The pledge was signed by three teachers the week before. It now has 21 pledges from Kansas City teachers by the end of the week ending Aug. 21.
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 new Kansas City teachers included “I know that we all need to be liberated from a cultural of white supremacy that is physically, mentally, and emotionally dangerous and damaging to Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color and is deteriorating the souls of white people.” and “Our students deserve the truth.”.
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 |
|---|---|
| Kourtney Vincent-Woodbury | “no comment” |
| Janet Gordanza | The truth needs to be taught. We need to fight racism with racism. It’s the vaccine all kids should must be required to take. We are the woke supremacy! |
| Niki Scott | As a teacher, I will continue to teach history based in fact. Racism is a part of American History, as is slavery. To whitewash our history is to fail my students and I will do everything in my power to teach truth. |
| Lisa Gann | “no comment” |
| Mallory Hutchings-Tryon | “no comment” |
| Chelsea Dahlstrom | America can only heal our future when we face our past. |
| Angela Lea | all students should learn the truth. History, even hard history, needs to be taught to all. |
| Adriana Paez | We need to start teaching the whole truth about our country’s history and the systemic inequities that persist. |
| Diane Bosilevac | “no comment” |
| Jaime Ursic | I believe in multiple perspectives being shared and taught |
| Christina Dismang | To change the world, we have to have these difficult discussions and conversations in our classrooms. I will not dilute my curriculum on the whims of some representatives that have never taught in their life. American Exceptionalism has no place in the classroom. |
| Dustin Wiley | There is a NWO coming |
| Raymond Taddeo | I pledge to teach the truth. A pledge to teach a non-eurocentric viewpoint of history. |
| Lyndsey Stailey | “no comment” |
| Raymond Taddeo | I believe in teaching the truth. I believe that you can love your country and also reckon with its history; the good and the bad. I believe that students deserve to be able to know about the history and growth of their country. They deserve to imagine an even better future than the one we've always imagined for the next generation. Anything less than that is a disservice to the country. |
| Elyse Max | “no comment” |
| Ashley Swansonhoye | “no comment” |
| Hannah Duff | “no comment” |
| John Tramel | I know that we all need to be liberated from a cultural of white supremacy that is physically, mentally, and emotionally dangerous and damaging to Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color and is deteriorating the souls of white people. |
| Elizabeth Mounteer | Our students deserve the truth. |
| Amanda Campbell | Failure to teach all of our students an accurate history dooms us to continue the mistakes of the past, rather than to build and grow. |
Alerts Sign-up