Milwaukee City Wire

There were no new teachers in Milwaukee who signed the pledge on Dec. 21, according to an online pledge from the Zinn Education Project.

The pledge was signed by no teachers on Dec. 20, the day before. It now has 143 pledges from Milwaukee teachers.

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 Milwaukee teachers included, "I am an anti-racist educator who doesn’t believe in white-washing the history that I teach to my high school students. I am a teacher, and with that title comes the obligation to be truthful" and "teaching the truth empowers my students".

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
Aaron Young	the truth matters.
Abbey Grall	Teachers have the right to teach the truth and students have the right to learn it! Learning from the wrongs of the past help write the rights of the future!
Aj Craig-Salmon	Students must have the truth and all the facts in order to become critical thinking and well rounded citizens.
Aj Craig-Salmon	We can not expect children to grow up to be responsible, critical thinkers, and leaders if we do not teach them their history honestly and openly. Beyond the truth of George Santayana’s famous quote about ignoring history, why would we ever want to teach our children that lying and hiding the truth and reality are not only appropriate behaviors, but are what we as a society value?
Alaura Cook	No comment
Alondra Garcia	my students and EVERYONE deserve to know the TRUTH!
Alondra Garcia	we will no be oppressed EVER! The truth will ALWAYS be told. WE STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH YOU!!!✊???✊?
Alyssa Molinski	No comment
Amber Thornton	If we don’t teach our youth the true history, we are destined to repeat it. Our students deserve to know accurate history, not a censored version like something from a dystopian novel.
Amina Ishaq	Young people deserve to understand the context of their lives in a full and accurate way, rather than being subjected to empty propaganda. Teachers should not be muzzled and prevented from supporting our students' need for context and criticality.
Andi Gomoll	No comment
Andrea Dougherty	No comment
Angela Harris	If students can experience racism then they should be able to lear why it exists and how we can combat it.
Angela Sterling	Teaching the truth is the only way to change our actions.
Anna Troy	Our students deserve to learn to the truth in history. It is vital that students hear the true stories from multiple perspectives and cultural groups when studying both U.S. and World histories.
Ashley Leverenz	No comment
Basimah Abdullah	Lies are for cowards. Teachers are not cowards.
Bob Peterson	Because if we never teach about the horrors of racism, there will never be a reason for the upcoming generation to be anti-racist. And we need all people in this country to be anti-racist.
Bradley Cramer	I'm going to continue to teach what I've always taught: history from the perspective of workers.
Brenda Jones	No comment
Brett Bartel	No comment
Bridget Brown	Students need to know the truth in order to make the world a better place and expand true opportunities for all
Caitlin Ceballos	The truth will set you free.
Caryl Davis	It’s time that adults come to terms with the world that we’ve created for children and youth. It’s time to right wrongs, to face our biases, and to speak truth to power. We can’t claim to love young scholars while continuing to lie to them about our complicity in designing exclusionary systems that benefit some and disenfranchise others. The time is now!
Caryl Davis	‪The lives of my students, their families, and their communities are valid. Our histories cannot and will not erased.Subscription to the notion of a dominant culture is antithetical to humanity. We are here, we contribute, we are valid, and we matter.#myhistoryisvalid #mylifeisvalid ‬
Chloe Croke	I believe in teaching the truth!
Christa Marlowe	My scholars deserve the truth!
Christine Turner	Age appropriate authentic history is enriching, evocative, and will help prevent history from repeating itself.
Claire Weissenfluh	The truth should not be censored.
Connor Morris	No comment
Cydney Martin	I believe the students need to know the truth.
Dan Kartz	Real history needs to be taught.
Danah Opland-Dobs	No comment
Dani Graf	No comment
Dani Graf	The truth needs to be acknowledged and taught.
Danielle Fahey	No comment
David Emmanuelle Castillo	No comment
Dominic Inouye	No comment
Doug Singsen	No comment
Ebony Davis	I believe in teaching the truth.
Eirka Siemsen	No comment
Elissa Werve	I am an anti-racist educator who doesn’t believe in white-washing the history that I teach to my high school students. I am a teacher, and with that title comes the obligation to be truthful.
Elizabeth Sanders	This is how we heal and how we move forward as a better society.
Elizabeth Zizzo	You can not deny our history.
Erika Kluhsman	No comment
Erin McCarthy	I have a responsibility to build informed citizens not because they are responsible for the inequality of the systems or the tragedies of the past, but because knowledge is a power that belongs to all children. Understanding the inequality of the system will help us make a stronger future together.
