Dear Editor,
I am writing to encourage all of us as citizens to support understanding and eliminating all forms of racism in our society. We saw with the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor along with so many others that this problem is still embedded in our society today. Unfortunately, some in our legislature would have us whitewash our history and prevent understanding how we got here. Proposed House Bill 18 punishes teachers for discussing race in their classrooms and House Bill 14 punishes schools for allowing discussion of race. Please flood our Legislative Hot Line (1-800-372-7181) and Rep Daniel Elliott’s office in opposition to these two bills. In contrast, House Bill 88 requires teaching Black and Native American history in middle and high schools, and House Bill 67 requires teaching of the history of racism in high school. Both of these bills deserve our full support. As the famous quote says, “Those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.”
We must understand the past to be able to do better in the present.
Dan Nolet
Danville