Freedom to Learn
The freedom to learn our nation’s history is under siege. In many states, legislators have introduced “divisive concepts” bills that seek to limit history education in ways that would make it virtually impossible for teachers to help students to thoughtfully consider slavery and racism in American historical development. Some of these proposals have already become law. While most of this legislation is aimed at public primary and secondary education, many also specifically include or have implications for public higher education.
The AHA’s Freedom to Learn initiative educates historians and others on how to advocate publicly for honest history education, responds directly to the bills themselves, and creates resources to help teachers directly affected by these bills think about how to maintain the integrity of their history courses.
The AHA has sent letters to legislators in the following states. To view all the letters and statements sent or co-signed by the AHA on national history education issues, visit our History Education Advocacy archive webpage.
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
California
Florida
Georgia
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Maryland
Missouri
Nebraska
Ohio
- Letter Objecting to Social Studies Curriculum Legislation in Ohio (2021)
- Letter to Ohio Legislature Opposing Legislation Restricting History Education (2022)
Oklahoma
- Letter Opposing Oklahoma Bill That Would Limit Teaching of Race and Slavery in America (2021)
- Letters to Oklahoma Legislature Opposing Legislation Restricting History Education (2022)
South Carolina
South Dakota
- Letter to South Dakota Board of Education Opposing Social Studies Standards Revision Process (2022)
- Letters to South Dakota Legislature Opposing Legislation Restricting History Education (2022)
Tennessee
Texas
- Letter Opposing Proposed Legislation on History Education in Texas (2021)
- Letter Objecting to Texas House Bill 3979 (2021)
- Statement on Threats to Historical Integrity in Texas (2021)
Virginia
- Letter to Virginia Board of Education Urging Adoption of Proposed History Standards (2022)
- AHA Collaborates on Proposed Virginia History and Social Science Draft Standards (2022)
West Virginia
Acknowledgments
The AHA is grateful to the Agentives Fund, Lumina Foundation, and the Teagle Foundation for their support of various elements of this initiative. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this work do not necessarily represent those of the supporting agencies.
Joint Statement on Legislative Efforts to Restrict Education about Racism in American History
In June 2021, the American Association of University Professors, the American Historical Association, the Association of American Colleges & Universities, and PEN America authored a joint statement stating their “firm opposition” to legislation, introduced in at least 20 states, that would restrict the discussion of “divisive concepts” in public education institutions.
The History of Racist Violence in the United States
In response to ongoing racist violence in the United States, we have compiled a list of AHA resources on the history of racist violence. Teachers can use them in classrooms to help students understand the history of the present; journalists can draw on them to provide historical context for current events; researchers can draw on them to inform future scholarship.
AHA Condemns Report of Advisory 1776 Commission
In January 2021, the AHA issued a statement condemning the report from “The President’s Advisory 1776 Commission.” “Written hastily in one month after two desultory and tendentious ‘hearings,’” the AHA writes, “without any consultation with professional historians of the United States, the report fails to engage a rich and vibrant body of scholarship that has evolved over the last seven decades.”