This letter should be read in every high school history class this morning and reprinted everywhere. It is a stirring and sterling affirmation, in razor-sharp focus, of all that we are, what we are not, and all that we could be.
We are indeed stepping away from the abyss on Jan. 20, 2021.
Yesterday HRC sent out an email with a request.
"…
This letter should be read in every high school history class this morning and reprinted everywhere. It is a stirring and sterling affirmation, in razor-sharp focus, of all that we are, what we are not, and all that we could be.
We are indeed stepping away from the abyss on Jan. 20, 2021.
Yesterday HRC sent out an email with a request.
"If you have one or two favorite letters from this series, which are they? And if you have an idea of it, can you say why you liked them?"
Today's letter, hands down, is my favorite. My reasons I stated above.
The school district I work in has tied teachers hands to not talk about these current events or the inauguration. Today. But the high school current events teacher is a friend and I so love that she, and her also history teacher husband, are huge fans of Dr Richardson and read her work everyday. Their hards are tied today. But not on Wednesday or in lessons to come. Yes! This should be read by every student! Including adults that need to be schooled!
That has been going on for many years. Teachers who come to the attention of right-wing parents who listen to a steady diet of Limbaugh and FOX News often manage to get teachers reassigned to a different subject area in order to hold truth at bay.
Yah. I remember that my daughter in middle school, about 7 years ago, when the class was tasked with writing an essay on the evils of bullying, was forbidden to write about how incessantly gay students are victimized. No reason given, just the Kafka-esque reason, "Your topic is is inappropriate," nothing more. Location: Dekalb County, Georgia.
This has gone on for decades. In the 80s, and when I was a brand new teacher, a group of parents made my life hell by spreading around that I was teaching witchcraft. Through some Halloween stories out of a children’s magazine — that was in the school
Library, no less! I covered the present oak election that year, too, with debates, voting, etc. They analyzed everything I did to make sure I gave accurate information on both sides.
Fast forward to just a few years ago and I was doing an student observation in a high school current events class. Teacher is known Trump supporter. Classroom full of Hispanic youth and some migrant students and DACA. All with their heads hung while teacher praised Trump for whatever she was teaching. I reported it to admin who did nothing.
That's a nightmare, Tricia. Good for you for reporting to Admin. Would your teacher's union have a rep. that could have spoken with the teacher? I know since I retired, many states have now not permitted teacher unions. I taught in NJ and we had strong NEA unions for our local school district, our county and for the State of NJ. I can imagine the whole witch hunt thing must have been horrible for you as a beginning teacher. I'm so sorry you had to go through that.
We do have strong union. Yet there is also a strong Trump supporter presence within our teacher body if you can believe that. Stickers on trucks and cars in parking lot. It's unbelievable. And the community is poverty, majority hispanic, and parents who keep quiet about most things.
What a combination! This country has so much work cut out for us to overcome all of the lies and conspiracy theories. I'm sorry Tricia. One thing we can focus on and that is that Betsy D. is gone! (Leaving damage in her wake.)
Dare I say this is why students don't know anything about their country's history? Because telling the facts is considered subversive or is against someone's (parent, administrator) worldview?
No "dare" involved there, Kathleen. That has been the issue and about the same time, along came "No Child Left Behind" and teachers lost curriculum time to prepare students for the State mandated tests each and every March. It didn't take long for 8th grade students to reach us with a very deficient, anemic, information base. Not long before some of them decided it was smart to storm the Capitol building too. Reverse evolution.
It should have been called "No child left with a mind." Even on its shiny surface, it was a corrupt idea based on the premise that children would be better educated if teachers had to do more paperwork. Underneath, of course, it was a way to undermine public education.
What I describe was going on in 2004 and 2005. I taught English, and the Social Studies teacher on my team was reassigned the next year to a Science assignment in a different school. That's how long this has been going on. Those were the build up years of Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck and that type of talk radio.
Yes, Elaine. An Executive Order came down demanding that any discussion of racism, sexism, and oppression by white Americans in education--not only in Student Affairs programs but also in classrooms--be "limited" and that the "other side" (the supposed glories of white men, I presume) be added, and students are given leave to complain about instructors who talk about racism, etc. This was supposed to support the deranged administration's "1776 Project." It was a clear effort--just before the November election--to hamstring all of us who teach social justice, race history, etc. issues. It will be canceled by Biden but who knows when that will be able to happen with the sewer pipe flood?
