#NeverForget – now just a mere slogan? It appears to have progressively transformed into a hollow slogan by those promoting Critical Race Theory (CRT), ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ (DEI), and Intersectionality. The Holocaust, an event so horrific, that in addition to annihilating 6 million Jews, also tortured and killed millions of others for their ethnicity, religious beliefs, physical & mental disabilities, sexual orientation, or anything else perceived as not “purely Aryan”, has been hijacked! We study history in hopes to never repeat the mistakes of the past. Regrettably, the Holocaust has been appropriated, blurred and blended with extreme progressive ideologies to stroke the flames of Social Justice. For the Nazis and their partners who viewed being white as a moral good, just a drop of Jewish Blood was enough to deem a person not white, filthy, sub-human, and deserving of torture and death. But the Critical Social Justice Paradigm that views whiteness as irredeemably evil, the ‘Jew’ has been transformed into ‘White Adjacent’ and that is the nature of antisemitism that is now missing from Holocaust education.
What began as a genuine initiative to ensure that every generation understood the atrocities that took place during WWII and how to prevent them from reoccurring, has progressively morphed into something entirely different – something that completely misses the mark. Those who misrepresent this significant era of history are not only disrespecting the millions who suffered and died at the hands of evil perpetrators and their accomplices – they are also denying our children the opportunity to learn that destruction ensues when people are divided and judged by race, ethnicity, religion, or any other visible or invisible differences.
Truth is absolute. But truth can be intentionally distorted via the language and definitions used to describe it. Those who promote CRT, DEI, and
Intersectionality have been deliberately distorting the teachings of the Holocaust and other significant historical events. We must reclaim language. We must redefine terms and identify buzzwords in order to navigate reality.
ProgressiveandTransformativeare terms frequently used in education, yet often misdefined. G.K. Chesterton, author of ‘Orthodoxy’, explains: “Progress is a metaphor for merely walking along a road – very likely a wrong road. But reform is a metaphor for reasonable and determined men: it means that we see a certain thing out of shape and mean to put it into shape. And we know what shape.” At No Left Turn in Education, we find it more productive to focus onreform. When educators and policymakers talk about progress and transformation, the final outcome, or shape, is unknown, or in the least, it is intentionally hidden. Whenwe envisionreform, we know what the final “form” is to be and thatfinal shapebecomes the established objective for improvement.
| Carolina Simon, Holocaust scholar and winner of the 2018 Gutterman Family Holocaust Educator of the Year Award, shares her insights on why, how, and when this progressive transformation happened to Holocaust History. No Left Turn In Education believes discrimination is abhorrent and that manipulating history to promote specific ideologies is always wrong. As Simon states, “I see many opportunities for true reform – reform in the sense of reformation, as was the case for the Protestant Reformation. It is a reckoning by the people against the obscenities of an over-indulgent elite class. A class of people that for almost 50 years have dwindled the rigors of language instruction, the value of literacy, or the universality of mathematics and history for their greedy purposes. Holocaust education can help lead the way towards a moral and intellectual renaissance by taking the original intention focused on a moral compass rooted in the sacred value of all human life coupled with the return to facts-based academic instruction. ”ReformingHolocaust education will eliminate much of the antisemitic attitudes that have recently resurfaced as well as restore an accurate account of that monstrous time in history. If we are going to revive objective thinking in American education as our mission states, we must provide students with accurate knowledge and content with which to think objectively. |
| Elana Fishbein Founder & President. |
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