The pledge was signed by no teachers on Dec. 24, the day before. It now has four pledges from Liverpool 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 Liverpool teachers included, "If history makes you comfortable, are you really teaching history?" and "all of my students deserve to be represented in the history of our country. They deserve to have role models of persistence, determination and success. We do not learn from knowing one side of anything. We learn from mistakes. We learn from struggle. We learn from differences. We as teachers, as citizens, as humans are called to do better. We cannot do better by ignoring the history of half the population. We owe it to our students, our neighbors and our country to do everything in our power to ensure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity".
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 |
|---|---|
| Amanda Harris | No comment |
| Andrea Reynolds | If history makes you comfortable, are you really teaching history? |
| Jessica Taylor | No comment |
| Martha Lawson | all of my students deserve to be represented in the history of our country. They deserve to have role models of persistence, determination and success. We do not learn from knowing one side of anything. We learn from mistakes. We learn from struggle. We learn from differences. We as teachers, as citizens, as humans are called to do better. We cannot do better by ignoring the history of half the population. We owe it to our students, our neighbors and our country to do everything in our power to ensure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. |
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