The pledge was signed by no teachers on Jan. 18, the day before. It now has four pledges from Kennewick 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 Kennewick teachers included, "The truth matters" and "Because some local asshat has threatened a teacher in one of our neighboring school districts for signing this petition. This far-right BS needs to stop. We study history so that we could perhaps avoid the same mistakes in our time. This asshat proves that ignorance is dangerous and that the rest of us need to stand up against his crap. America is a great country but it would be greater if we could acknowledge that Indian removals, Chinese exclusions, Japanese internments, and slavery were bad things that have repercussions for all of us in our everyday life and that we need to acknowledge our faults in order to be an even better nation. Threatening people who want to tell the truth of history diminishes the nation; it doesn't make it greater".
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 |
|---|---|
| Daniel Bell | The truth matters. |
| Jason Rose | We have to be strong in the face of misinformation. |
| Richard Reuther | Because some local asshat has threatened a teacher in one of our neighboring school districts for signing this petition. This far-right BS needs to stop. We study history so that we could perhaps avoid the same mistakes in our time. This asshat proves that ignorance is dangerous and that the rest of us need to stand up against his crap. America is a great country but it would be greater if we could acknowledge that Indian removals, Chinese exclusions, Japanese internments, and slavery were bad things that have repercussions for all of us in our everyday life and that we need to acknowledge our faults in order to be an even better nation. Threatening people who want to tell the truth of history diminishes the nation; it doesn't make it greater. |
| Richard Reuther | These attacks on education in general and history teachers specifically must stop. Do you allow your children to lie to you? Do you lie to them? Then why not object when the curriculum lies to your kids? Why object when they are told the truth? As we used to say, "The truth will set you free. |
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