You Represent Hope in Hard Times

Below, is a message of solidarity from our friends at rethinking schools. At a time when blatant lies are politically expedient and building an administration becomes a grotesque act of cynicism, it is plain to see the significance- and perils – of progressive education.

A campaign that promises the “largest deportation” in history, that claims educators force “brutal” sex change operations on children, and that represents so much ugliness, is victorious. The campaign was drenched in white supremacy, anti-Blackness, patriarchy, xenophobia, transphobia, and more.

In the days and weeks ahead, we need to hold space for young people to express their feelings, to ask questions, to share their concerns — as we also navigate the weight of our own feelings.

There will be time to analyze this year’s electoral results — and there was some good news amidst the rubble.

But it is important to remember that times of extraordinary activism and progress have often gone side-by-side with elected leaders who have not been on the side of justice. The abolition movement grew and grew during the grimmest days of slavery, under hostile presidents and Supreme Courts. The strike waves of the 1930s began not under the Democrat Franklin Roosevelt, but under the reactionary Herbert Hoover — lettuce workers in California’s Imperial Valley; cigar makers in Tampa, Florida; coal miners in Harlan County, West Virginia. The Civil Rights Movement was launched with a Republican, Dwight Eisenhower, as president and racist Democrats as governors throughout the South. The Black Panther Party was born in Oakland while Ronald Reagan was governor of California, and the anti-Vietnam war movement became massive under Nixon’s presidency. And, of course, the outpouring of activism around racial justice following the murder of George Floyd occurred during the last presidency of Donald Trump.

Yes, we are saddened, even horrified, by the results of this election. But not defeated. People throughout history — here and around the world — have organized and stayed hopeful in the face of tyrants. That is our assignment. Educators of conscience are needed more than ever before.

We are grateful to you: the educators, activists, and organizers who fight for democracy — you represent hope in hard times.

In Solidarity,

Rethinking Schools editors and staff

Please click here to follow rethinking schools