We are #TRUTHSC

#TRUTHSC is an intergenerational collective of Black people affiliated with education in South Carolina. Our passion lies in cultivating the hearts and minds in the education of all students in our state. We stand together with other like-minded individuals across the state who know the urgency of our current educational landscape, which demands truth and the learning and unlearning necessary to heal, grow, and thrive. 

#TRUTHSC is composed of Black parents, Black individuals, Black educators, and Black-led organizations across SC.  We passionately believe that students in our state deserve to know the truth of our history as well as Black Resilience and Black Joy. When we learn about each other in a real way,  we can break down the walls of fear and ignorance that keep us broken and stagnant.

ALL of South Carolina’s and our nation’s storied history and teach the truth to educators and students alike, so we all have a deeper appreciation of the totality of  South Carolina and American history and its impacts, the good and the bad, on what it means to be a South Carolinian and an American today? Not recognizing the different perspectives of what it means to be a Black South Carolinian and Black American versus a White Woman,  is the continued denial of the very humanity of all our state’s students, educators, and residents. And that denial of the full humanity of the descendants of primarily enslaved  Africans is a social construct and legacy of slavery still being perpetuated today. Further, this denial of the full humanity of Black people actually affirms a much-needed focus on  Critical Race Theory in South Carolina. 

The public schools of South Carolina must equip all students with the knowledge and education to foster an environment for change and make our society and our state better; they have to understand the past and have an accurate, inclusive history of our state and our nation. They must learn that Black people in South Carolina were free people with thriving civilizations in Africa  BEFORE they experienced the horrific and dehumanizing process known as the Middle Passage and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and Chattel Slavery. And they must know that even in that,  that Black people were brilliant and innovative (which is why they were captured) and built this great state including bringing the highly profitable process of growing and harvesting rice and yet never profited from their intellect nor their labor as much as the white citizens of SC. And in spite of all of that, Black people continued to create, innovate, and even created what we now know as public education in the South. We must teach that there was a desire for freedom and the desire for education and excellence, there was struggle and scholarship, and a plethora of contributions that Black people have made to the building of this nation. 

For once, we need not get distracted into endless political debates, because in actuality, the discussion around critical race theory is a moral debate. We must as a state and as individual citizens begin to ask the right questions. Why is hiding historical truths so important? Why is avoiding truth so critical to some in South Carolina? Why are bills being proposed which aim to undermine, dismiss, and erase only certain aspects of our state and national history through the state and national social studies standards? What is the resistance to telling the truth regarding the existence of white privilege and institutional racism and the triumphant and resilient nature of Black people that endured this white privilege and institutional racism for hundreds of years in this state, South Carolina, and in this country?

#TRUTHSC intends to work within communities across the state to ensure the educational equity needs of all students and families of South Carolina.

Below are a few supporting documents and sources.

 Somebody Had to Do It: First Children in School Desegregation

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For media requests and official responses from #TRUTHSC, please reach out to us via email at: TruthSC2021@gmail.com