The American Historical Association has sent letters to the Tennessee Legislature strongly opposing SB 2290 and HB 2670. In effect, these bills would make it virtually impossible for teachers to help students thoughtfully consider the continuing impacts of slavery and racism in American history. At the very least, teachers will be wary, uncertain as to the boundaries of the law. The AHA’s letters urge the legislature to reject these misguided, harmful, and unnecessary restrictions on history education.
“Though this legislation might appear to respond to public concerns about history education, it does nothing of the kind. In reality, there is overwhelming and bipartisan public support for what the vast majority of history educators actually teach on these subjects: that slavery, racism, and discrimination have played a key role in shaping American history, and that their influence redounds to the present day. According to a recent national survey conducted by the AHA and Fairleigh Dickinson University, three-quarters of both Republicans and Democrats support teaching history about harm done to others even if it causes students discomfort,” writes the AHA.
“If passed, these bills would result in ignorance of basic facts about American history and undermine the education of Tennessee students. As higher education accrediting bodies require that institutions adhere to the principles of academic freedom and independence from external pressure, this bill could also threaten the accreditation of Tennessee’s public colleges and universities. Accreditation problems would, in turn, imperil Tennessee’s students’ access to federal financial aid.”
The AHA’s letters are available on our website, as part of the AHA’s Freedom to Learn initiative. This initiative is a response to recent legislation, introduced in 41 US states and enacted in more than a dozen, seeking to limit teaching the histories of racism and slavery. Drawing on the AHA’s stature as the largest organization of professional historians in the world and the expertise of our members, the Freedom to Learn initiative offers resources to historians and others on how to advocate publicly for honest history education, responds directly to the bills themselves, and creates resources to help teachers directly affected by these bills think about how to maintain the integrity of their history courses.