Wow, this angers me. But probably shows my naïveté. Public education in this country is funded by taxes collected from property owners and some general taxes collected by the Feds. As a contributor through the property taxes levied on my home, my opinion is that it seems completely inappropriate that this direction (order) could be enacted without input by those directly affected. Meaning the school staff (administrators and unionized), students and their parents, and community members who provide financial support. I can see it more possibly in the private school setting, even parochial. But public school? Devos 😠
My children are grown and it has been a long time since I attended school board meetings, but perhaps I need to again.
Yes. From Trump--so can be rescinded. It got dumped on us in September. Although initially supposedly relating to "diversity training" for staff and students, it is interpreted by my university's lawyers to include classroom teaching as well. Here is the information we were given about what we are going to have to "clear" in order to teach:
"Additionally, upon further review of the EO, we are providing notice that any employee of the University planning to apply for federal grant funding for a purpose that includes (but is not limited to) the “promotion of divisive concepts” as defined within the EO (see below) should take care to review the parameters of the grant and any related contracts to ensure that these parameters have not been revised because of the EO or do not prohibit such promotion.
"Further, should faculty choose to discuss what might be a “divisive concept” (see below) within the classroom setting, the position of the faculty member as indicated through presentation and discussion must be communicated in a manner that is “objective” and “without endorsement.” This provision of the EO is currently in effect, and if violated, can be reported for investigation to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), possibly resulting in adverse action against the University, which may include loss of federal grant funding or student financial aid.
"Possible concepts that may be considered “divisive” under the EO:
*Implicit/unconscious bias
*Institutional/structural racism
*Critical race theory
*Privilege based on race/ethnicity or sex/gender
*Colorblindness/encouragement to be "color-blind"
*"Aspects and assumptions" related to race/ethnicity or sex/gender
*Confronting "whiteness" or "maleness"
*Oppression of others by members of a specific race/ethnicity or sex/gender
*Responsibility for actions committed in the past by members of a specific race/ethnicity or sex/gender
*Indicating the successes of a specific race/ethnicity or sex/gender may be related to their identity rather than hard work, perseverance, etc.
*Indicating the challenges faced by individuals of any specific racial/ethnic group or sex/gender are due to their race/ethnicity or sex/gender
*Ascribing character traits, values, moral and ethical codes, privileges, status, or beliefs to a race/ethnicity or sex/gender, or to an individual because of their race/ethnicity or sex/gender
*Assigning fault, blame, or bias to a race/ethnicity or sex/gender, or to members of a race/ethnicity or sex/gender, because of their race/ethnicity or sex/gender
*Any claim that, consciously or unconsciously, and by virtue of their race/ethnicity or sex/gender, members of any race/ethnicity are inherently racist or are inherently inclined to oppress others, or that members of a sex/gender are inherently sexist or inclined to oppress others"
My colleagues and I are effectively trying to ignore this but it isn't clear when the Biden Admin is going to get around to rescinding this over. In the meantime, colleges and universities can be accused of non-compliance and can be threatened with a loss of funding. In addition, this EO was greeted with glee by Republican legislatures, which want to enforce it.
Wow. And, at the university/college level, too, hamstringing the academic ‘elites’. This is where the silencing of free thought (let alone critical thinking) begins. I can only imagine the lengths you and your colleagues have to go the fly under the radar, Linda. We need to see that this EO is moved near the top of the stack and rescinded along with all the others
I have some good news for everyone to report (wow: GOOD news!). Included in the SEVENTEEN executive orders Biden plans to sign today is one rescinding this EO. Someone was paying attention. Thanks everyone for your outrage and your encouragement. It has been a very long 4 years. My hope is that the state leg doesn't try to make this a law in Missouri--they are a bunch of cynical twits but I am hoping they don't try to embed Trumpism into their own (neofacist) agenda.
This entire thread about restrictions placed on teachers with regard to teaching current events, civics and fact-based history is extraordinarily disconcerting - alarming, actually. I knew about some of this, but not all that is mentioned here. It is extremely important to pay attention to School board elections, but it often takes some effort to get accurate information about candidates’ policy positions and party affiliation. There seems to be a lot of effort that goes into hiding candidates’ platforms or, at a minimum, to obfuscate. I don’t have school age children anymore, so I have to actively seek out accurate information about candidates from friends and community members. It is worth the effort to do that research, though, because school boards not only impact the schools, but their influence extends to the wider community.