Erin McCarthy	The existence of structural racism is not an opinion.The success of communities & individuals of color and all groups sidelined to the margins of history for centuries, despite every political, economic, cultural, and social obstacle possible, makes American history captivating. I'll keep teaching it.
Francesca Ferraro	No comment
Francia Williams	Truth needs to be told about our history. I will never know the history of my ancestors because they stole and enslaved us.
Geralynne Papa	No comment
Gina Dacquisto	I don’t lie to my students
Gina Dacquisto	My students aren’t studying complex historical events, but they definitely want to know about justice, bias and race. I pledge to empower my students by teaching the truth, answering their questions and encouraging conversations.
Gina Jorgensen	Have we not done enough damage? It is time the truth is taught.
Gretchen Kapperman	My students deserve to learn the truth about the history and the current structures of the United States.
Hannah Lippstreuer	Especially as a history teacher, I'd rather be fired than lie to young adults about the reality of the past and present. They deserve to know the ENTIRE narrative of the U.S. from all perspectives.
Hannah Matti	No comment
Hannah Reimer	No comment
Heather Hathaway	I am signing my name because telling the truths of history is not an ideological, but rather an ethical, enterprise.
Heather Plucinski	No comment
Hodgkins Natalie	I believe our students need to know the truth in order to make changes happen and to develop critical thinking skills.
Jacqueline Miller	I the undersigned educators, refuse to lie to young people about U.S. history and current events — regardless of the law.
Jamie Holifield	I have the courage to teach the hard truth and not lie to students about the history of our country and its implications on society today.
Jane Audette	Social workers in education must interrogate our personal racial identities and listen and learn about the racial identities of staff, students and families. We must be willing to learn, teach and live in the truth about racial systemic oppression.
Jayne Korotev	Our students need to know the truth in order to make the necessary changes our country needs to become tolerant and accepting.
Jeff Hannan	No comment
Jendayi Mbalia	No comment
Jennifer Engel	teaching the truth empowers my students.
Jennifer Funk-Collins	I am signing this petition because I believe my students need to know our whole history, and specifically how history has been written and controlled by hetero-white males and how they want us to view history through a whitewashed lens that does not honor all genders and cultures, particularly those who are marginalized by our society and have been since the birth of this nation.
Jennifer Glueckert	children deserve to know the truth.
Jennifer Lukaszewski	if we want a better future for our children we must teach ALL parts of history, not white washed history! Our students deserve representation.
Jennifer Poethig	I believe our students need to know truths from what was "TAUGHT" in schools in prior years.
Jessica Cisneros	Because why not? Why even question wether we should lie to our students? Our students need to know the truths about our past in order to help heal and understand this country’s present pain.
Jocelyn Fait	No comment
John Dupies	No comment
John Hegelmeyer	No comment
Jolene Chartier	No comment
Joseph Brusky	We need to teach the truth!
Josh Anderson	No comment
Julie Hapeman	No comment
Karin Adelmann	educational institutions that are not searching for truth and are not teaching reality become institutions of indoctrination.
Kate Dubinski	It is important to be inclusive as we teach the truth from multiple perspectives.
Katherine Laritson	We’ve been lied to by our government far too long! We murdered millions of Native Americans and you want to continue to LIE about how badly we’ve treated our black brothers & sisters? I don’t think so! We might as well start loving one an another to get to work to save our PLANET! There’s no time for bullshit!
Kathy Xiong	Teaching the truth about the history of our country makes us stronger as a nation. Knowledge is empowering. Our students deserve the truth, they are our future. If we want to do better, we must start with honesty no matter how ugly that truth might be.
Katie Oglesby	The truth is what matters. Not political agendas. Historical facts and truths cannot be whitewashed and reframed or edited to fit America's capitalism and racism. Students are entitled to facts and events that actually took place. They can make up their own mind after learning what took place not what we wished didn't.
Katie Oglesby	The truth needs to be told! Historical inaccuracies being taught to our children, my child, make them believe in an America that doesn't exist for some marginalized groups of people who are American citizens. We need to share the truth with children who have the ability to change the systems in the future so all people have the same rights to resources, services and education as one another. They can't and won't change anything if they believe in the fairytale of a fair and equal America being pushed on them through the current history being taught in classroom.
Katie Wilhelm	No comment
Kayla Schwartz	In order to see a future for everyone we must stop whitewashing history. We are not our past but we can change the future.
