Zoom Workshop: Responding to Attacks on Critical Race Theory and DEI, 10AM until Noon
To Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/responding-to-attacks-on-critical-race-theory-and-dei-tickets-643843722907
Participants will hear Francesca López, Alan Singer, and Jeremy Young discuss Critical Race Theory and DEI as part of First Amendment Unscripted, an online speaker series sponsored by the First Amendment Museum in Augusta, Maine. Following the video, participants discuss strategies for responding to attacks on Critical Race Theory and DEI. Discussion leaders are Alan Singer, Adeola Tella-Williams, and Pablo Muriel.
For the past two summers, teachers rallied across the country at historic sites to speak out against anti-history education bills and to make public their pledge to teach the truth. The teacher-led rallies received national media attention, providing a valuable counter narrative to the oversized coverage of the well-funded anti-CRT movement. Once again, we invite educators, students, parents, and community members to rally across the country and pledge to #TeachTruth and defend LGBTQ+ rights on June 10, 2023. The situation is urgent.
Lawmakers in at least 44 states have introduced legislation or pursued other measures that attempt to require educators to lie to students about the role of racism, sexism, heterosexism, transphobia, and other forms of oppression throughout U.S. history. These laws and restrictions have been imposed in at least 18 states. The Right has declared war on teaching the truth about structural racism and sexism and on LGBTQ+ youth. Books by Black, Indigenous, authors of color, and LGBTQ+ writers are increasingly being banned.
In Florida, Gov. DeSantis’s so-called “Parental Rights in Education” bill — better known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill — prohibits classroom instruction related to gay, lesbian, or transgender issues, and sexuality or gender identity more broadly. Florida is one of six states that censor discussions of LGBTQ+ people or issues in school, and one of eighteen that bans transgender students from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity. While claiming to “protect” young people, the right-wing legislators block any efforts to address gun violence (the leading cause of death for young people) and the existential threat of climate change.
This is a national call. Although bills and budget resolutions are being proposed (and in some cases passed) in specific states, the threat to teaching — and the need for solidarity — is everywhere. People wo;; participate from all over the United States. Plan a virtual event or gathering at a historic site. From our freedom to vote to our children’s freedom to learn, to everyone’s freedom from gun violence, certain politicians want to overturn the will of the people and block the policies we need for our students, families, and communities to thrive. By coming together, we can rewrite the rules to ensure safe, affirming, and welcoming schools and the freedom to learn for our children — across race, place, and gender identities — no exceptions.
To learn more about Teach the Truth Action Day
https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/teach-truth-day-of-action-june-10-2023/
Full list of Teach the Truth events
https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/teach-truth-days-of-action-sites-2023/
Full list of sponsoring organizations
https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/teach-truth-day-of-action-june-10-2023/#coordinators
BIOS
Dr. Francesca López is the Waterbury Chair in Equity Pedagogy in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Penn State University. She began her career in education as a bilingual (Spanish/English) elementary teacher, and later as a high school counselor, in El Paso, Texas. Her research has been funded by the American Educational Research Association Grants Program, the Division 15 American Psychological Association Early Career Award, the National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Science Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation, and other foundations. López is a co-editor of the National Education Policy Center publications and co-editor of the Review of Educational Research, and is a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and the National Education Policy Center.
Alan Singer is a professor of Teaching, Literacy and Leadership and the director for social studies education programs. Dr. Singer is a former New York City high school social studies teacher and is editor of Social Science Docket, a joint publication of the New York and New Jersey Councils for the Social Studies. He is the author of Teaching Global History (Routledge, 2011), New York and Slavery: Time to Teach the Truth (SUNY Press, Excelsior Editions, 2008), Social Studies for Secondary Schools (Routledge, 3rd edition, 2008), and editor of a 268-page secondary school curriculum guide, New York and Slavery: Complicity and Resistance. In 2011, the Long Island Conference for the Social Studies awarded Dr. Singer the Mark Rothman Teacher Mentoring Award, for his commitment to students and continued excellence in education. He received his Masters and Doctoral degrees from Rutgers University and is a regular contributor to Daily Kos, New York Almanack, and History News Network.
Jeremy C. Young is the senior manager of free expression and education at PEN America. In this role, he advances PEN America’s advocacy for free expression in educational institutions, advocates against censorious legislation and politically-motivated efforts to ban books and curricular materials, and supports academic freedom in higher education and the freedom to read, learn, and teach in K-12 schools. Before coming to PEN America, Young served as the communications and marketing manager at the American Historical Association (AHA), the world’s largest professional association of historians, and directed the AHA’s Freedom to Learn Initiative combating legislative censorship in history classrooms. Previously, he was an assistant professor of history and director of the Institute of Politics and Public Affairs at Utah Tech University. Young holds a Ph.D. in U.S. history from Indiana University and is the author of The Age of Charisma: Leaders, Followers, and Emotions in American Society, 1870-1940 (Cambridge University Press, 2017). He was a 2021 New Leaders Council Fellow and a recipient of the Roger D. Bridges Distinguished Service Award from the Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. He serves on the board of directors of the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, a nonprofit that advocates for increased oversight of homeschooling.