I agree. I offered two of my favourites but this one is up there with them! I told HCR that some of her letters I liked the most were where she told us she was choosing to rest, but offering a peaceful, hopeful photograph to keep us going forward.
I ask those here in the know about what can and cannot be taught in our schools, would/could there be a ban on teaching the Constitution document? For those students who ask, is there a ban on providing links, say, to Letters from an American, for them to pursue on their own?
For many years, by Federal law, every school that receives any federal funding is required to teach the Constitution every September 17. I can’t speak for other states, but Albuquerque schools had to document their efforts and the district had to report to the state. As an elementary school librarian, I was tasked with teaching the whole school during library class. I kept it simple during the primary grades, but by 5th grade I was listing and explaining the Bill of Rights (they had a hard time with the 3rd), as well as also outlining the responsibilities of citizenship. By 5th grade, these students were full of “I know my rights!”, but I appeared to be the first to point out responsibilities.
In general, even without state pressure to limit what history can be taught, teachers are hamstrung by lack of time to cover it. It’s different in wealthier schools, where students start kindergarten well-prepared. I taught in 100% free lunch schools, where toxic exposure and lack of time/parenting skills sent us too many students who didn’t recognize letters and numbers. There, the focus on test scores to avoid school punishment was so high, we lost too much instruction time to test prep, leaving little for science and history. When they got to middle school, those teachers had to cope with the absence of the knowledge they should have gained in elementary school, and it snowballed from there.
Yes! Agree today’s is at the top. My favorite line is about skin in the game. I’ve used that often in my career and now I love it even more — democracy is a skin in the game endeavor. Love it!
This letter should be read in every high school history class this morning and reprinted everywhere. It is a stirring and sterling affirmation, in razor-sharp focus, of all that we are, what we are not, and all that we could be.
We are indeed stepping away from the abyss on Jan. 20, 2021.
Yesterday HRC sent out an email with a request.
"If you have one or two favorite letters from this series, which are they? And if you have an idea of it, can you say why you liked them?"
Today's letter, hands down, is my favorite. My reasons I stated above.
Thank you again, Professor Richardson.
The school district I work in has tied teachers hands to not talk about these current events or the inauguration. Today. But the high school current events teacher is a friend and I so love that she, and her also history teacher husband, are huge fans of Dr Richardson and read her work everyday. Their hards are tied today. But not on Wednesday or in lessons to come. Yes! This should be read by every student! Including adults that need to be schooled!
That has been going on for many years. Teachers who come to the attention of right-wing parents who listen to a steady diet of Limbaugh and FOX News often manage to get teachers reassigned to a different subject area in order to hold truth at bay.
Yah. I remember that my daughter in middle school, about 7 years ago, when the class was tasked with writing an essay on the evils of bullying, was forbidden to write about how incessantly gay students are victimized. No reason given, just the Kafka-esque reason, "Your topic is is inappropriate," nothing more. Location: Dekalb County, Georgia.
Wow.
Wow, I had no idea!
Wow.
This has gone on for decades. In the 80s, and when I was a brand new teacher, a group of parents made my life hell by spreading around that I was teaching witchcraft. Through some Halloween stories out of a children’s magazine — that was in the school
Library, no less! I covered the present oak election that year, too, with debates, voting, etc. They analyzed everything I did to make sure I gave accurate information on both sides.
Fast forward to just a few years ago and I was doing an student observation in a high school current events class. Teacher is known Trump supporter. Classroom full of Hispanic youth and some migrant students and DACA. All with their heads hung while teacher praised Trump for whatever she was teaching. I reported it to admin who did nothing.
That's a nightmare, Tricia. Good for you for reporting to Admin. Would your teacher's union have a rep. that could have spoken with the teacher? I know since I retired, many states have now not permitted teacher unions. I taught in NJ and we had strong NEA unions for our local school district, our county and for the State of NJ. I can imagine the whole witch hunt thing must have been horrible for you as a beginning teacher. I'm so sorry you had to go through that.
We do have strong union. Yet there is also a strong Trump supporter presence within our teacher body if you can believe that. Stickers on trucks and cars in parking lot. It's unbelievable. And the community is poverty, majority hispanic, and parents who keep quiet about most things.
