Standing with Educators for Democracy

With the election of the first Black senator and the first Jewish senator in Georgia, as well as Congressional action to complete the presidential election, yesterday should have been a day of national celebration of the electoral process. It was a moment to celebrate all the election workers and volunteers who in extreme circumstances, successfully carried out the elections with high voter participation across a diverse turnout. Instead, it was one of the darkest in our nation's history.

We condemn the attack on Congress and the horrific assault on our democracy and government incited by those in positions of power. Further, we condemn the apparent impunity with which they and their followers were able to commit this insurrection. We are appalled by the deep racial inequalities that the assault exposes. Those that try to rip apart our democracy using falsehoods, intimidation, and violence will not win. The values of our democracy will prevail.

Civics education is the foundation for this work. Every day through the pandemic and the political events of our nation brings another lesson, whether it’s about understanding political perspectives that differ from our own, the peaceful transfer of power and the inauguration of the president, or the ways in which our health is connected to those around us.

The Massachusetts Civic Learning Coalition is here to support educators in working with students to gain a more complete understanding of yesterday’s events. As part of that effort, we are sharing a set of resources designed to address the particular challenges of teaching about this moment. Many thanks to the many educators who helped create it.

With yesterday’s events, we remain more committed than ever to restore civility and peace to our democracy. And we remain committed to supporting educators in building that future for students so that our nation may best represent, as President Lincoln put it, “the better angels of our nature”.