Educators are teaching in perilous times. We face a white supremacist backlash — funded by billionaires — against the 2020 uprising for Black lives, when tens of millions built a multiracial movement against systemic racism. That resistance popularized antiracist ideas and won Black studies and ethnic studies programs nationwide, sparking fear among those in power that unity against oppression could threaten their control.
In response, they are suppressing honest education about systemic racism, attacking immigrants, policing Black communities, and scapegoating LGBTQ+ people — all within the context of a climate crisis that threatens life on Earth.
What was once more covert has now become overt — Trump’s pardoning of January 6th insurrectionists, threats to unleash ICE on schools, and an open alignment with white nationalists mark a decisive shift toward authoritarianism.
Meanwhile, billionaires no longer just fund reactionary policies; they are merging corporate power with government repression to cement their dominance. These forces are laying the groundwork for fascism through book bans, curriculum bans, state violence, and the erosion of fundamental rights. Added to this right-wing onslaught has been widespread attempts to suppress any critical teaching about Israel and mention of Palestine in classrooms.
This is not simply about political rhetoric — it is about reshaping the country into one where dissent is crushed, knowledge is tightly controlled, and entire communities are stripped of their rights. History has shown that fascism rises when economic elites use racism and scapegoating to turn working people against one another while consolidating their own power. We can’t let that happen.
However, educators have the power to resist. Teaching the truth about Black history, Indigenous history, immigrant struggles, LGBTQ+ identity, and climate justice is not just instruction — it is defiance, solidarity, and liberation.
When educators organize alongside parents, caregivers, and students, their collective power can dismantle divisions and build a future where justice, truth, and education belong to everyone.
As Rethinking Schools editors remind us:
Students need our classrooms to be communities of hope . . . Our work with young people — and with each other — needs to demonstrate that another world is possible. Finding, sharing, and teaching hope through these perilous times will help point the way there.
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