NHCSS Anti-Racist Statement

NHCSS Press Release
Approved by the NHCSS Board of Directors, June 10, 2020

Concord, NH - The New Hampshire Council for the Social Studies decries the murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and countless other Black Americans and mourns their tragic deaths. The NHCSS stands in solidarity with the National Council for the Social Studies in condemning institutionalized racism and prejudice in all its forms. We rededicate ourselves as educators to address institutionalized racism and promote anti-racist instructional practices.

Only by understanding our history will we be able to root out the institutional racism that has denied equality and opportunity to so many. As educators, we have both a responsibility and an opportunity to help our students grasp the challenge before us to bring real and lasting change. This is our moment—social studies teachers are trained to lead students through complicated and controversial topics and teach tolerance. And never has there been a better time to teach students about the importance of taking thoughtful, informed, and constructive action to make the world a better place.
We acknowledge that we can do better and we want to work on this. We will work as a council this summer on how we can best assist other teachers across the state. As part of our mission to advance social studies education in the state of New Hampshire, we are taking action in the following ways:

• Establishing a resolution of values
• Establishing an Anti-Racism and Inclusion Committee
• Creating a space on our website for social studies resources on social justice, racism, inclusion, and diverse history.
• Providing professional development that address inclusion 
• Including an Anti-Racism and Inclusion Discussion in our next conference

Through these efforts we can better prepare New Hampshire’s students to participate in the world they will inherit. Our commitment to educate Granite Staters about society's racial injustices is merely one contribution to the larger struggle, but it’s one that we can and should make.

Cutis Roddy
President of the New Hampshire Council for the Social Studies