What a combination! This country has so much work cut out for us to overcome all of the lies and conspiracy theories. I'm sorry Tricia. One thing we can focus on and that is that Betsy D. is gone! (Leaving damage in her wake.)
Dare I say this is why students don't know anything about their country's history? Because telling the facts is considered subversive or is against someone's (parent, administrator) worldview?
No "dare" involved there, Kathleen. That has been the issue and about the same time, along came "No Child Left Behind" and teachers lost curriculum time to prepare students for the State mandated tests each and every March. It didn't take long for 8th grade students to reach us with a very deficient, anemic, information base. Not long before some of them decided it was smart to storm the Capitol building too. Reverse evolution.
It should have been called "No child left with a mind." Even on its shiny surface, it was a corrupt idea based on the premise that children would be better educated if teachers had to do more paperwork. Underneath, of course, it was a way to undermine public education.
We called it "No Teacher Left Standing." Totally agree, Joan.
This is horrible. The inauguration is a historic event (everyone of them are) and to not be able to talk about them is wrong.
Are you saying this administration has tied the educators hands in that way? Had it already gone that far?
What I describe was going on in 2004 and 2005. I taught English, and the Social Studies teacher on my team was reassigned the next year to a Science assignment in a different school. That's how long this has been going on. Those were the build up years of Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck and that type of talk radio.
Yes, Elaine. An Executive Order came down demanding that any discussion of racism, sexism, and oppression by white Americans in education--not only in Student Affairs programs but also in classrooms--be "limited" and that the "other side" (the supposed glories of white men, I presume) be added, and students are given leave to complain about instructors who talk about racism, etc. This was supposed to support the deranged administration's "1776 Project." It was a clear effort--just before the November election--to hamstring all of us who teach social justice, race history, etc. issues. It will be canceled by Biden but who knows when that will be able to happen with the sewer pipe flood?
Wow, this angers me. But probably shows my naïveté. Public education in this country is funded by taxes collected from property owners and some general taxes collected by the Feds. As a contributor through the property taxes levied on my home, my opinion is that it seems completely inappropriate that this direction (order) could be enacted without input by those directly affected. Meaning the school staff (administrators and unionized), students and their parents, and community members who provide financial support. I can see it more possibly in the private school setting, even parochial. But public school? Devos 😠
My children are grown and it has been a long time since I attended school board meetings, but perhaps I need to again.
Wait, WHAT??? An executive order from the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT????
Yes. From Trump--so can be rescinded. It got dumped on us in September. Although initially supposedly relating to "diversity training" for staff and students, it is interpreted by my university's lawyers to include classroom teaching as well. Here is the information we were given about what we are going to have to "clear" in order to teach:
"Additionally, upon further review of the EO, we are providing notice that any employee of the University planning to apply for federal grant funding for a purpose that includes (but is not limited to) the “promotion of divisive concepts” as defined within the EO (see below) should take care to review the parameters of the grant and any related contracts to ensure that these parameters have not been revised because of the EO or do not prohibit such promotion.
"Further, should faculty choose to discuss what might be a “divisive concept” (see below) within the classroom setting, the position of the faculty member as indicated through presentation and discussion must be communicated in a manner that is “objective” and “without endorsement.” This provision of the EO is currently in effect, and if violated, can be reported for investigation to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), possibly resulting in adverse action against the University, which may include loss of federal grant funding or student financial aid.
"Possible concepts that may be considered “divisive” under the EO:
*Implicit/unconscious bias
*Institutional/structural racism
*Critical race theory
*Privilege based on race/ethnicity or sex/gender
*Colorblindness/encouragement to be "color-blind"
*"Aspects and assumptions" related to race/ethnicity or sex/gender
*Confronting "whiteness" or "maleness"
*Oppression of others by members of a specific race/ethnicity or sex/gender
*Responsibility for actions committed in the past by members of a specific race/ethnicity or sex/gender
*Indicating the successes of a specific race/ethnicity or sex/gender may be related to their identity rather than hard work, perseverance, etc.
