Genocide is a Global Issue
Take Action Now: Inclusive Genocide Education Means Human Rights for ALL People
Right now a Holocaust Education bill (S. 87) is in senate education that will require all students grades 6th through 12th to learn about the holocaust for at least six hours a year. While we firmly support the teaching of the Holocaust we believe 1) Holocaust should be taught in depth and in context and 2) Genocide is a global issue and this bill should include a global perspective. We believe in a collective liberation framework which means that our struggles are interconnected and we must work together to build a liberated future. Jewish people will never be free until Palestinian people, Bosnian people, Rwandan people, indigenous people, and others impacted by genocide and grave human rights violations are free.
The Senate Education Committee is taking testimony on Tuesday, February 12th so we need to act soon!
Justice refuses exceptionalism – history includes many examples of genocide, each hold particular and important lessons for students to understand. Along with Jewish people, many other people in our community have been impacted or are currently being impacted by genocide from Bosnians who resettled in Vermont, to indigenous people who’s relatives were decimated by settlers, to Black Vermonters who are descendants of slavery, to Palestinians who’s families are are dying as we speak in Gaza. Educators need to teach the Holocaust and other genocides in a global context considering US responsibility, resistance, and current day impacts across global genocides.
Our Ask: Create a Genocide Education Bill that centers human rights for all people
We want to see an updated Genocide Education Bill to replace the Holocaust Education bill that both ensures the Holocaust is taught in depth and in historical/global context and creates a framework to teach genocide as a global issue that honors our collective history and current moment. Holocaust education is a key to countering the spread of antisemitic views. When we connect the teaching of this genocide to other genocides we work to counter the spread of supremacist ideologies more broadly and move towards a world of human rights and dignity for all people.
We can look to other New England states such as Massachusetts on how to formulate a Genocide Education Bill that is more inclusive than just the Holocaust. We can look to the book First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers as an example of a resource to teach about global Genocides. The author Loung Ung, eventually settled in Vermont and went to Saint Michael's after surviving the Khmer Rouge.
Take action now
Contact your State Senator if you have one on the committee and ask for a Genocide Education Bill that centers human rights for all people.
Vermont Senate Education Committee Members:
Sen. Brian Campion, Chair (D)
Bennington County
bcampion@leg.state.vt.us
Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick, Vice Chair (D)
Chittenden County
mgulick@leg.state.vt.us
Sen. Nader Hashim (D)
Windham County
nhashim@leg.state.vt.us
Sen. David Weeks (R)
Rutland County
dweeks@leg.state.vt.us
Sen. Terry Williams (R)
Rutland County
tkwilliams@leg.state.vt.us
Sample Letter
Dear Senator ___,
I am writing with regards to the Holocaust Education bill S. 87. I urge you to create a Genocide Education Bill that centers human rights for ALL people.
Justice refuses exceptionalism – history includes many examples of genocide, each hold particular and important lessons for students to understand. Along with Jewish people, many other people in our community have been impacted or are currently being impacted by genocide from Bosnians who resettled in Vermont, to indigenous people who’s relatives were decimated by settlers, to Black Vermonters who are descendants of slavery, to Palestinians who’s families are are dying as we speak in Gaza.
Educators need to teach the Holocaust and other genocides in a global context considering US responsibility, resistance, and current day impacts across global genocides. Holocaust education is a key to countering the spread of antisemitic views. When we connect the teaching of this genocide to other genocides we work to counter the spread of supremacist ideologies more broadly and move towards a world of human rights and dignity for all people.
I want to see an updated Genocide Education Bill to replace the Holocaust Education bill that both ensures the Holocaust is taught in depth and in historical/global context and creates a framework to teach genocide as a global issue that honors our collective history and current moment. We can look to other New England states such as Massachusetts on how to formulate a Genocide Education Bill that is more inclusive than just the Holocaust.
Thank you,
____