Keane Burkett	I am signing because I’m done with ignoring the truth about our history.
Kelly Di Giacinto	Young people need to be taught to identify the oppressive structures that are poisoning the heart of our nation. As they are the one’s that will tear them down.
Kelsey Kasik	No comment
Kimberly Evans-Green	I believe that all students need to learn about their history past & present. It is important that we respectfully teach our students about what our ancestors went through and what we as a community is going through today.
Kimberly Isberner	No comment
Kristin Cheever	I owe it to my students, they deserve to know the truth about our history.
Laura Blanco	This matters.
Laura Geibel	My students can only change the system if they understand how it came to exist; my students deserve better; we need to honor our cultural differences and to accept them and each other— just because a white student is made uncomfortable by a discussion doesn’t mean the discussion/debate should not happen in a classroom— we don’t selectively get to choose the white man’s version of history and reality!
Lauren Thompson	Discussions of race and sex are important to student development. They see and hear and live things that they have questions and concerns about. I shouldn’t be restricted from having open and honest conversations with them about things that matter; it will inhibit relationship development and trust within my classroom.
Laurie Stilin	The future of our country depends on teaching all aspects of it's history, even those of which we are ashamed (or should be). If our children, including mine, don't learn the truth about our history they are doomed to repeat it as they grow to be the next generation of leaders and citizens. Whitewashing history is dangerous. If people do not have all the facts they cannot make intelligent, informed choices about their actions. Children will be raised to believe that racism is the status quo and is acceptable. The fight for equality will take several steps back. This is unacceptable.
Leandra Evans	I support teachers and their rights to teach American history . . . The good, the bad, and the ugly!
Leequanda Turner	It is my firm belief that the truth needs to be told in order to prevent the past from repeating itself. Why are Americans afraid to be uncomfortable? Change won’t happen if we are staying in the comfort zone! The ideal of concealment to me shows that so many people are living in a privilege that they’d like to maintain at any cost.
Leland Pan	No comment
Levi Douglas	We as a people cannot progress without recognizing and understanding the mistakes of our past.
Lindsey Nordeen	Teaching the truth about our country's history is beyond important and it boggles my mind that we are even debating this. I will always teach my students the truth about our country because everyone has a right to know!
Lisa Waszak	All children need to hear the truth. We need to end systemic racism, not perpetuate it.
Lisza Johnson	No comment
Lori Lewis	the TRUTH shall set us FREE!!
Lorinda Flores	I am committed to teaching the truth and for making sure that my young students receive age-appropriate historical education so that they can learn from past mistakes and past successes.
Lukas Wierer	the truth matters
Mandilyn Veeder	No comment
Margaret Schmidt	We must teach the truth. Only then can we begin to heal.
Maria Alvarado	No comment
Marsha Evans	IT IS SO IMPORTANT THAT ALL PEOPLE KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT AMERICA HISTORY. THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN IDOLIZED FOR YEARS SHOULD HAVE THE ACTIONS EXPOSED. THERE ARE TOO MANY UNTRUTHS BEING TAUGHT TO STUDENTS. THIS CONTRIBUTES TO RACIST ATTITUDES AND FALLACIES. MANY PEOPLEHAVE BEEN LOOKED DOWN UPON AND HAVE HAD TO LIVE IN AN UNFAIR SOCIETY WITHOUT REAL JUSTICE. TRUE HISTORY IS JUST THAT. FOR MANY IT IS DIFFICULT TO CHANGE THEIR BELIEFS, BUT IS NEEDED. STEROTYPES HAVE EXPLODED, AS HAS RACISM AND VIOLENCE AGAINST THOSE WHO DO NOT FIT INTO THE MANY UNTOLD AND/OR UNTRUE STORIES WRITTEN WITH A ONE SIDED VIEW POINT. PEOPLE SHOULD WANT TO KNAOW THE TRUTH RATHER THAN HIDE IT BECAUSE IT REALLY SHOWS THE TRUE HISTORY OF AMERICA. IT SHOULD ASK WHERE DID THE PEOPLE WHO CAME TO AMERICAS COME FROM? THEY WERE OUTCASTS FROM EUROPE AND ABROAD, MENTALLY ILL, ROBBERS, THIEVES, RAPISTS, OF LOW INTELLIGENCE, MURDERS, AND THE LIKE. THEY CAUSED HAVOC EVERYWHERE THEY WENT TAKING OVER WHATEVER THEY COULD CONTROL AND SPREADING DISEASES. IT SURELY IS SHAMEFUL AND THAT IS WHY THEY FIGHT TO KEEP IT UNDER WRAPS. I WILL NOT LIE TO MY STUDENTS AS THEY NEED TO KNOW THE CONTRIBUTIONS THEIR ANCESTORS MADE TO AMERICA. HISTORY BOOKS IN AMERICA ARE FALLACY.
