WASHINGTON, June 26,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Educators and their allies at
more than 170 sites held events to raise awareness about the
threats to our democracy posed by book bans and anti-history
education laws. The events included pop-up Teach Truth displays,
banned book swaps, teach-ins, history tours, rallies, and more.
The actions came as state lawmakers are doubling down on bills
and other measures to ban school curricula that include information
about the role of racism, sexism, heterosexism, and other forms of
oppression in U.S. history.
"Astoundingly, today, almost half of all children in the public
schools are in a jurisdiction that has passed a law or policy that
bans honest education about race, about gender, about sexuality,"
said Jesse Hagopian, a high school
teacher in Washington state, a
Rethinking Schools editor, and co-editor of Teaching for
Black Lives. "This 4th Annual Day of Action is a grassroots
effort to fight these laws and advocate for honest education that
empowers students to create a more just society."
The Teach Truth campaign is a commitment by educators to teach
truthfully about U.S. history, LGBTQ+ rights, the climate crisis,
and Palestine. These events began
on Saturday, June 8, the 3rd
anniversary of Teach Truth actions in June of 2021 and on the
four-year anniversary of the June
2020 uprising. In Cleveland, the local NAACP and Teachers Union
hosted an event that began with "Read Flash Mob" and included
remarks by a veteran of the Freedom Rides. In D.C., a steady stream
of people visited the #TeachTruth booth at the Capital Pride
Festival. Teachers said they appreciated the support and everyone
else expressed surprise at the extent of the book bans. They
promised to keep this issue front and center in upcoming local and
national elections. There were actions in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Goochland, Virginia; Kansas City, Kansas; Miami, Florida; New
Orleans, Louisiana; and many more cities in June, with more
continuing throughout the summer.
The Teach Truth campaign is organized by the Zinn Education
Project (coordinated by Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change)
and is cosponsored by 65 organizations, including the American
Library Association, the National Education Association, Learning
for Justice, The New Republic, Climate Generation, H.E.A.L.
Together, National Education Association, GLSEN, the African
American Policy Forum, and the SNCC Legacy Project.
Rocio Inclan, senior director of
the National Education Association Center for Racial and Social
Justice, explained that,
The Teach Truth Day of Action is part of a
campaign to reclaim public education as a common good. And then
transform it into something that it really was never designed to
be, and that is a racially and socially just and equitable system
that prepares all the students, every single one of us, to succeed
in a diverse and interdependent world.
Jocelyn Walker, vice-president of
communications for the African American Policy Forum (AAPF), said
that her organization supports the Teach Truth campaign due to the
critical times we are in:
The attacks on education started with
anti-critical race theory and stop-woke laws. But it doesn't end
there. Billionaire dark money funded the conservative
infrastructure that initiated attacks on critical race theory and
DEI at all levels of education, led by the Heritage Foundation.
These same funders are behind Project 2025, a 900-page,
conservative extremist mandate to roll back civil rights at all
levels of federal government. Why should we all be alarmed? These
are the same people looking to end all DEI efforts, target LGBTQ+
plus communities, overturn decades of civil rights laws, and create
obstacles to voting that disproportionately impacts Black and brown
folks.
There were over 4,000 instances of book bans in the first half
of this school year, according to PEN America's April 2024 report, Banned in the USA: Narrating the Crisis. Eleven individuals
are driving the overwhelming majority of book challenges according
to a Washington Post analysis. The majority of targeted
books are by Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, or LGBTQ+
authors.
Most sites hosted an interactive Teach Truth pop-up display to
introduce the public to the types of books being banned, the
broader impact of the chilling effect on a wide range of history
topics, and resources to get involved locally.
Organizers set up the display table at Pride festivals,
libraries, bookstores, Juneteenth celebrations, farmers' markets,
and other locations. Visitors to the display were asked to check
their voter registration status and encouraged to pay attention to
this year's elections. Some sites hosted banned book swaps,
community festivals, rallies, and history walking tours. A list
of selected locations follows this release. (The display
materials were funded and/or donated by the National Education
Association, American Library Association, Macmillan Children's
Publishing Group, Capstone Publishing, and Lush Cosmetics.)
Education doctoral student Greg
Wickenkamp explained why he organized an action in
Iowa City,
I was pushed out of teaching a few years ago
when politicians scapegoated my teaching practice and
administrators didn't stand up to them. Iowa's 2021 history censorship law
deliberately created such confusion and fear that my school
administrators were unable to say whether I could teach that
chattel slavery was wrong. Co-organizers and I want to make sure
educators and students in Iowa
know the public has their back. We love our students and teachers.
We support their right to be their full selves at work and to teach
and learn factual information, however much it might challenge
conservative partisan agendas.
Teach Truth events have and continue to take place in dozens of
cities, including the following:
Mobile, Ala.
Fairbanks, Alaska
Helena-West Helena, Ark.
San Diego & more cities,
Calif.
Hartford, Conn.
Washington, D.C.
Miami, Fla.
Atlanta & Stone Mountain, Ga.
East Hazel Crest, Ill.
Indianapolis, Ind.
Iowa City, Iowa
Kansas City & Topeka, Kan.
New Orleans, La.
Boston, Mass.
Annapolis, Md.
Detroit, Mich.
Red Wing, Minn.
Las Vegas, Nev.
Paterson, N.J.
Asheville & Cary, N.C.
Albuquerque, N.M.
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Cleveland & Kent, Ohio
Norman, Okla.
Philadelphia & Pittsburgh, Pa.
San Juan, P.R.
Providence, R.I.
Columbia & Greenville,
S.C.
Red Oak, Texas
Salt Lake City, Utah
Richmond, Va.
Bainbridge Island & Seattle, Wash.
And many more.
See press call highlights and recording and event
highlights.
Contact:
Deborah
Menkart
dmenkart@teachingforchange.org
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SOURCE Zinn Education Project