The AHA has sent a letter to the members of the Tennessee Senate Education Committee registering serious concerns about pending legislation that would require instruction on the history of communism in public K-12 schools. “This bill offers a highly politicized version of Cold War and modern American history that is based on a misleading interpretation of the American past,” the letter reads. “This is not good history. It will not provide a strong foundation for student learning.”
February 24, 2026
Tennessee Senate Education Committee
Nashville, TN 37243
Dear Committee Members,
The American Historical Association registers serious concerns about Senate Bill 1890, which would require instruction on the history of communism in public K–12 schools in Tennessee. This bill offers a highly politicized version of Cold War and modern American history that is based on a misleading interpretation of the American past. Tennessee students deserve to be taught a full and accurate history.
The AHA supports this bill’s stated goal of providing age- and grade-appropriate instruction in the history of communism. Doing so effectively requires situating this political tradition in its proper historical context. But SB 1890 presents an ahistorical understanding of American political dissidence and fails to consider the history of communist regimes abroad. The bill does not mention communism in the Soviet Union. In fact, its text includes more references to communism in the United States than in Russia and China combined.
The interpretation presented in SB 1890 has little grounding in historical reality. The bill includes a misleading and factually incorrect reference to “the increasing threat of communism in the United States . . . throughout the twentieth century.” In fact, membership in the Communist Party USA was always small and declined precipitously after 1956, the year that Nikita Khrushchev denounced Joseph Stalin’s role in the Great Terror. It would be more accurate to note that the international threat of communism grew substantially during the Cold War, but this legislation barely mentions the decades-long competition between the US and the Soviet Union and instead suggests that American communism was largely a domestic issue. This is not good history. It will not provide a strong foundation for student learning.
The AHA is also concerned by the final provision of SB 1890’s section 1, which would allow the Tennessee department of education to solicit input from individuals who consider themselves “victims of communism,” regardless of their historical or pedagogical expertise.
As part of its mission to promote historical thinking in public life and professional integrity in history education, the AHA monitors and offers guidance on state-level academic frameworks. The AHA’s approach to state standards and related assessments starts from the premise that every student has the right to a history-rich education. History-rich standards provide the strongest possible foundation for a system of public education that cultivates deep historical knowledge as well as the skills necessary to navigate our world and participate responsibly in shaping its future. The AHA’s approach is outlined in our Criteria for Standards in History/Social Studies/Social Sciences.
With more than 10,000 members, the AHA is the largest membership association of professional historians in the world. Founded in 1884 and incorporated by Congress in 1889 for the promotion of historical studies, the Association provides leadership for the discipline, helps to sustain and enhance the work of historians, and promotes the imperative of historical thinking in public life.
Sincerely,
Sarah Weicksel
Executive Director