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