In light of the stunning greed, racism, and cruelty of the Trump administration, many commentators have declared his presidency "unprecedented." While Trump may be louder, coarser, and more explicitly racist, sexist, and nativist than recent presidents, his policies ---- from immigration to the environment, taxes to LGBTQ issues, criminal justice to foreign policy ---- share ugly continuities with his predecessors.

This Presidents Day, rather than mythologize past presidents as kinder and gentler than Trump, let's remind students that this country has been at its best when people have organized to question and challenge
presidents ---- opposing presidential support for slavery, war, invasion, segregation, and injustice of all kinds.  Our students need stories of this resistance to inform and inspire their own activism now and in the years ahead.

Here are a few of the many resources available at the Zinn Education Project to critically teach the presidency. With your support, we can bring these lessons to classrooms everywhere.

	Missing from Presidents Day: The People They Enslaved   Article by Clarence Lusane Schools across the country are adorned with posters of U.S. presidents and the years they served in office. U.S. history textbooks describe the accomplishments and challenges of the major presidential administrations. Children's books put students on a first-name basis with the presidents. Nowhere in all this information is there any mention of the fact that more than one in four U.S. presidents were involved in human trafficking and slavery.
	Presidents and Slavery: Helping Students Find the Truth Lesson by Bob Peterson A 5th-grade teacher and his students conduct research to answer the question: "Which presidents owned people?" What they came up with will surprise you.
	Rethinkin' Lincoln Article by Bill Bigelow Students need to rethink the Great Emancipator myth by examining Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address, the Emancipation Proclamation, his timid approach to ending slavery, and, by contrast, the heroism of the enslaved people themselves and the abolitionists who sought their freedom.
	Andrew Jackson Revisited Reading by Howard Zinn What does it tell us about the Trump administration that Andrew Jackson's portrait now hangs prominently in the Oval Office? As Howard Zinn explained, "Jackson was a land speculator, merchant, slave trader, and the most aggressive enemy of the Indians in early American history."
	Teach Reconstruction Reconstruction rarely gets more than a few days in most U.S. history classrooms. When it is taught, it's too often presented as a top-down drama of presidents and Congress. Invite students to look at Reconstruction as a powerful social movement with the economic, education, and political goals of freedpeople at its center.

The Advancement Project offers a report and  action kit called  We Came to Learn: Report: A call to action for police free schools. We also recommend the Dignity in Schools campaign,  Counselors, Not Cops. Both are available online for free.

	A Lesson on the Japanese American Internment  Lesson by Mark Sweeting How one teacher engaged his students in a critical examination of the language used in textbooks to describe the internment.
	The Other Internment: Teaching the Hidden Story of Japanese Latin Americans During WWII Lesson by Moé Yonamine This role play lesson uses poetry, photography, and text to teach about the seldom told history of Japanese Latin American internment during WWII.
	Learning About the Unfairgrounds: A 4th-Grade Teacher Introduces Her Students to Executive Order 9066 Lesson by Katie Baydo-Reed A mixer and a mock trial prepares students to read literature about internment.

The New Teacher Book: Finding Purpose, Balance, and Hope During Your First Years in the Classroom Edited By Linda Christensen, Stan Karp, Bob Peterson, Moé Yonamine This expanded third edition of The New Teacher Book grew out of Rethinking Schools workshops with early-career teachers. It offers practical guidance on how to flourish in schools and classrooms and connect in meaningful ways with students and families from all cultures and backgrounds.