We need to make sure our children learn our nation’s full history.
In 2022, in three states, major changes were made for the better. In Illinois, for the first time ever, all students are going to learn about Asian American history from elementary all the way to high school.
In Connecticut, for the first time ever, every high school in the state is required to offer a year-long elective in African American, Black, Puerto Rican, and Latino American studies. That’s a major victory for this country.
The college board, the same organization that offers the SAT, for the first time ever, 60 schools across our country are piloting AP African American history.
And it’s coming at a time when 30 states, over the past two years, have passed laws, making it more difficult for students to talk about race, making it more difficult for students to learn about and talk about institutional racism.
And of course, it’s all built on that false mantra of critical race theory, something that you and I know is not being taught in any public schools in the country.
We’re standing up to white supremacy. We’re standing up to bigotry and we’re learning and educating ourselves about the real history of this country.
We need to go to our local school boards to communicate with them and insist that all our students learn our nation’s true history. It’s the only way forward.
Democracy is built on public schools, where we model that we care and value each and every one of our children.