Facing History and Ourselves is a left-of-center organization that provides classroom programming to presents the history of the United States as one of racial injustice. ¹ The material provided for teachers generally casts race relations in the United States in a negative light, claims that voter integrity laws are examples of racial injustice, and advocates for core changes to the United States immigration system to address alleged historical injustices. ²

Finances

In 2018, Facing History and Ourselves received $30,218,120 in contributions and $32,179,133 in total revenue through program service and investment income. ³ In 2018, the organization reported $52,624,548 in net assets. ⁴

In 2018, Facing History and Ourselves received $193,250 from the Boston Foundation,⁵ $10,000 from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation,⁶ $5,000 from the A.G. Cox Charitable Trust,⁷ $5,000 from the Bindler Family Foundation,⁸ $3,000 from the Banks Baldwin Foundation,⁹ $2,500 from the Adams Cowan Foundation,¹⁰ $2,500 from the Bernstein-Maslansky Fund,¹¹ $2,000 from the Allen and Franka Charlupski Foundation,¹² $1,000 from the Cail Family Foundation,¹³ and $1,000 from the Arzak Foundation. ¹⁴

Portrayal of Race Relations

Policing

Facing History and Ourselves teaches students that modern policing in the United States is rife with racial bias and is an extension of racial prejudice from previous generations. ¹⁵ Teaching modules instruct teachers to introduce the idea that racial prejudice is central to modern-policing by asking students to journal how they would like the police to behave and compare racial bias with their desired form of police conduct. ¹⁶ Students are introduced to a variety of readings that contextualize police conduct as prejudicial by nature. For example, Facing History and Ourselves teaches students that pre-textual stopping, the practice of a police officer electing to investigate a minor infraction because he believes there may be more wrongdoing at play, will always reinforce racial prejudice. ¹⁷

Voter Integrity Laws

Facing History and Ourselves teaches students that Shelby County v. Holder, a 2013 Supreme Court case that returned the right to administer and protect elections to the states, has created unjust voting limitations. Facing History and Ourselves claims that requiring particular types of voter identification, barring felons from voting, implementing ballot security laws, and maintaining voter registries count as illegitimate voting limitations, referring to these voting safeguards as voter suppression. ¹⁸

Immigration Policy

Facing History and Ourselves teaches students that opposition to increasing immigration levels today is comparable to support for the National Origins Act of 1924 (Johnson-Reed Act), which created national-origin quotas that sharply limited the number of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. The lesson casts supporters of the Johnson-Reed act as eugenicists and racists and asks students to draw comparisons between them and modern opponents of increased immigration. ¹⁹

Leadership

Roger Brooks is the president and CEO of Facing History and Ourselves. He received $369,896 in compensation for his work with the organization. ²⁰ Before assuming this role, Brooks was the Elie Wiesel Professor of Religious Studies at Connecticut College from 1991 to 2014. ²¹

1. “About us” Facing History and Ourselves. https://www.facinghistory.org/about-us
2. “About us” Facing History and Ourselves. https://www.facinghistory.org/about-us
3. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed November 22, 2020. Part I, Lines 8-12.
4. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed November 22, 2020. Part I, Line 22.
5. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed November 22, 2020. Schedule I. Part II(a)(665-667).
6. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed November 22, 2020. Part XV.
7. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed November 22, 2020. Part XV.
8. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed November 22, 2020. Part XV.
9. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed November 22, 2020. Part XV.
10. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed November 22, 2020. Part XV.
11. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed November 22, 2020. Part XV.
12. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed November 22, 2020. Part XV.
13. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed November 22, 2020. Part XV.
14. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed November 22, 2020. Part XV.
15. “POLICING, PUBLIC SAFETY, AND BIAS” Facing History and Ourselves. https://www.facinghistory.org/educator-resources/current-events/policing-legacy-racial-injustice/policing-public-safety-bias 
16. “POLICING, PUBLIC SAFETY, AND BIAS” Facing History and Ourselves. https://www.facinghistory.org/educator-resources/current-events/policing-legacy-racial-injustice/policing-public-safety-bias
17. “The Problem of Police Powers for People Living While Black” The New York Review. June 13, 2020. Accessed November 22, 2020. https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/06/13/the-problem-of-police-powers-for-people-living-while-black/
18. “VOTING RIGHTS IN THE UNITED STATES” Facing History And Ourselves. https://www.facinghistory.org/educator-resources/current-events/voting-rights-united-states
19. “The Debate in Congress” Facing History And Ourselves. https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/debate-congress
20. “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed November 22, 2020. Part VII.
21. “Roger Brooks” Facing History And Ourselves. https://www.facinghistory.org/about-us/facing-historys-executive-leadership