Sadly, anti-Semitism is still alive in the United States.
A school role playing exercise in a small Texas town, designed to sensitize students to the dangers of intolerance, got out of hand, when the "Nazis" punched and spat on the "Jews."
One could fault the school for what happened.
Or one could say that it was a lesson well learned.
Rather than disciplining the students, the school should use this as an opportunity to open forums to discuss discrimination in all its ugly forms.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, there were more than 15-hundred documented anti-Semitic attacks in the United States last year. Shockingly, that number represents a decline from the year before.
Jews, of course, are far from the only victims of intolerance. Muslims, gays, and African Americans remain among the most notable groups to be targeted.
It's easier to commit acts of violence against objects than people. Discriminatory commentary reduces human beings to that vulnerable level.
One needs only to follow the debate over radio talk show host Don Imus' recent bigoted comments to know that the issue of race, religious and gender bias remains woven into the fabric of society. Imas reputation as an equal opporunity basher makes him a good case study.
The Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance says this about bias on that Continent:
Across Europe, racist incidents among young people are on the rise. School is the place to make or break our efforts to stop this trend.
School. Wasn't that where they were trying to enlighten the children in Waxachachie, Texas?
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3 comments:
Hey Gary,
Who's bright idea was it to mimic Nazi role playing in a school with kids...Is it not enough to teach about antisemitizm by means of books and lectures ? Did this "bright teacher" think that it was necassary to do this role playing ? Obviously the kids that were playing the Nazi role were well taught to act accordingly toward jews...now they will go out and exercize what they learned.
Gary, not only your show, but also your blog site is outstanding! Now I really wonder why you never showed up in the old CNNForum in Compuserve...shame we never met there.
Great job!
greetinx
Sonny
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/041207dnmetwaxahachie.2f2a786.html
According to the afore posted story, the objection was that the simulations seemed TOO mild and not as representative of the realities of life under the Nazis:
Elliot Dlin, executive director of the Dallas Holocaust Museum, said that although some simulations may be appropriate, others paint too broad a picture of the Holocaust.
"To suggest a student who is told to sit in the back of the class and doesn't get his questions answered by a teacher somehow simulates being a Jew in Nazi Germany seems to me to be too far a jump," he said.
I wonder why Christians are omitted from the list of the persecuted and maligned. I suppose a chocolate Jesus with an erection isn't offensive nor derrogatory?
And why is it that we cannot simulate the abuse of Christians under Roman rule (I suppose the animal rights groups would object). Or maybe we could just point in the direction of Africa to show how Christians are abused.
But that wouldn't be politically correct and, as we all know, there's never any victimization of those whom we disdain.
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