The pledge was signed by no teachers on March 12, the day before. It now has one pledge from Lemoore 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 Lemoore teacher wrote "Censorship in any form is wrong. I don’t even teach history, but I do teach context, and you can’t make anything relevant without an honest discussion of the context of the work and it’s relevance to today. Banning the discussion of systemic racism is in itself, systemic racism." 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 |
|---|---|
| Amy Wilkinson | Censorship in any form is wrong. I don’t even teach history, but I do teach context, and you can’t make anything relevant without an honest discussion of the context of the work and it’s relevance to today. Banning the discussion of systemic racism is in itself, systemic racism. |
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