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packman

(16,296 posts)
Sat Jul 6, 2019, 12:28 PM Jul 2019

Principal apologizes for telling parent, 'Not everyone believes the Holocaust happened'

More of the Trumpism - There's good people on both sides-

Florida high school principal William Latson reportedly told the mother of a student, “Not everyone believes the Holocaust happened” regarding the history curriculum.

According to 2018 emails obtained by The Palm Beach Post, Latson of Spanish River High School in Boca Raton, Fla. said that Holocaust education is “to be introduced but not forced upon individuals, as we all have the same right but not all the same beliefs.”

Latson was answering the mother’s question on how that portion of WWII history was prioritized — the school holds annual Holocaust assemblies and focused one-day lessons for 10th graders. “We advertise it to the 10th grade parents as [there] are some who don’t want their children to participate and we have to allow them the ability to decline,” warned Latson in the email.

That mother, who did not want the newspaper to publish her name, reportedly told Latson, “The Holocaust is a factual, historical event. It is not a right or a belief.”

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/principal-apologizes-for-telling-parent-not-everyone-believes-the-holocaust-happened-214529886.html

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Principal apologizes for telling parent, 'Not everyone believes the Holocaust happened' (Original Post) packman Jul 2019 OP
Our son and his wife and teens toured the Dachau concentration camp yesterday. Cousin Dupree Jul 2019 #1
And not everybody objects to summarily shooting Nazi sympathizers without a trial. struggle4progress Jul 2019 #2
Just saw a timely documentary that showed some Holocaust denial. dixiegrrrrl Jul 2019 #12
Not Jewish, no connection but KatyMan Jul 2019 #15
I have not heard of Holomor and had to look it up. dixiegrrrrl Jul 2019 #16
Thanks, I should've included a link! KatyMan Jul 2019 #17
So if parents don't believe in trigonometry Everyman Jackal Jul 2019 #3
Yah, what about that Al Ji Bra? packman Jul 2019 #4
It's fine...just so long as the equations aren't written in Arabic. lapucelle Jul 2019 #6
Lol! cwydro Jul 2019 #8
They probably prefer plain geometry...nothing fancy like trig. lapucelle Jul 2019 #7
It's an assembly he was talking about. Igel Jul 2019 #18
There is a huge local Holocaust denier whose kids go to this school obamanut2012 Jul 2019 #5
Well, the principal is an African American. You think he's a trumper? cwydro Jul 2019 #9
It should not be an opt-out. LiberalFighter Jul 2019 #10
What is forgotten can be repeated. dixiegrrrrl Jul 2019 #13
I remember when my parents did not believe murielm99 Jul 2019 #11
Something that actually happened is not subject to belief. PoindexterOglethorpe Jul 2019 #14
Was he implying that's a reason not to teach it? uponit7771 Jul 2019 #19
This goes right with that failed logic of Ilsa Jul 2019 #20

Cousin Dupree

(1,866 posts)
1. Our son and his wife and teens toured the Dachau concentration camp yesterday.
Sat Jul 6, 2019, 12:33 PM
Jul 2019

They felt the children needed to see it while they were in Europe. Son said FROTUS kept coming to mind during the visit. Lots of similarities. I’m not Jewish, but I believe there couldn’t be a bigger insult to the Jewish people than to deny the holocaust.

dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
12. Just saw a timely documentary that showed some Holocaust denial.
Sat Jul 6, 2019, 01:32 PM
Jul 2019

the doc, The Accountant at Auschwitz, covers a very recent trial of one of the German officers at the camp.

there are a dozen questions concerning accountability, forgiveness, the importance of holding the trials over the past decades.
I am still pondering it today.

Highly highly recommend. I found it on Netflix streaming.

KatyMan

(4,198 posts)
15. Not Jewish, no connection but
Sat Jul 6, 2019, 01:41 PM
Jul 2019

Anyone whose job involved Auschwitz is complicit. And that goes for Dachau and the rest.
Same goes with Holdomor.

dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
16. I have not heard of Holomor and had to look it up.
Sat Jul 6, 2019, 02:47 PM
Jul 2019

genocide.....

So am putting it here, in brief, for anyone who wants to now about it:

The term Holodomor (death by hunger, in Ukrainian) refers to the starvation of millions of Ukrainians in 1932–33 as a result of Soviet policies. The Holodomor can be seen as the culmination of an assault by the Communist Party and Soviet state on the Ukrainian peasantry, who resisted Soviet policies.

Poor Ukraine...such a long sad history.

Igel

(35,320 posts)
18. It's an assembly he was talking about.
Sat Jul 6, 2019, 03:50 PM
Jul 2019

And for the most part, assemblies have parental opt-out. There are no assemblies to commemorate geometry. (As for Pythagoras, got a picture or autograph?)



I've had to each human evolution. I tell my kids (and their parents) the same thing: I don't care what you believe, not my concern. I'll teach the evidence, the logic, and give a test. The grade's given on not based on beliefs, but on how well they know the evidence and logic. They fail the test, they get tutoring and are expected to pass the test.

I've also taught literature. I tell my kids that they'll be graded on how well they know the "evidence" and the logic of using the evidence from works of fiction. They fail the test, they get tutoring and are expected to pass the test.

If the student wants to treat these two things as being similar or not, not my concern. I've known good researchers in a variety of scientific fields--chemistry, materials science, molecular biology--who rejected human evolution and yet managed to have a decent series of useful patents or peer-reviewed publications to their credit.

As various fields have changed and new discoveries are made, what I've had to teach for Earth/Space science has changed. In other words, some of what I've taught in the past, had my kids learn, and then tested them over was simply false. Nonetheless, I had them learn it and tested them over it. It's not like their grades suddenly evaporated when what was taught as truth turned out false. If they don't want to believe something, not my problem. I leave fretting about beliefs to their ministers, if their have any, or other spiritual gurus.

obamanut2012

(26,080 posts)
5. There is a huge local Holocaust denier whose kids go to this school
Sat Jul 6, 2019, 12:54 PM
Jul 2019

I will leave it at that, because the last time he did stuff publicly, his innocent kids got threats. I know other folks whose kids go to this school, and they are appalled by the principal.

This principal should be fired.

 

cwydro

(51,308 posts)
9. Well, the principal is an African American. You think he's a trumper?
Sat Jul 6, 2019, 01:19 PM
Jul 2019

The sickness in this country runs deep.

dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
13. What is forgotten can be repeated.
Sat Jul 6, 2019, 01:36 PM
Jul 2019

The words "Never again" are important as a lesson from the past, but there are those who want the horrors of fascism forgotten, for a reason.

murielm99

(30,745 posts)
11. I remember when my parents did not believe
Sat Jul 6, 2019, 01:30 PM
Jul 2019

that dinosaurs existed. It did not fit in with their Bible based story of the creation.

PoindexterOglethorpe

(25,862 posts)
14. Something that actually happened is not subject to belief.
Sat Jul 6, 2019, 01:37 PM
Jul 2019

The principal needs to be reminded of that. Or to be told that a lot of people think slavery was quite benign and all slaves were well treated by their owners.

Something else that believing in does not make true.

Ilsa

(61,695 posts)
20. This goes right with that failed logic of
Sat Jul 6, 2019, 03:58 PM
Jul 2019

"I didn't see that happen, so I don't have to believe it." There are plenty of people out there with busted logic. And strangely enough, a lot of those people "have faith" in a resurrection and God, but not the recent recounting of stories, with verification, pictures, and film of the Holocaust.

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