The New York Times Jeopardizes People’s History Educators

The American Historical Association just released a three-year study of teaching U.S. history in secondary schools. 

More than a quarter of the teachers surveyed use Zinn Education Project resources. That percentage is comparable to other organizations in their report with budgets in the tens of millions of dollars, while ours is less than a million. Our wide reach is thanks to word of mouth (by people like you!) and countless teachers’ dedication to bringing people’s history to their students.

A New York Times article on the study said that our work (and that of Learning for Justice) has “been called unacceptably left-wing by critics.”

“Has been called . . .?” By whom? There is no explanation of what is “unacceptable” nor who the “critics” are. 

Is our lesson on the water crisis in Flint, Newark, and Jackson unacceptable? How about our lessons on resistance to enslavement? Or on SNCC’s role in the fight for voting rights? Should we not have resources to teach about the roots of the climate crisis? Or the founding of universal public schools during Reconstruction? 

As far as we know, the primary public critics of our work have been Trump and right wing publications like The Daily Wire. Is that who the New York Times is platforming? 

Meanwhile, hundreds of leading scholars — from Clint Smith to Jeanne Theoharis to Kidada E. Williams — engage with ZEP to ensure that teachers have access to contemporary scholarship — signing on to our Reconstruction campaign, speaking in our online classes, editing lessons, and more.

In the current climate of censorship and attacks, the New York Times’ framing places teachers who use these lessons at risk. Vague insinuations are what McCarthyism thrived on.

We invite you to continue to spread the word about our people’s history lessons. Please donate so that we can continue to offer the lessons for free and defend teachers’ right to use them.