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It's not a hoax: Reality is under attack on COVID-19, the Holocaust and our round planet
There is danger in equating beliefs with truths in matters like COVID-19, teaching about the Holocaust and electing QAnon conspiracists to Congress.
Palm Beach Post
Holocaust education a casualty to attack on truth
If you “believe” the Holocaust is a hoax, then it shouldn’t be taught as a fact to students.
And yes, we’ve already denigrated truth to that level.
Three years ago, William Latson, the principal of Spanish River High School in Boca Raton, gave this explanation to a parent as to why he wasn’t requiring students to attend an assembly on the Holocaust.
“Not everyone believes the Holocaust happened and you have your thoughts, but we are a public school and not all of our parents have the same beliefs so they will react differently,” Latson explained to the parent. “I can’t say the Holocaust is a factual, historical event because I am not in a position to do so as a school district employee.”
Latson eventually lost his job over the matter, but not before doubling down on this faulty elevation of beliefs. “I am tolerant of those who did not believe the Holocaust happened at all,” he said during an administrative hearing. “I express it through not being confrontational with them.”
Under this reasoning, the Holocaust can’t be taught as fact because it is in conflict with the beliefs of some people.
And Latson’s not alone. The same thing happened this month in a school district in Texas.
Gina Peddy, the executive director of curriculum and instruction at the Carroll Independent School District in the Dallas suburb of Southlake, advised teachers there that if they mentioned the Holocaust, they needed to present an “opposing” view.
“Make sure that if you have a book on the Holocaust, that you have one that has an opposing, that has other perspectives,” Peddy told teachers in a conversation that was secretly recorded.
“How do you oppose the Holocaust?” a teacher asked Peddy.
“Believe me,” Peddy said. “That’s come up.”
Michael Igel, the chairman of the Florida Holocaust Museum, said there is no room for an “opposing view” of a historical fact.
“If anyone questions the Holocaust, we can introduce you to the people who were there,” he wrote.
“You can also visit our museum or utilize our renowned educational materials where – using a portion of the more than 19,000 objects we have in our collection – we teach.”
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