The pledge was signed by no teachers on Feb. 13, the day before. It now has one pledge from Centralia teacher.
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 Centralia teacher wrote "Not teaching all history and events that have been happening in the last few years only continues systemic racism. What I learned in history classes 40 years ago is not what happened in our history. I have learned so many historic events in the last two years on my journey to become a person who is anti racist. All people need to learn more than a few sentences about the systemic racism we have in the United States." 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 |
---|---|
Trasi Fugate | Not teaching all history and events that have been happening in the last few years only continues systemic racism. What I learned in history classes 40 years ago is not what happened in our history. I have learned so many historic events in the last two years on my journey to become a person who is anti racist. All people need to learn more than a few sentences about the systemic racism we have in the United States. |