*Indicating the challenges faced by individuals of any specific racial/ethnic group or sex/gender are due to their race/ethnicity or sex/gender
*Ascribing character traits, values, moral and ethical codes, privileges, status, or beliefs to a race/ethnicity or sex/gender, or to an individual because of their race/ethnicity or sex/gender
*Assigning fault, blame, or bias to a race/ethnicity or sex/gender, or to members of a race/ethnicity or sex/gender, because of their race/ethnicity or sex/gender
*Any claim that, consciously or unconsciously, and by virtue of their race/ethnicity or sex/gender, members of any race/ethnicity are inherently racist or are inherently inclined to oppress others, or that members of a sex/gender are inherently sexist or inclined to oppress others"
My colleagues and I are effectively trying to ignore this but it isn't clear when the Biden Admin is going to get around to rescinding this over. In the meantime, colleges and universities can be accused of non-compliance and can be threatened with a loss of funding. In addition, this EO was greeted with glee by Republican legislatures, which want to enforce it.
Why, I wonder, hasn't the MEDIA published anything about THIS!!! It's the first I've heard about it.
The TRUTH HAS TO BE TAUGHT in schools. Damn it!!!!😡😠
Absolutely frightening, and enraging!
Oh. My. Thank you so much for this. Things are SO MUCH WORSE than I had appreciated. And I thought they were terrible. Thank you.
Wow. And, at the university/college level, too, hamstringing the academic ‘elites’. This is where the silencing of free thought (let alone critical thinking) begins. I can only imagine the lengths you and your colleagues have to go the fly under the radar, Linda. We need to see that this EO is moved near the top of the stack and rescinded along with all the others
I have some good news for everyone to report (wow: GOOD news!). Included in the SEVENTEEN executive orders Biden plans to sign today is one rescinding this EO. Someone was paying attention. Thanks everyone for your outrage and your encouragement. It has been a very long 4 years. My hope is that the state leg doesn't try to make this a law in Missouri--they are a bunch of cynical twits but I am hoping they don't try to embed Trumpism into their own (neofacist) agenda.
I had no idea. How sick.
That is a shame. But yes: they might be gagged today but not tomorrow.
This entire thread about restrictions placed on teachers with regard to teaching current events, civics and fact-based history is extraordinarily disconcerting - alarming, actually. I knew about some of this, but not all that is mentioned here. It is extremely important to pay attention to School board elections, but it often takes some effort to get accurate information about candidates’ policy positions and party affiliation. There seems to be a lot of effort that goes into hiding candidates’ platforms or, at a minimum, to obfuscate. I don’t have school age children anymore, so I have to actively seek out accurate information about candidates from friends and community members. It is worth the effort to do that research, though, because school boards not only impact the schools, but their influence extends to the wider community.
I agree. I offered two of my favourites but this one is up there with them! I told HCR that some of her letters I liked the most were where she told us she was choosing to rest, but offering a peaceful, hopeful photograph to keep us going forward.
It is very difficult to pick only two favorites, but I agree that this is one of them!
My impulse is always to print her letters out and create a REAL history book.
Ralph Averill, I was thinking the same thing
YES!!
We are of the same mind in this, Ralph Averill.
I ask those here in the know about what can and cannot be taught in our schools, would/could there be a ban on teaching the Constitution document? For those students who ask, is there a ban on providing links, say, to Letters from an American, for them to pursue on their own?
For many years, by Federal law, every school that receives any federal funding is required to teach the Constitution every September 17. I can’t speak for other states, but Albuquerque schools had to document their efforts and the district had to report to the state. As an elementary school librarian, I was tasked with teaching the whole school during library class. I kept it simple during the primary grades, but by 5th grade I was listing and explaining the Bill of Rights (they had a hard time with the 3rd), as well as also outlining the responsibilities of citizenship. By 5th grade, these students were full of “I know my rights!”, but I appeared to be the first to point out responsibilities.
In general, even without state pressure to limit what history can be taught, teachers are hamstrung by lack of time to cover it. It’s different in wealthier schools, where students start kindergarten well-prepared. I taught in 100% free lunch schools, where toxic exposure and lack of time/parenting skills sent us too many students who didn’t recognize letters and numbers. There, the focus on test scores to avoid school punishment was so high, we lost too much instruction time to test prep, leaving little for science and history. When they got to middle school, those teachers had to cope with the absence of the knowledge they should have gained in elementary school, and it snowballed from there.
Thank you, Danielle, for taking the time to share your experience. So troubling to hear but not surprising.
Agreed.
Mine as well, Ralph.
Yes! Agree today’s is at the top. My favorite line is about skin in the game. I’ve used that often in my career and now I love it even more — democracy is a skin in the game endeavor. Love it!