Since launching his campaign, Governor Glenn Youngkin has had a central goal of whitewashing American history by banning critical race theory–a graduate-level theory that is primarily used in law school curricula–from Virginia’s public schools.

On his first day in office, Youngkin signed an executive order that banned the teaching of critical race theory and other “divisive concepts.” The vague wording of this executive order presents a fundamental threat to public education, especially when it comes to teaching history. The Civil War, segregation, and civil rights, overall, are incredibly divisive. There is no metric for determining what is considered a “divisive concept.” After signing that order, he set up a tip-line where residents could report educators who violated his executive order.

Many Virginia residents have expressed their concerns about Youngkin’s education policies, and now, the Leadership Conference Education Fund, People For the American Way, and both the National Conference and Virginia State Conference of the NAACP have joined forces to launch a campaign called Black History is American History.

The initiative states that Black history is at the core of American history, but despite that fact, students have never been taught history from a Black perspective. In recent years, that has started to change as the fields of history and education have become more diverse, but now, Youngkin’s destructive policies threaten to bring education back to a much darker age.

The groups have come together to assert that all students deserve representation in the classroom, and that representation is key to ensuring all students are prepared to succeed. For the entire existence of the public school system, it has failed to properly teach the struggles of Black and Native Americans, at times morphing and sugar coating their histories and at other times erasing it completely.

American history cannot exist without Black history. This nation was built on the backs of enslaved Black people, and their stories are still being erased today. Youngkin’s policies are one more example of the effort to silence Black Americans throughout history.

The campaign asks that people sign-on and send an email to Youngkin, telling him that Black history should be taught in Virginia’s public schools. Those interested can send an email through the campaign’s website here.