Telling The Truth About History

UMass Amherst History Department

A panel conversation responding to the ongoing attacks on teaching accurate history, with Shevrin Jones, Laura Briggs, Raphael Rogers, and Jennifer Rich, moderated by Barbara Krauthamer. For not the first time in U.S. history, the content of public school curricula is being challenged across the country. Since January 2021, 41 states have introduced bills or taken other steps that would restrict the teaching or discussion of “divisive concepts,” such as racism, sexism, critical race theory, and the 1619 Project. A Tennessee school board recently banned teaching the Pulitzer Prize-winning Holocaust novel Maus. And at least 16 states are considering "don't say gay" laws, which restrict discussions of sexual orientation or gender identity. This panel of scholars, political leaders, and teachers addresses the ongoing national assault against teaching accurate and evidence-based history at the K-12 level, and increasingly, at the community college and university levels. Panelists consider the history of public school educational disputes around race, sex and sexuality and the impact these educational gag orders have, not just on the teaching of history, but most importantly on our democratic system of government and the meaning of equality in the United States. Panelists will also consider ways to push back against these challenges. A public Q&A follows. This event was co-presented by the UMass Amherst Department of History and the Wolfsonian Public Humanities Lab at Florida International University. It is co-sponsored by the following UMass Amherst entities: Anthropology Department Racial Justice Collective, Civic Engagement and Service-Learning, Center of Racial Justice and Youth-Engaged Research, College of Humanities and Fine Arts, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Linguistics Department, Public History Program, and the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies.