[H-PAD] Historians for Peace and Democracy Newsletter #12

Wed Mar 30 10:10:30 PDT 2022

[image: image.png]

Russian bombardment of telecommunications antennas in Kiev.. 1 March 2022
(Permissions at end of this newsletter0

H-PAD Protests the War on Ukraine

 The brutal, unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine is causing massive
destruction, immense suffering of the civilian population and holds the
potential for triggering a wider war, which could even include the use of
nuclear weapons. *A cease-fire and withdrawal of Russian troops is
imperative, along with large-scale humanitarian aid to war victims and
refugees. *

 In considering solutions it *is important to acknowledge that militaristic
policies of the United States* in Europe have risked a dangerous
polarization. In the aftermath of the Cold War a series of decisions to
expand NATO closer to Russia and to withdraw from two nuclear arms
agreements (the ABM and INF Treaties) needlessly inflamed tensions,  as did
the 2008  promise, made under US pressure, to eventually admit Ukraine and
Georgia to NATO.  .  . . The brutal, unjustified Russian invasion of
Ukraine is causing massive destruction, immense suffering of the civilian
population and holds the potential for triggering a wider war, which could
even include the use of nuclear weapons. *A cease-fire and withdrawal of
Russian troops is imperative, along with large-scale humanitarian aid to
war victims and refugees. *

Read the rest of the H-PAD statement *here*
<https://www.historiansforpeace.org/statements/statement-on-the-ukraine-war/> ;
link to H-PAD Notes, lists of articles on the war *here*
<https://www.historiansforpeace.org/2022/03/23/h-pad-notes-3-23-22-links-to-recent-articles-on-the-war-in-ukraine/>
 and *here*
<https://www.historiansforpeace.org/2022/03/03/h-pad-notes-3-3-22-some-readings-on-the-ukraine-invasion/>

**

Oppose the Culture Wars I--Defeat Educational Gag-Laws

In light of the educational gag-laws being proposed and passed around the
country, *H-PAD has joined with the African American Policy Forum (AAPF)
and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) in a national
campaign to defend academic freedom.* H-PAD, AAPF, and AAUP are calling on
faculty senates across the country to pass resolutions against these
repressive measures. To date, over *35 faculty senates*
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gN93avmQQmNKACdnDPU_bIw3ZG02_pxIo3okI0OJXBs/edit>
at
flagship universities and state systems have passed powerful resolutions,
sending an important message that educators will not be cowed or silenced.

*These educational gag-laws represent the biggest threat to academic
freedom since the McCarthy era*. While these laws are often labeled as
anti-Critical Race Theory, they are in fact efforts to shut down all
teaching about racism, sexism, and issues of systemic inequality. They are
attacks on those aiming to have honest conversations about US history in
the classroom, and dovetail with efforts like Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay”
bill.

Last June the AHA, PEN America, AAUP and the American Association of
Colleges & Universities adopted an important *Joint Statement*
<https://www.aaup.org/news/joint-statement-efforts-restrict-education-about-racism#.YjyAATfMJqs>
on
Efforts to Restrict Education about Racism, which 145 organizations have
signed onto. The African American Policy Forum has published a *Call to
Action* <https://www.aapf.org/truthbetold-call-to-action>, along with
resources for educators affected by these attacks on teaching racial and
gender justice, a messaging guide, and media training. *The AAUP has
gathered **resources
<https://www.aaup.org/issues/educational-gag-orders-legislative-interference-teaching-about-race>
on
these educational gag orders, including FAQs, webinars, and toolkits; H-PAD
has gathered resources here
<https://www.historiansforpeace.org/opposition-to-the-culture-wars/>.*  You
can find a regularly updated map of where these bills are being introduced
and passed here
<https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/map-where-critical-race-theory-is-under-attack/2021/06>
.

*We encourage all H-PAD members and their colleagues* to sign onto this *Open
Letter*
<https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/open-letter-and-call-to-action-to-university-and-college-faculty/>
on
Academic Freedom to Teach about Race and Gender Justice. Please consider
proposing a resolution at your university’s faculty senate. A template can
be found here
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XbYF3KscDXmJyckjPc0CZIocJxk1hJd7/edit>,
and
we are happy to help you advance a resolution.

[Sarah Sklaw drafted the above article. Please reach out to her (
*sls823 at nyu.edu* <sls823 at nyu.edu>) for more information.]
[image: image.png]
Gag-laws and culture wars: Scopes Trial, 1921 by Rolin Kirby
(Public Domain-Wikimedia Commons)

Oppose the Culture Wars II—

A National Teach-In: Doing History Right

H-PAD is organizing a two-hour online teach-in in spring 2022, that will
feature leading scholars, and that will be widely publicized to university
and college professors at all levels and in every discipline. Its goal is
to motivate, mobilize, and train faculty for action on their own campuses.

 Its purpose is two-fold: first, to provide an overview of current
legislative efforts to dictate the content of history and social studies
education; second, to encourage involvement in local campaigns for academic
freedom by providing tools such as break-outs, role-plays, and organizing
guides for on-campus activism.

Currently, in more than two dozen states, rightwing legislators and
lobbyists are fanning hysteria over “divisive concepts,” by which they
mean any teaching that acknowledges the impact of enslavement and Jim Crow,
systemic racism, indigenous struggles, or the struggles for equal rights by
women, gays and lesbians, and transpeople. . . .

This mobilization will support K-12 teachers in their efforts to maintain
the integrity of the classroom in the face of systematic attacks on history
and social studies education. If successful, it will generate significant
attention at local and state levels, empowering students, parents, and
educators to resist legislative gag-orders that limit the full and accurate
teaching of history and social studies, which are vital to any healthy
society.

Read this full statement *here
<https://www.historiansforpeace.org/teach-in/>.*

 Follow Ups & Brief Notices

Webinars & Programs

*“Race, History, & Academic Freedom: **A Teach-In,”* sponsored by the
National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education
and the Professions and endorsed by H-PAD,  was presented online on
Wednesday, March 2, 2022. With William A. Herbert (Executive Director of
the Center) presiding, panelists included Chancellor Nancy Cantor (Rutgers
University, Newark), Professor Emily M.S. Houh (University of Cincinnati
College of Law), Professor Risa L. Lieberwitz (Cornell University ILR and
AAUP General Counsel), Professor Paul Ortiz (University of Florida and
President, United Faculty of Florida), Professor Calvin Smiley (Hunter
College). *This program is now available online here
<https://youtu.be/35FAPfcUaaM>. *

*“Radical Biography: Confrontations of Race, Gender, Power, and
Privilege”* (originally
organized as a Radical History Review/Historians for Peace and Democracy
session for the 2022 American Historical Association Annual was presented
online at the Leon Levy Center for Biography, CUNY, on Tuesday, March 22,
2022. Chaired by *David Nasaw (*CUNY Graduate Center), presenters
included *Teresa
A. Meade* (Union College), *Benjamin A. Talton* (Temple University), *Manu
Bhagavan* (Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center), and *Brian J.
Peterson* (Union
College).

*This program is now available online here
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA5XYv596YY&t=102s>. *

*Ellen Schrecker, The Lost Promise: American Universities in the 1960s*, in
online conversation about repression of academic freedom with Jeremy Varon,
Tamiment Library,, NYU, March 31 (5:00 PM ET). Information *here*
<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-lost-promise-american-universities-in-the-1960s-tickets-292596021577>.
Also be on the lookout for a forthcoming article in The Nation by H-PAD’s
Ellen Schrecker on educational gag-laws.

50th Anniversary of the US Withdrawal from Vietnam -- *Can Your Campus Host
a Workshop or Conference?*

 The Vietnam Peace Commemoration Committee (VPCC)
<http://www.vietnampeace.org/> is seeking university, foundation and peace
movement partners to collaborate in a national public retrospective on
popular opposition to the war in Vietnam and the wider American war in
Indochina. We anticipate organizing initially around the 50th anniversary
of the Paris Peace Accords (January 27, 1973), which ended direct U.S.
military operations in Vietnam.

Our intent is to offer an examination of the foreign policy lessons and
domestic legacies of the movement against the war, with an emphasis on the
dramatic events of 1972-1973. (See here
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1brfSTqkzp4VrQJQ8jC2o_Wh43iDTfT_6/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=116938680043748579093&rtpof=true&sd=true>.)
If you might be interested in participating or would like further
information, contact John McAuliff at jmcauliff at gmail.com.

Ongoing Legislative Work

It’s clear that during the next 12 months, Congress will be making vitally
important decisions pertaining to issues of peace and war, preserving
democracy, and advancing social justice. As a national organization H-Pad
has been signing on as supporters of legislative initiatives which reflect
our goals. We are also committed to sharing information to our list about
upcoming votes in the House and the Senate, which are of critical
importance. If you are specifically interested in being a campus contact
for this work, please let us know. Contact *Carolyn.Eisenberg at hofstra.edu
<Carolyn.Eisenberg at hofstra.edu>*

Fundraising

*H-PAD has just hired an experienced organizer, **Sarah Sklaw,** for the
first time in our history.*  She will be working primarily on our academic
freedom campaign. She holds a PhD in History from NYU, and her research
focuses on the gendered implications of U.S.-backed and national
development programs in Nicaragua before, during, and after the Sandinista
Revolution. We need money to pay her, and we need your help.  Please go to
our *Donate* <https://www.historiansforpeace.org/donate/> page to help us
make this happen.

Permission for photo on first page: Russian bombardment of
telecommunications antennas in Kiev.jpg, 1 March 2022

Mvs.gov.ua <http://mvs.gov.ua/></a>, <a href="
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia
Commons

---Labor donated--
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