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Teach Truth: The Struggle for Antiracist Education
In the face of relentless attacks on antiracist education, a much-needed reckoning with the roots of this latest wave of censorship and an urgent call to action to defend education.
In just the last few years, scores of states have introduced or passed legislation that would require teachers to lie to students about structural racism and other forms of oppression. Books have been cut from curricula and pulled from school library shelves. Teachers have been fired and threatened with discipline.
As long-time organizer, writer, and high school teacher Jesse Hagopian argues in Teach Truth, at stake is our democracy, not to mention the annihilation of entire systems of knowledge that challenge the status quo. As Hagopian shows by exploring the origins, philosophy, and manifestations of these attacks, the Right’s effort to regulate knowledge is an attempt to maintain its power over the American capitalist system, now and into the future.
Yet the struggle for a liberatory education has a long history in the United States, from the days when it was illegal for Black people to be literate, to the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, to Black Lives Matter at School today. Teachers, students, and their allies are already building a movement – in the classroom, on campus, and in the streets – to defend antiracist education.
In just the last few years, scores of states have introduced or passed legislation that would require teachers to lie to students about structural racism and other forms of oppression. Books have been cut from curricula and pulled from school library shelves. Teachers have been fired and threatened with discipline.
As long-time organizer, writer, and high school teacher Jesse Hagopian argues in Teach Truth, at stake is our democracy, not to mention the annihilation of entire systems of knowledge that challenge the status quo. As Hagopian shows by exploring the origins, philosophy, and manifestations of these attacks, the Right’s effort to regulate knowledge is an attempt to maintain its power over the American capitalist system, now and into the future.
Yet the struggle for a liberatory education has a long history in the United States, from the days when it was illegal for Black people to be literate, to the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, to Black Lives Matter at School today. Teachers, students, and their allies are already building a movement – in the classroom, on campus, and in the streets – to defend antiracist education.
320 pages, Paperback
Published January 14, 2025
20 people are currently reading
250 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 20, 2025
Having read a book my grad class (of teachers) chose to read, Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Blacks and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism by Eve Ewing, they decided to read this book, Teach Truth: The Struggle for Antiracist Education by Jesse Hagopian, whch I also had not read, as it also is being released this month.
Maybe you from time to time get tired of listening to commentary on race? Well, with the widespread denunciation of DEI, affirmative action, Black Lives Matter, and the like, if the People in Power are successful, you may never have to hear about Race in any public setting, including schools and universities, or in businesses! Wouldn't that be a relief? We can just make America great again in part by whitewashing some of our most brutal past. As with Original Sins, this book and others like it could be burned, as other books have been burned (or censored, or kept from libraries in this country.
But author Hagopian begins his book with three statements you might consider:
"If we teach that the founding of the United States of America was somehow flawed—it was corrupt, it was racist—that’s really dangerous. It strikes at the very foundations of our country"—Mike Pompeo, former CIA director and secretary of state {see Eve Ewing's Original Sins]
"We’ve never been a racist country"—Nikki Haley, Republican presidential candidate {Tell that to the descendants of slaves, and re: Jim Crow]
"With sufficient general agreement and determination among the dominant classes, the truth of history may be utterly distorted and contradicted and changed to any convenient fairy tale that the masters of men wish"—W. E. B. Du Bois [cf. 47's assertion that Ukraine is responsible for Russia's invasion of their country, or the erasure of black history going on as usual, but more openly than ever]
Lat night at the Chicago Teaching Union I heard a discussion pertaining to issues addressed in both books, featuring Ewing and Seattle history teacher Hagopian. Again, as with Ewing's book I knew much of what is in it--it tells us of the attacks on DEI and civil rights and calls on us to resist--but I still say for the general reader that it is a necessary encapsulation of the present moment--written by a great teacher and humane person.
Maybe you from time to time get tired of listening to commentary on race? Well, with the widespread denunciation of DEI, affirmative action, Black Lives Matter, and the like, if the People in Power are successful, you may never have to hear about Race in any public setting, including schools and universities, or in businesses! Wouldn't that be a relief? We can just make America great again in part by whitewashing some of our most brutal past. As with Original Sins, this book and others like it could be burned, as other books have been burned (or censored, or kept from libraries in this country.