Marsha Kroeger	As a Black educator, mother and grandmother, I'm angered that this country has not been honest about how it has treated people of color. I want all students to know the truth.
Mary Mays-Ridgell	It is a sin to lie. When the government creates laws to oppress thought and actions in it oppressive and abusive. I will not sin, be oppressed, or abused. I will not be apart of a fraud.
May Paw	No comment
Meagan Dunn	No comment
Melissa Gibson	No comment
Melissa Santa-Cruz	No comment
Melissa Temke	It’s the right thing to do.
Meredith Grob Polewski	Our children deserve the truth about our past!
Mike Van Pelt	Once again. If you don't learn the past, how can you improve the future?
Miriam Santos	Children deserve to know the truths of all people
Molly Tennessen	Without learning and teaching the truth we further traumatize individuals whose place in life has been impacted by oppressive conditions. We owe students the truth so that we can begin the healing process rather than continue to perpetuate harm.
Nancy Hoeffel	Learning about the past and learning from the past is how we make a better future. And why would I ever lie to my students?!
Neal Easterling	No comment
Nicholas Gerard-Larson	history is messy, conflicted, contested, overwhelming, and enlightening. We cannot learn from, nor properly remember or rectify, the past without understanding all its truths: the glories, the blemishes, the heartbreak, the solidarity, the triumphs, and the setbacks. To talk about American history honestly is to talk about race and power.
Nicole Janzen	Racism still impacts us every day, and hiding the truth does not serve anyone. We need to accept where we are, where we came from I order to know how to move forward to work toward healing the continual hurt of racism, sexism and other isms.
Patricia Kemp	Equity is denied when we ignore our history for the sake of protecting some while allowing children of color to continue to live within the oppression that has yet to cease.
Rae Chappelle	No comment
Rebecca Sloan	our education system is rooted in injustice and racism. For too long, marginalized groups have been oppressed and our history has attempted to erase this oppression from the record books. My students deserve a nuanced, full understanding of the place they call home.
Rob Costilla	It is important to teach the truth about US history, the good, the bad and the ugly. Censoring stories of marginalized people does a disservice to the full story of the United States.
Roxanne Ciatti	I believe in the truth.
Sarah Kopplin	Students deserve to have access to sources from multiple perspectives and that allow them to learn about all people, especially historically marginalized groups.
Sarah Vandre	I will not be complicit in the effort to cover up the real history of this nation and the deleterious effects of that history on the peoples it oppresses. As a teacher it is my duty to teach my students to think reflectively, critically, and creatively about all things. This is especially critical when it comes to the history and present state of the United States. I would be failing them if I did not teach them to ask questions, dig deeper, and uncover the things that we are not so proud of. A citizenry that cannot see the defects of its nation is helpless in making it a better place for all. We must move forward to build a more perfect union even if it is uncomfortable, embarrassing, and challenging. As with all of life, change can be painful, but it is necessary for progress. Teachers are meant to teach, and there is no knowledge without honesty, so I will teach with honesty and hope for a better future for my students and my country.
Shannon Doll	Truth is truth. Only dictators insist on a perfectionist version of history.
Sharon Hegwood	I feel that the time has come when black children and all children need to know their true history and that the world is made up of people of all backgrounds and no one should be excluded.
Stephanie Snyder	Students cannot grow up and make informed decisions for themselves and society, if they have been enshrined in lies and myths. Especially when those lies and myths are designed to keep others from benefitting from the living in this country. Students deserve to know the truth.
Theresa Lehner	No comment
Thor Templin	Truth is truth and has no limits.
Tiffany Henderson	I believe in the work being done .
Tina Staszewski	My students deserve the truth! The GOP wants God in our schools but, is ok lying to kids?! There is only one reason the GOP wants to lie about history, because the lies keep them in power.
Tracey Watford	I am signing my name because I believe that ALL of our country's history should be studied, taught and understood so that we do not repeat the same mistakes and are able to heal the hurts, harms and traumas the actions and systems set forth during this history created.
William Sell	The fight against antiracism is a fraud. It's quite like fighting sunshine.
Yazi Cournia	No comment