Germany, on the 50th anniversary of the Holocaust, struggled to come to terms with its violent, racist history with historical exhibits, theater and art productions, books and discussion. The unofficial slogan of the citizen groups organizing the educational effort was “Collective Guilt? No! Collective Responsibility? Yes!” Today teaching the subject of the Holocaust is mandatory in German schools. In addition almost all students have either visited a concentration camp or a Holocaust museum. The effort to learn, take responsibility and move on continues.
One hundred and fifty years after the Emancipation Declaration, America continues to whitewash and make excuses for its racist history by limiting discussion of it in our public schools. NH is one of six states which have passed bills limiting how teachers can discuss racist and systemic inequality, while directing them to promote the narrative of our exceptional goodness as a nation. It is not a curriculum that will serve our students well. The wounds of unexamined pasts tend to fester and prevent healing in the present. While it may not always be comfortable, in order to prepare our young people for a better future, we must be honest about our past, and continue the tentative steps we are taking toward justice and reconciliation. Teachers should be allowed to teach facts, rather than idealized versions of them which serve only the interests of a particular group.
Cynthia Muse
Rye