But author Hagopian begins his book with three statements you might consider:
"If we teach that the founding of the United States of America was somehow flawed—it was corrupt, it was racist—that’s really dangerous. It strikes at the very foundations of our country"—Mike Pompeo, former CIA director and secretary of state {see Eve Ewing's Original Sins]
"We’ve never been a racist country"—Nikki Haley, Republican presidential candidate {Tell that to the descendants of slaves, and re: Jim Crow]
"With sufficient general agreement and determination among the dominant classes, the truth of history may be utterly distorted and contradicted and changed to any convenient fairy tale that the masters of men wish"—W. E. B. Du Bois [cf. 47's assertion that Ukraine is responsible for Russia's invasion of their country, or the erasure of black history going on as usual, but more openly than ever]
Lat night at the Chicago Teaching Union I heard a discussion pertaining to issues addressed in both books, featuring Ewing and Seattle history teacher Hagopian. Again, as with Ewing's book I knew much of what is in it--it tells us of the attacks on DEI and civil rights and calls on us to resist--but I still say for the general reader that it is a necessary encapsulation of the present moment--written by a great teacher and humane person.
January 14, 2025
This book is to me a unique blend of historical research, personal discovery, theoretical framework, and story-telling of resistance. I loved the conceptual frameworks of "uncritical race theory" and "educational arson" as ways to capture and understand our moment in the timeline and where we are situated in the midst of our history. One thing this book does so well, and which is different from other writers on the subject, is lift up many of the less-heard voices of resistance from around the country - teachers, students and administrators who have already been leading the way in the search for truth in American education. (And yes, Mr. Hagopian insightfully considers the nature of historical truth itself.) The people who Mr. Hagopian calls "truth teachers," members of diverse communities who are engaged in what he joyfully identifies as "the healing of organized remembering" should be considered our political and spiritual mentors. I am so happy this book is in the world, because I know it will do good.
March 26, 2025
With the conservative Right going on a renewed offensive in education, it’s important that progressive-minded teachers are clear about how to resist. Racism – and opposition to it – have been a consistent feature of US education. Conservatives view virtually any attempt to question the racism woven into US society as an insidious ‘woke’ attempt to divert students from ‘cherishing’ something called Western Civilization. But what are the roots of racism? And how can it be effectively challenged? This book attempts, and in my view fails in key ways, to take on those questions. This review will attempt to outline some of those weaknesses.
The theoretical framework Hagopian deploys to understand racism is Critical Race Theory. He begins by correctly pointing out that CRT has been deliberately defined in such a loose way by conservatives that it includes any examination of the country’s racist past or present. He then lists the various core tenets of CRT, including not only that race is a social construction and embedded within various institutions, which is true, but also CRT’s pervasive discourse of ‘white power structures’ and ‘white privilege’, alongside the insistence that social class is simply one facet (and not a particularly decisive one) of an interconnected system of oppression, thus denying any wider social weight or analytical value it may have. In other words, the ideology of CRT is presented in a wholly uncritical way. What does this mean for anti-racism?
Derrick Bell, one of the theoretical founders of CRT, believed that racism was “an integral, permanent and indestructible component” of US society. Bell’s critique of the civil rights campaigns of the 1950s and ‘60s, as Kenan Malik has pointed out, was nurtured and informed by a hostility to “universalism, humanism and the Enlightenment.” Racism, for proponents of CRT, is not a problem of capitalism, as many previous black radicals believed, but of something called ‘whiteness.’ Its popularization has been part of the more general politicization of identity encouraged by neoliberalism, as these ideas have come to inform mainstream discussions of racism. This is exemplified by Hagopian, when he conflates any notion of culturally relevant pedagogy with the ideological assumptions of CRT.
For example, when discussing the concept of ‘white privilege’ and its relevance to anti-racist pedagogy, he writes that “empowering white students with the history of white antiracists is central to the task of truth-teachers.” This is apparently because “although there are certainly privileges white people receive from being in a society with racist institutions, there would be more benefits to living in a society that treats everyone equitably and teaches the truth about the history of oppression.”
Leaving aside the idea that it is only white students that need to be aware of this history, this elides the question of why there would be more benefits to ‘white people’ (no differentiation is made here on the basis of class or economic status), given that they apparently benefit from institutional racism. Previous black radicals, such as Angela Davies, attempted to address this, when she explained how racism has been consistently used in the US to convince white workers to overlook their common exploitation, and, in doing so, enabling the ruling class to “reap more profits.” While this materialist understanding of a congruence of interests can lay the basis for solidarity, the notion of white privilege leads inexorably away from it.
