Turning Holocaust Denial Into Homework

By Reuven H. Taf

It happened in April 2013 in my hometown of Albany, N.Y., and it happened again this year in Southern California. While the assignments given to Albany High School English classes and to 2,000 eighth-graders at five middle schools in the Rialto Unified School District east of Los Angeles were different, both projects crossed the same dangerous line.

A veteran Albany High School teacher gave students an essay to write with the goal of convincing the reader that the writer is a loyal Nazi who hates Jews. "You must argue that Jews are evil, and use solid rationale from government propaganda to convince me of your loyalty to the Third Reich!" In five paragraphs, students were required to prove that Jews were the source of Germany's problems. Those who defended the assignment—during the public outcry after the story went national—said that it was to teach students how to formulate a persuasive argument.

This spring we learned that middle-school teachers in California had given their students a three-day assignment to compose an essay on whether or not they believe the Holocaust was "an actual event in history, or merely a political scheme." As part of the homework, educators gave students resources including a website that denies the Holocaust. Earlier this month Rialto officials said they regret the assignment and promised to revise what they said began as an effort to satisfy the Common Core standards. But the acknowledgment of an error in judgment was a long time coming and does not erase the damage.

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Critical thinking and formulating persuasive arguments are essential skills for children to develop. But these projects aren't appropriate for either goal. When educators encourage students to question the historical fact of the Holocaust or ask them to write an essay suggesting that Jews were the source of Germany's problems, they are essentially fomenting a subtle form of anti-Semitism. It may not be their intention, but it is certainly the result.

And what can explain the lack of common sense, sensitivity and knowledge when educational professionals conceive such assignments? Why couldn't those teachers choose topics such as the death penalty, health care, immigration, nuclear proliferation, capitalism, socialism, globalization, fossil fuels, alternative energy, tax policy, drone technology, privacy, civil rights, gun control or money in politics, to name a few? Those issues have two sides and can help students develop critical thinking and formulate persuasive arguments based on research and facts.

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http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303701304579550262302288806

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