Program commemorates 2016 law requiring Holocaust, genocide education

A special program to commemorate legislation requiring that Holocaust and genocide education be studied in Rhode Island’s public middle and high schools took place in the State Room at the State House on May 10.

Henry Theriault, a distinguished authority on genocide studies and president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, discussed the current climate of human rights as it relates to genocide and why this subject should be studied in school. 

Theriault, a professor and associate vice president of academic affairs at Worcester State University, in Massachusetts, said educating students to become more active in the world can make a difference when it comes to recognizing and combating genocide. The professor cited recent examples of how students can bring about change, including protests by students after the school shootings in Parkland, Florida, and during the Vietnam War. 

People stood by, watching, while millions were killed in the Holocaust and during the Armenian genocide, Theriault noted. Why, he asked, did nobody do anything about it?   

Not until the genocides in Kosovo, Bosnia and Rwanda did people work toward putting an end to such atrocities, he said. Students from organizations such as STAND (Students Taking Action: Darfur) brought public awareness to genocide. STAND was one of the first groups to bring attention to the mass killings and displacement of people in the Sudan genocide, which began in 2003 and continues today. 

Theriault said that through education and study, we can create a framework for community dialogue, leading to activism and understanding that will put an end to these atrocities. We need to teach students to understand people in our society, as well as in other societies, to bring about positive change, he continued. Genocide education, he said, is not just about the past, but about now. 

Shortly after the presentation, resolutions to commemorate the 2016 legislation requiring Holocaust and genocide education in the state were unanimously passed in both the House and Senate.

Rep. Jason Knight (Barrington, Warren), the primary sponsor of the House resolution, spoke about the importance of Holocaust and genocide education, as did Sen. Gayle Goldin (Providence), the primary sponsor in the Senate.

Sen. James C. Sheehan (Narragansett, North Kingstown), a school teacher in Warwick, added that he teaches the Holocaust to his students and sees how meaningful the subject matter is to them.

MARTY COOPER is a member of the R.I. Holocaust and Genocide Education Committee.