This downplaying of the key importance of class has bearing on the idea of ‘teaching truth.’ Whilst providing students with the space to “tell their own stories”, and to “critically engaging with contradictions” is a worthwhile endeavour, there are problems with the assumptions the author makes about this. When discussing the merits of ‘standpoint theory’, Hagopian concedes that the notion that “identity alone either permits or denies access to truth” is problematic, but does not explore this in any greater depth. Once again, the solution to this is reduced to educators critically analyzing their own ‘identities’ in relation to what they are teaching. Because the dynamics of society and historical change are overwhelmingly class-based, however, any epistemology which denies this is limited when it comes to uncovering truth. An understanding of the US civil rights movement, for example, would need to acknowledge both the gains it made and the ways in which it solidified the emergence of a black middle class, whilst leaving the fundamental social relations of exploitation intact. Because CRT consciously downplays class and particularly class divisions within the US black population, it has an inherent problem in illuminating such truths.
The notion of teachers as ‘truth tellers’ also tends to overstate the importance of schools as sites of social transformation, which again emerges from a focus on language and discourse, rather than class struggle, as the motor of progress. In practice, this tends to encourage a therapeutic form of individualized transformation, or ‘healing’ as it is repeatedly referred to here. And rather than being genuinely ‘dialogic’, it can easily slip into an authoritarian form of liberal moralism.
Clearly, teachers need to defend their right to discuss issues openly with their students. Whilst Hagopian’s book may contribute to that, it also represents a long-standing erasure of class from the language of US politics, and the retreat of the left generally from materialism and universalism, that has ensured its abject collapse before identitarian politics.
The theoretical framework Hagopian deploys to understand racism is Critical Race Theory. He begins by correctly pointing out that CRT has been deliberately defined in such a loose way by conservatives that it includes any examination of the country’s racist past or present. He then lists the various core tenets of CRT, including not only that race is a social construction and embedded within various institutions, which is true, but also CRT’s pervasive discourse of ‘white power structures’ and ‘white privilege’, alongside the insistence that social class is simply one facet (and not a particularly decisive one) of an interconnected system of oppression, thus denying any wider social weight or analytical value it may have. In other words, the ideology of CRT is presented in a wholly uncritical way. What does this mean for anti-racism?
Derrick Bell, one of the theoretical founders of CRT, believed that racism was “an integral, permanent and indestructible component” of US society. Bell’s critique of the civil rights campaigns of the 1950s and ‘60s, as Kenan Malik has pointed out, was nurtured and informed by a hostility to “universalism, humanism and the Enlightenment.” Racism, for proponents of CRT, is not a problem of capitalism, as many previous black radicals believed, but of something called ‘whiteness.’ Its popularization has been part of the more general politicization of identity encouraged by neoliberalism, as these ideas have come to inform mainstream discussions of racism. This is exemplified by Hagopian, when he conflates any notion of culturally relevant pedagogy with the ideological assumptions of CRT.
For example, when discussing the concept of ‘white privilege’ and its relevance to anti-racist pedagogy, he writes that “empowering white students with the history of white antiracists is central to the task of truth-teachers.” This is apparently because “although there are certainly privileges white people receive from being in a society with racist institutions, there would be more benefits to living in a society that treats everyone equitably and teaches the truth about the history of oppression.”
Leaving aside the idea that it is only white students that need to be aware of this history, this elides the question of why there would be more benefits to ‘white people’ (no differentiation is made here on the basis of class or economic status), given that they apparently benefit from institutional racism. Previous black radicals, such as Angela Davies, attempted to address this, when she explained how racism has been consistently used in the US to convince white workers to overlook their common exploitation, and, in doing so, enabling the ruling class to “reap more profits.” While this materialist understanding of a congruence of interests can lay the basis for solidarity, the notion of white privilege leads inexorably away from it.
This downplaying of the key importance of class has bearing on the idea of ‘teaching truth.’ Whilst providing students with the space to “tell their own stories”, and to “critically engaging with contradictions” is a worthwhile endeavour, there are problems with the assumptions the author makes about this. When discussing the merits of ‘standpoint theory’, Hagopian concedes that the notion that “identity alone either permits or denies access to truth” is problematic, but does not explore this in any greater depth. Once again, the solution to this is reduced to educators critically analyzing their own ‘identities’ in relation to what they are teaching. Because the dynamics of society and historical change are overwhelmingly class-based, however, any epistemology which denies this is limited when it comes to uncovering truth. An understanding of the US civil rights movement, for example, would need to acknowledge both the gains it made and the ways in which it solidified the emergence of a black middle class, whilst leaving the fundamental social relations of exploitation intact. Because CRT consciously downplays class and particularly class divisions within the US black population, it has an inherent problem in illuminating such truths.
The notion of teachers as ‘truth tellers’ also tends to overstate the importance of schools as sites of social transformation, which again emerges from a focus on language and discourse, rather than class struggle, as the motor of progress. In practice, this tends to encourage a therapeutic form of individualized transformation, or ‘healing’ as it is repeatedly referred to here. And rather than being genuinely ‘dialogic’, it can easily slip into an authoritarian form of liberal moralism.
