HARWICH HIGH STUDENTS TESTIFY ON BEACON HILL ABOUT GENOCIDE EDUCATION
Cape Cod Today
2009/06/09/harwich-high-students-testify-on-beacon ?blog=53
June 9 2009
Harwich High School students testified before the Joint Committee on
Education Tuesday in support of H.S 463, an Act concerning genocide
education. MacKenzie Hamilton and Andie Ramirez, members of Harwich
STAND (Students Taking Action Now Darfur), argued why the state needs
to increase its commitment to genocide education, in order to help
prevent future catastrophes.
About a dozen members of STAND traveled to the State House in Boston
to support the cause and to lobby their representatives.
Below are the statements of MacKenzie Hamilton and Andie Ramirez,
and the statement of Emily Cunnigham of Cardinal Spellman, delivered
as a panel before the Joint Committee on Education Tuesday afternoon
at 1 p.m.
* * *
Testimony of MacKenzie Hamilton to the Joint Committee on Education,
June 9, 2009
Good afternoon, my name is MacKenzie Hamilton and I’m a recent graduate
of Harwich High School here to testify in favour of HR 463.
As Elie Wiesel, genocide survivor and author of Night once said,
"Education in the key to preventing the cycle of violence and
hatred that marred the 20th century from repeating itself in the
21st century."
"People do not realize that during the three and a half month
Rwandan genocide that the number 800,000 stands for real people:
333 per hour, 5 per minute slaughtered, tortured, raped, and hacked
apart." – MacKenzie Hamilton Time and time again, we hear quotes like,
"Never Again," but more and more, victims not so much of the Holocaust,
but of Bosnia, Rwanda, and Darfur are being forgotten. People do not
realize that during the three and a half month Rwandan genocide that
the number 800,000 stands for real people: 333 per hour, 5 per minute
slaughtered, tortured, raped, and hacked apart. People do not realize
that 400,000 dead and 2.5 million driven from their homes represents
a majority of the pre-genocide population of Darfur.
In schools, we are neglecting human rights issues to prepare students
for standardized tests. Testing may be important, but the lives of
innocent civilians also need to hold importance in our society. As
Samantha Power stated so eloquently in her book, A Problem from Hell,
"Time and again, decent men and women choose to look away. We have
all been bystanders to genocide." It is time for you to make your
own decision. Will you look away, or will you do what you can for
our mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters in Darfur?
Children are the most valuable resource we have. The only way we
can end such atrocities is to educate our children, and teach them
to care, and that what they think matters. We need to teach them to
act politically, socially, and stand up for what is right.
Three years ago, my school formed a chapter of Students Taking Action
Now: Darfur, the student-led division of the Genocide Intervention
Network. Dozens of students in my school have worked to raise money
in any way they could. We’ve held numerous concerts to generate
funds for relief, fasted to raise money for refugee protection,
made presentations teaching the conflict in history classes, and
helped start a school for refugee students in Chad. Their students
have something to teach us. They wish to teach us how fortunate we are.
They wish to teach us courage in the face of hardships, starvation, and
sorrow. They wish to teach us that as we sit in these cushioned seats
with our Sunday Best on, and shoes on our feet, that there are millions
out there that are starving and without any semblance of schooling.
With all of our resources, we have our own responsibility. Not only
do we have a responsibility to protect, but we have a responsibility
to teach our own students to think beyond themselves.
We’ve been to Washington, DC, and lobbied our representatives.
We’ve been here in Boston, to lobby our legislators to divest from
Sudan. We’ve organized ourselves to combat genocide. We’ve set our
list of priorities. Human life first. I’ve witnessed children in my
school as young as 14 calling Representative Delahunt to ask for his
help. We’ve done our part, and will continue to do so, but now it
is time for you to act. No bickering over a couple of dollars for
materials for schools, no arguing over whether this atrocity is or
is not genocide, no looking away, because Africa is too far away,
and we don’t think we can help. As I speak, women are being raped,
men are being killed, and children are dying of hunger in Darfur.
This is real, and this must be addressed now.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have done our part, and now it’s time that
you do yours. What you can do as legislators is to pass HR 463.
To date, only 9 out of our 50 states have any semblance of Genocide
Education in their curriculums, and only California and New Jersey
have funded mandates. We cannot let children finished their high
school careers with only a warped view of the Holocaust and blank
stares at the words, "Armenia," "Bosnia," and, "Rwanda." I can think
of few things more important to teach than humanity and ‘good will
to men.’ We need to tell our children the truth–the world is not
a perfect place, and there is so much that we take for granted; we
hate doctor’s appointments, while millions around the world would
do anything for adequate medical care; we won’t eat our mother’s
aparagus, while millions more are malnourished starving around the
world; we cry over a three week relationship, while there are a
hundred thousand women being raped in Sudan.
These children have the capacity and right to learn. We cannot close
their eyes any longer and shelter them from what is truth to hundreds
of millions of people around the world. We also cannot teach just
the Holocaust and leave it at that. We need to give the children the
material and resources with which they can educate themselves and
fight for what is right.
Testimony of Andie Ramirez to the Joint Committee on Education,
June 9, 2009
Hi, my name is Andie Ramirez I’m a junior at Harwich high school. I’ve
been a member of STAND for two years and I became interested in STAND
my sophomore year after hearing two genocide survivors speak. Their
stories made me realize that we need to help, and we need to take
action.
In my remarks I’d like to focus on the amendment we are proposing to
HR 463. We are proposing that In Section 1, paragraph one, to replace
the words "any one such genocide may" with "at least two genocides
should" so that the sentence will read: "Case studies of at least
two genocides should be used to demonstrate the concept of genocide."
"Genocide isn’t just an awful thing that happened once, it’s something
that has happened, and is still continuing to happen to this present
day. Through the education of not one, but multiple genocides, children
will realize that genocide is a current issue, and one that must be
stopped." – Andie Ramirez As the bill stands now, it only requires
that schools teach one instance of genocide, and that is not likely to
change anything. This is because every high school in Massachusetts
most likely teaches about the Holocaust, but that is certainly not
enough. For current and future generations to understand the gravity of
genocide, they must be educated on present day atrocities in Rwanda,
Darfur, Burma, Congo and elsewhere, as well as the Holocaust. The
past and present genocides must be connected, not only will this make
history real, it will create a force against the unlawful extermination
of millions of innocent people. Genocide isn’t just an awful thing
that happened once, it’s something that has happened, and is still
continuing to happen to this present day. Through the education of
not one, but multiple genocides, children will realize that genocide
is a current issue, and one that must be stopped. So please consider
this amended language.
Our bill faces another difficulty because it mandates $50,000 in
spending by the Department of Education. Our numbers come upon the
advice of the legal representatives of the Telling History Project
and the Children’s Fund for Creative Education. Our legislation is
not unprecedented, as other specific education programs are funded
individually, and at a much higher cost. Funding could provide teacher
trainings, more detailed guides and curricular materials, and the
spread of such materials and knowledge to middle and high schools
throughout the Commonwealth. However, if funding is not attainable at
this time, I urge you to move the bill forward without it, to find
another way of giving this bill teeth and substance, or of delaying
the funding until a more economically feasible fiscal year.
Another possible objection might be to an additional mandate on the
Department of Education. This legislation is by no means intended to
infringe upon a teacher’s right to creativity within his classroom,
but to dismiss, glaze over, or provide a one sided perspective on
the deaths of millions of innocent civilians is to create holes in a
child’s history education so great that they distort the very fabric
of the curriculum. We hope you will see the value of this in improving
the education of all our students.
Testimony of Emily Cunningham to the Joint Committee on Education,
June 9, 2009
Regrettably, everything I know about genocide, I did not learn
in school.
My interest in the history of genocide began during my freshman
year of high school when the situation in Darfur started to make
headlines. I was outraged at the atrocities that were being committed
under the complacent eye of the world’s most powerful governments,
at the ignorance and indifference of my friends and family toward the
situation, but mostly at my own ignorance when I began to learn more
about the genocide in Darfur and realized that it was not an isolated
incident, nor was it the first genocide that had taken place since
the Nazi Holocaust. Where had my history teachers failed me?
I began to research and develop an addition to the current curriculum
framework that would integrate genocide education in an effective
way. In my research, I came across a similar effort made over ten years
ago. The Massachusetts Legislature and Governor enacted Chapter 276
of the Acts of 1998, a law directing the Department of Education to
make recommendations on curricular materials and resources related
to teaching about genocide and human rights. The result was The
Massachusetts Guide to Choosing and Using Curricular Materials on
Genocide and Human Rights.
Said Commissioner of Education David Driscoll, "It is important that
students acquire knowledge about genocide and human rights issues to
deepen their understanding of both past and current events."
Why then is this document hidden within the depths of the Department
of Primary and Secondary Education’s website? Why have several high
school teachers I have interviewed with a vested interest in genocide
and human rights education had no idea of its existence? Why do we
continue to inadequately teach our youth about one of the most gravely
important issues facing humanity today? This guide is a first step
in recognizing the need for genocide education in schools, but I am
here from the perspective of a student to tell you that your work is
not done.
I have identified five improvements that could be made to the existing
frameworks which I believe this bill will help to implement.
Curricular materials need to be genocide specific. In the existing
frameworks and supplements, there is no mention of the definition
of genocide, or the Genocide Convention. Slavery, human rights
issues, war casualties, and genocide are lumped into a single
document, but in order to address each topic correctly, they must
be acknowledged, approached, and taught differently. There is no
mention of US involvement or lack of involvement in any curriculum
framework or supplement. There is a strong tendency of teachers to
rely on the chronology, dates, facts, and figures rather than to
address the underlying causes of genocide and the common threads
which connect such atrocities of the past and present. Curricular
recommendations and materials must be kept up to date. There is no
mention of Cambodian genocide, the Kurdish Genocide, the Darfuri
genocide or the slaughter of the Karen people of Burma. Finally,
this bill needs funding. Though it may be difficult in a time of
economic crisis, I urge you to think of the money spent on teacher
trainings, conferences, and outside curricular materials in terms of
an investment in our future. In fact, our request is a drop in bucket
of the Department of Education’s near five billion dollar budget. The
lessons, stories, and common threads among the Holocaust, Cambodia,
Rwanda, Bosnia, Burma, and Sudan should echo from the blackboards and
lecterns of every middle and high school across our Commonwealth. If
not, for what have these millions upon millions of innocent mothers,
fathers, and children died over the past century?
Samantha Power, genocide scholar and advisor to President Obama states
"No US President has ever made genocide prevention a priority, and
no US President has ever suffered politically for his indifference
to its occurrence. It is thus no coincidence that genocide rages on."
Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel tells us that "the opposite of love
is not hate, but indifference." I urge you as legislators not to be
indifferent to the opportunity to create a place in the curriculum
framework for genocide specific education which shows the connection
between the past and the atrocities that continue to take place in
Congo, Burma, and Darfur today. You have a unique opportunity to breed
a generation of political will in Massachusetts that will continue
to stand up against human rights abuses everywhere.
* * *
The members of STAND raised more than $2,000 in December for genocide
relief. See the stories here, here and here.