The pledge was signed by no teachers on April 19, the day before. It now has four pledges from Fort Worth 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 Fort Worth teachers included, "Why would we want children to learn anything less than the truth? Isn't history so much more exciting when all the confusing and contentious details show how the past wasn't simpler and actions then still resonate today? Isn't it important for us to understand that the victors weren't always right, for each segment of the population see their ancestor's real part in the history of the country, that real people were involved, not just blanketed stereotypical generalizations of an ideal, that the narrative needs to be viewed from different perspectives, not just from one side, trying to rationalize and justify heinous acts in the past? Why do history if we aren't going to be allowed to learn from the past so that we can choose to do better in the future?" and "It is IMPOSSIBLE to teach a song like "Follow the Drinking Gourd" without explaining why it's a code song or why it needed to be in code.The smart students will NOT accept 'have your parents ask your legislators' as an educated answer".
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 |
|---|---|
| Anne Wunneburger | Students deserve a representative history and public educators should honor that. |
| Carol July | It is IMPOSSIBLE to teach a song like "Follow the Drinking Gourd" without explaining why it's a code song or why it needed to be in code.The smart students will NOT accept 'have your parents ask your legislators' as an educated answer. |
| Claudia Adame | No comment |
| Kathleen Voormolen | Why would we want children to learn anything less than the truth? Isn't history so much more exciting when all the confusing and contentious details show how the past wasn't simpler and actions then still resonate today? Isn't it important for us to understand that the victors weren't always right, for each segment of the population see their ancestor's real part in the history of the country, that real people were involved, not just blanketed stereotypical generalizations of an ideal, that the narrative needs to be viewed from different perspectives, not just from one side, trying to rationalize and justify heinous acts in the past? Why do history if we aren't going to be allowed to learn from the past so that we can choose to do better in the future? |
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