By Jesse Hagopian, author of Teach Truth: The Struggle for Antiracist Education and campaign director at the Zinn Education Project, a Unite Against Book Bans partner.
Contemporary book bans and anti-truth in education laws are part of a historical pattern: When Black people make significant educational gains — or win broader victories in the struggles for social justice — there is a corresponding white supremacist backlash that often includes legal restrictions and violence.
The Long Fight for the Right to Learn
After the 1740 Stono Rebellion in South Carolina, the first anti-literacy law was passed to make it illegal to teach enslaved people to read or write. In response to David Walker’s Appeal — a radical antislavery pamphlet — a law was passed to criminalize the distribution of materials that could incite rebellion to slavery. More anti-literacy laws were enacted after Nat Turner’s rebellion in 1831. That pattern continued after the advances of Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement.
In light of this history, it should be no surprise that in response to #MeToo and the Black Lives Matter Movement advances, further repression tactics have followed. Partisan censorship groups are banning books, attacking CRT, and passing anti-DEI laws. That is why we invite everyone to fight back by joining this year’s 5th annual Teach Truth Day of Action, which is co-sponsored by 80+ allied organizations.
Sharing History and Defending the Right to Teach It
This year, the Zinn Education Project has added a Struggle for Black Education timeline as one of the activities event hosts can choose for their Teach Truth Day of Action. We can defy censorship by teaching “banned history” in a public space. The timeline showcases the history we are defending the right to teach and illuminates the roots of repression and traditions of resistance.
By hosting Teach Truth events around the country, our voices are amplified in defense of teaching truthfully and the rights of all of our students, no matter their race, gender identity, or immigration status.
How To Plan, Host, or Attend a #TeachTruth Event
While the official date is Saturday, June 7, many events have been organized for this month and also for later in June — at Pride festivals, Juneteenth commemorations, and beyond.
Hosts can choose from a range of activities and resources. There is the timeline noted above for a mini-lesson in a public space. They can screen the documentary Banned Together, lead a history walking tour, or host an information table with our pop-up display at a library, bookstore, or other public venue. (The display includes four banned or challenged books on topics that are often censored — including racism, Native American history, sexism, and trans identity.) By signing up as an event host, you’ll receive Teach Truth postcards, posters, buttons, a media guide, and more.
Your voice matters. By joining this year’s Day of Action, you help show that this well-funded partisan campaign to erase history is being met by an even larger movement to defend the truth — and those who teach it. Join with educators, librarians, students, parents, caregivers in the struggle for honest education. Sign up to host or attend an event today.
