Dear John,

We all believe that school should be a place where children learn to understand the world and their role in changing it for the better.

But across the country, justice and humanity are under attack. Republican lawmakers are using the same old dog whistle political strategy to try to push back progress. They are engaged in a desperate attempt to distract us from the growing awareness and reckoning of the many ways that Black, Brown, Indigenous, and all people of color have been harmed by systemic racism. And they are doing so by attacking education and villainizing practices that center race and racism in an honest and direct way.

We can’t let this happen.

We live in a world where racism exists, and to deny that fact is to deny reality and the everyday experience of millions of people. Students need to be able to learn about these realities in order to navigate this world and change it for the better. While it can be uncomfortable, we need to teach and learn the full history of the U.S., even when it falls short of the ideals and values we believe in. The world we want is possible, but to create it we have to face our past honestly and openly.

So why are Republican lawmakers so focused on banning the truth in our classrooms? The answer is simple: to keep us divided against each other. When we are divided, candidates like Trump and other extremist right-wingers are able to exploit those divisions and win elections, with devastating and deadly consequences for all of us. By attacking critical race theory and culturally affirming education, they are exploiting fear and using racism as a tool to stay in power.

We need to be able to teach and learn about the realities of U.S. history and power structures and how they continue to impact people of color. If we don’t, we will never be able to move forward into a progressive future that truly works for everyone.

Add your name to the petition calling for an end to these attacks on education. Support culturally responsive and sustaining education, which is centered in love, justice, and humanity. Let's create the world our children deserve to live and thrive in.

In solidarity,

Rosemary Rivera

AQE Board Chair
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