, and teach them the ways white supremacy manifests in our society. In order for us to have a more just and equitable society we must teach our students how to critically examine systems of power and to push back and be agents of change. |
| Richard Restaino | I never intended to become a propagandist for white supremacy and I am not about to start now. |
| Roberto German | I support programs and curriculum that dismantle White supremacy and teach the history or the various people groups in this country. |
| Shannon Haulotte | The truth must prevail. It is our responsibility to share both the good and bad, triumph and heartache of our shared history. |
| Tamra Snell | No comment |
| Taylor Raley | It is imperative to cultivate healthy racial identities in young learners that bear witness to our shared histories and acknowledge the foundation of white supremacy in our current political, social, and educational systems. I teach truth because I am a teacher. When I can no longer teach students what is true, I can no longer be a teacher. |
| Theresa Nguyen | students deserve to know the truth! |
| Trevor Anderson | No comment |
| Valarie Gold | It is my duty as a 1st year teacher to strive to be a culturally responsive educator. |
| Wallis Goodman | It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit.It’s the past we step into and how we repair it."--Amanda Gorman |
| Whitney Blankenship | I was taught a feel good version of American history in school and I remember the shock of learning about things like Japanese American Internment when I got to collage;I was taught a Eurocentric version of World History that did not address cultures outside of Europe, especially Africa;As a historian my job is to look at the documents and interpret those documents based on corroboration of evidence across sources from multiple perspectives to arrive at an interpretation. Real history is messy and makes us uncomfortable at times. But it is through those experiences that we learn and grow in our understanding of the world as a complicated place;After teaching about race, class and gender in U.S. history I watched my students grow angry that they were in the last years of the public education and no one had ever mentioned these topics;Students should learn the critical thinking skills that will allow them to be functioning members of society;Black Lives Matter; LGBTQIA+ Lives matter. Research has shown that students who do not see their history in school do not do as well as their peers.It is the right thing to do. |
| Zach Kent | My students deserve better. |
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