Teachers rally against laws to limit classroom discussions about racism

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As state lawmakers continue to introduce legislation that would limit how schools can teach racism and sexism, some teachers are pushing back and speaking out.

Over the past weekend, educators from over 50 cities hosted in-person and virtual events pledging to teach the truth “in other words, to continue to teach oppression and injustice in the face of new laws. who, according to them, try to stifle this kind of discussion.

These gatherings and trainings are an initiative of the Zinn Education Project, a resource for teachers coordinated by the non-profit organizations Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change. The group offers free classes and materials aligned with historian Howard Zinns’ approach to teaching history, highlighting the perspectives of people whose stories have been marginalized or ignored in mainstream narratives.

Teachers who use this approach fear that their work may be threatened by the recent decline in classroom discussions of historical and current racism. In the past year, 27 states have introduced bills or taken other steps that would restrict how teachers can discuss race. Twelve states have enacted bans on such classroom discussions, whether through legislation or other means.

The laws are meant to discourage teachers from bringing race or gender to the fore in conversations about power and oppression. And they target the kinds of diversity, equity, and inclusion training that many schools adopted amid last spring’s protests against police brutality, following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020.

Over 6,500 educators have signed Zinn Education Projects’ pledge to teach the truth in response to these laws. We, the undersigned educators, will not be intimidated. We will continue our commitment to developing critical thinking that helps students better understand the problems in our society and to develop collective solutions to these problems, the commitment says.

While around 50 public actions are listed on the group’s website, the Zinn Education Project reported that educators from more than 115 cities have signed up to host events. This is the second national Teach Truth event coordinated by the Zinn Education Project; the first took place in June.

In Kansas City, Missouri, around 100 educators, students, parents and community members marched through the city’s historic jazz district on Saturday to the Black Archives of Mid-America, said Michael Rebne, professor of physics and engineering in Kansas City. , Kansas Public Schools and one of the event organizers. The event was organized by a group of racial justice organizations in the city.

When the walkers arrived at the Black Archives, they took tours and learned about the city’s Black history, a common theme at events in other cities, which also took place in spaces historically or culturally. important.

It was really motivating and really inspiring, and I think it gave people the courage we need, said Rebne. Neither Missouri nor Kansas passed laws regarding the classroom discussion of racism, although Republican lawmakers in Missouri continued to pressure the state to ban critical race theory in schools. K-12 schools.

Rebne, a physics and engineering professor, said laws in other states may act as a deterrent beyond social studies classrooms. He fears that teachers will be turned away for trying to spotlight black scientists or for teaching that the roots of modern physics and mathematics lie in the Mayan civilization.

I think the intention is to scare educators, to stir up fury in white communities, he said of the laws.

Fears of backlash and COVID have affected some gatherings

Other events drew smaller crowds, in part due to COVID-19. In Houston, Nelva Williamson canceled plans for an in-person rally at the Buffalo Soldier National Museum, due to concerns from museum staff and attendees about the spread of the coronavirus.

Instead, Williamson, a high school social studies teacher, took her son to a local museum in her town of Richmond, Texas, to learn about the African American history of Fort Bend County. , by joining other educators who have posted their solo trips and actions on social media.

In other areas, organizers say, the numbers were smaller because some educators feared showing public opposition to the new legislation.

Some teachers who signed the Zinn Education Projects pledge have already seen censorship from their communities after the Daily Wire, a right-wing news site, published the names of teachers who signed the pledge in June.

Teachers who are in wealthy white school districts where parents wield a lot of privilege and power, they feel an incredible amount of scrutiny and fear, said Amelia Wheeler, a social science doctoral student at the University of Georgia and a of the organizers of last Friday’s Teach Truth rally in Athens, Ga. Wheeler previously taught social studies in secondary school in Athens.

About 50 people, including middle and high school teachers, attended the event, Wheeler said. They gathered in a student dormitory on the University of Georgia campus with a troubled history. To make room for these dormitories, [the city displaced] a thriving black community called Linnentown. Members of the community saw their property seized as part of an urban renewal program, Wheeler said.

At the rally, community activists spoke about what it was like to live in Linntown.

The day ended with new plans for more education on the city’s past: a social studies teacher plans to start preparing for classes on Linnentown, and the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement, an organization Social Justice nonprofit plans to start hosting Teach Truth Thursdays.

Yet, said Wheeler, teachers in Athens generally felt free to emphasize black history. Schools in the city cater primarily to students of color, and Wheeler said his teacher friends haven’t heard much from their administration about the Georgia State Board of Education’s new resolution against the courses that indoctrinate students or promote one race or gender over another.

There is a feeling that this [state board] the resolution will not be enforced by the local school bureaucracy, Wheeler said.

It’s a different story in the neighboring predominantly white suburban neighborhoods, where some of Wheelers’ other friends work. They were told explicitly, if it’s not within the standards, don’t talk about it, she said.

Before the rally, Wheeler said, some teachers told him they supported the cause but could not show up for fear they would be featured on the local news and their school administration would see them. Right now, they feel like there’s really no possibility for them, Wheeler said.

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