Clearly, teachers need to defend their right to discuss issues openly with their students. Whilst Hagopian’s book may contribute to that, it also represents a long-standing erasure of class from the language of US politics, and the retreat of the left generally from materialism and universalism, that has ensured its abject collapse before identitarian politics.
June 16, 2025
"Teach Truth: The Struggle for Antiracist Education" by Jesse Hagopian is an incredibly important and timely book that I believe teachers, students, community activists, and advocates for public education should read. It's a powerful call to action for anyone who wants to protect the integrity of education, ensuring that we teach critically and, most importantly, teach the truth.
Hagopian dives deep into what he calls "truthcrime policies" and "uncritical race theorists" He bravely shares his own experiences, alongside those of other educators and students, who have faced backlash and even violence for daring to stand up for truth in the classroom. The book highlights how teaching honestly often means confronting systemic injustices like racism, white supremacy, sexism, and homophobia, and how this vital approach is frequently met with resistance and punishment.
One of the most striking aspects of the book is its examination of "curricular violence" where policies attempt to erase or distort the histories of marginalized communities. Hagopian exposes the surge in "truthcrime laws" since 2020, which criminalize teaching about structural racism and critical race theory.
Unlike liberals in the Democratic party, Hagopian doesn’t shy away from recognizing the CRT lens for exposing racial injustice. He emphasizes that CRT is crucial for understanding how race is a social construct and how racism is embedded in U.S. laws and social structures.
What resonated deeply with me is the book's insistence that education must empower students to question everything, not just to read and gain knowledge. He also beautifully articulates how love, expressed through critical exchange and conflict resolution, is fundamental to creating an antiracist and inclusive classroom, echoing the philosophy of cultural critic bell hooks.
Ultimately, "Teach Truth" is a powerful reminder that honest remembrance of the past is essential for achieving justice, healing, and driving social action today. It's a must-read for anyone committed to a more equitable society through education.
Hagopian dives deep into what he calls "truthcrime policies" and "uncritical race theorists" He bravely shares his own experiences, alongside those of other educators and students, who have faced backlash and even violence for daring to stand up for truth in the classroom. The book highlights how teaching honestly often means confronting systemic injustices like racism, white supremacy, sexism, and homophobia, and how this vital approach is frequently met with resistance and punishment.
One of the most striking aspects of the book is its examination of "curricular violence" where policies attempt to erase or distort the histories of marginalized communities. Hagopian exposes the surge in "truthcrime laws" since 2020, which criminalize teaching about structural racism and critical race theory.
Unlike liberals in the Democratic party, Hagopian doesn’t shy away from recognizing the CRT lens for exposing racial injustice. He emphasizes that CRT is crucial for understanding how race is a social construct and how racism is embedded in U.S. laws and social structures.
What resonated deeply with me is the book's insistence that education must empower students to question everything, not just to read and gain knowledge. He also beautifully articulates how love, expressed through critical exchange and conflict resolution, is fundamental to creating an antiracist and inclusive classroom, echoing the philosophy of cultural critic bell hooks.
Ultimately, "Teach Truth" is a powerful reminder that honest remembrance of the past is essential for achieving justice, healing, and driving social action today. It's a must-read for anyone committed to a more equitable society through education.
March 6, 2025
Teach Truth is a powerful call to defend education from censorship and injustice. Jesse Hagopian blends history, theory, and storytelling to highlight the courageous educators and students fighting for truth in schools. With sharp analysis and inspiring voices of resistance, this book is both a warning and a beacon of hope.
Thanks to Jesse Hagopian and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy!
Thanks to Jesse Hagopian and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy!
March 31, 2025
A particularly timely read with all the attacks the Trump administration is doing to the Department of Education and the Smithsonians, Kennedy Center, etc. A really important read and I appreciated Hagopian’s approach to the topics at hand.
November 26, 2025
I reviewed this book for a women’s book club group. I only read one paragraph per page BUT the parts I did read were informative or affirming. I did not read the entire book word for word because it’s a long book and some of the information was repetitive but the repetition was important.
March 26, 2025
Good interview with the author on Coming From Left Field podcast, Feb, 2025:
https://youtu.be/pnHsi2ZbBUE
https://youtu.be/pnHsi2ZbBUE
dnf
April 18, 2025will pick up whenever i have another book club meeting 😭😭
May 3, 2025
Excellent book to both understand the current attacks on teaching true US history and to learn how communities of teachers, students, and others are fighting back
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews