A History Ignored... Repeats Itself

Sara Cohan
Education Director, The Genocide Education Project

"We cannot maintain the moral force we need to take action against the genocide going on in Darfur, if the Administration continues to equivocate about the genocide against the Armenians." -Representative Adam Schiff, March 2007

Representative Schiff's warning resonates clearly in the minds of Armenian Americans. We are born, live and die carrying the burden of genocide in our souls. As the survivors pass, those of us who knew and loved them remain. We remain with their testimonies and we remain in a country that denies our past. Year after year we watch the political beast that is Washington, D.C. ignore our request for affirmation. At the same time, more genocides occur and people around the world are plagued with the same fate as us.

Today, over four hundred thousand civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan have been massacred in the first genocide of the 21st Century. Not one government or the United Nations has effectively attempted to stop the genocide in Darfur. This is a historical reality that Armenians know too well. The people of Darfur are faced with the same political impotency that led to the demise of 1.5 million Armenians almost a century ago.

We must continue to demand the affirmation of the Armenian Genocide. With the same breath that we use to call for affirmation, we must also call for the end of the genocide in Darfur. It is a moral responsibility that cannot be shirked. We know the consequences of hate too intimately to turn our backs on our brothers and sisters in Darfur. Each of us has a child, a niece or nephew, or lives in a school district. We all pay for the education of the youth of this country and we need to demand that schools are teaching about genocide.

We are often taught in school that history repeats itself. This is one of the many incomplete stories we learn at school. A history ignored... repeats itself. When genocide is denied, ignored, brushed into the closets of history, it emerges again and again. The first modern genocide in human history, the Armenian case, is denied and it is therefore no coincidence that genocide continues to plague our world.

It is our moral responsibility to demand affirmation both for our ancestors and for those who suffer today. We can fight in Washington, but we can also take this to the classrooms and educate our youth about genocide.

Today, the U.S. government does not officially acknowledge the genocide of the Armenians and it may be years before it does. In the meantime, the subject should still be taught in American schools and it should be taught in a way that not only conveys the history but challenges students to take a stand against genocide today. By studying the Armenian Genocide at the secondary level, students are exposed to a particular history that deserves remembrance and that illuminates human rights issues facing the world today.

Education initiatives must be ongoing and comprehensive. They must continue to target all levels of public education from policy making to teacher training. The history of the Armenian Genocide needs to find a place in state-mandated education standards. Textbooks must begin to carry a correct and responsible history of the event. More supplemental materials should be created to meet a broader range of teachers' needs. Finally, adequate teacher training will ultimately ensure this history will become a standard component of every U.S. student's education. Educational initiatives are an integral aspect of genocide prevention. Promoting genocide education is an activity in which we can all participate and make difference.

***The Genocide Education Project is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization that assists educators in teaching about human rights and genocide, particularly the Armenian Genocide. For more information about The Genocide Education Project, go to www.GenocideEducation.org.