History

The faculty of the OU Department of History views the recently enacted Oklahoma HB 1775, which aims to restrict the way racism, sexism, sexuality, and gender identity can be discussed in classrooms, as antithetical to our obligation as historians and educators to grapple honestly with the past. We stand with our colleagues at OU and at other colleges and universities, educators at all levels in our state, our graduate student historians in training, and the many students in our classes who seek open inquiry and informed discussion guided by mutual respect, reason, and evidence. We oppose racism and efforts to prevent students from learning about it. Opposing racism means we must discuss and describe racism’s history and the forms it takes in the present.  

The OU Department of History endorses the “Joint Statement on Legislative Efforts to Restrict Education about Racism in American History” issued by the American Historical Association. As that letter states, “Legislation cannot erase ‘concepts’ or history; it can, however, diminish educators’ ability to help students address facts in an honest and open environment capable of nourishing intellectual exploration.” As historians and educators, we are committed to our collective pursuit of historical knowledge, and to using that knowledge--including about the histories of race, gender, and sexuality-- to prepare our students to engage in their communities and in civic life.