Thread by @AFTunion

HAPPENING NOW: @rweingarten joins @CNN to talk about the CDC's latest guidance for schools and the attacks against educators for teaching civics, history, and anti-racism. Follow along in the thread below. 🧵

.@rweingarten: I'm a history teacher. In the teaching of American history, you talk about race. You talk about the Civil War. You talk about Jim Crow. You talk about the Civil Rights movement. The issues around race & discrimination are issues of American history.

.@rweingarten: CRT is a term most people wouldn't have heard 6 months ago. It's an analysis in theory that's taught in law school. What we teach in K-12 schools is history.

.@rweingarten: What's starting to happen is that these culture wars that have emerged, and states are passing laws to try and silence the teaching of accurate history. In Tennessee, a school board and activists are trying to stop teaching about Ruby Bridges.

.@rweingarten: In Texas, their law says we need to teach slavery as a betrayal of our founders. Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner. It makes our kids more resilient and makes us stronger when we get through the uncomfortable truth and make things in America better for ALL.

.@rweingarten: CRT became an issue the same way that Dr. Seuss & Mr. Potato Head became issues. We just came out of a Presidential administration who stirred up chaos and uncertainty, and still have lawmakers doing that, instead of working to make things better for all of us.

.@rweingarten: Our goal is to create a safe & welcoming environment and meet their needs. One of those needs is to make sure they become critical thinkers, so they can analyze the whole picture as engaged, thoughtful citizens.