The pledge was signed by four teachers the month before. It now has four pledges from Portsmouth teachers by June.
They are 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.
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. Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee have passed legislation banning discussions about the US being inherently racist.
Other states, such as Montana and Georgia, have denounced the teachings and are discussing a ban on critical race theory teachings.
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 |
|---|---|
| Yussra Ebrahim | Our failure to reckon with the injustices of our past and our tendency to teach racism like it's a thing of the past, or not teach it at all, is what has kept racism alive and thriving in our society today and has kept so many well-meaning, compassionate, intelligent people ignorant of the minority experience and ignorant of how propaganda is deeply rooted into our political and social systems and takes different forms and shapes our thinking; education is one of our best tools against hatred and the different damaging ways in which hatred manifests. |
| Abby Hood | “no comment” |
| Mary Vogt | Sick of the government punishing people for telling the truth. |
| Mika Court | Teaching and learning about systemic racism and sexism, and (more importantly) regenerative and healing alternatives have been my focus since 1989 when I graduated from high school |
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