The Armenian
Genocide - once observed primarily by
Armenian-Americans and marked by events in
parochial schools and annual protests at the
Turkish Embassy - is taking on a greater role in
the culture of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles
Unified School District has launched a genocide
curriculum that more effectively teaches
students about the killing of 1.5 million
Armenians in 1915 - considered the first
large-scale genocide of the 20th century.
City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo hosted the first
in a series of training workshops Monday, with
more than 300 teachers reading witness
testimonials and looking at survivors'
photographs in the "iWitness" exhibit on display
at his office.
"I run an office where every day truth is
powerful. It leads us to justice, and I think
the images out there speak truth and justice,"
Delgadillo said. "This isn't a huge
demonstration, but, hopefully, it will inspire
these kids and teachers to follow that same lead
and demonstrate courage at every turn."
The Genocide Education Project developed the
curriculum. It focuses on the 1915 genocide by
the Ottoman Empire against its Armenian
citizens, but it also includes materials on
other genocides of the 20th century - the
Holocaust, Rwanda, Cambodia, Bosnia and Darfur.
California schools are required to discuss the
Armenian Genocide in their 10th-grade modern
world history classes.
Two El Camino
Real High School history teachers said "iWitness"
- with its stark portraits and poignant stories
of victims - brought to life for them horrors
from nearly 100 years ago.
"We have a world history book - and it's an
excellent one - but it only has two or three
paragraphs devoted to this time," said James
DeLarme, a 10th-grade teacher. "This really
opens your eyes and makes it real as to what
happened. It will help when I teach students
about what happened."
Teacher Devon Krodle said it was the emotion of
the stories that impressed him.
"When you hear
these stories and see the pictures, it gives you
a better sense of the reality of that period,"
he said.
The Turkish government blames the deaths of
Armenians on civil war rather than an
orchestrated massacre, and the U.S. government
has not yet formally recognized the killings as
a massacre.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, has been trying
for years to push through a bill officially
recognizing the genocide, but has met with
resistance from Congress because of America's
relationship with Turkey.
"I think we need to do whatever we can do to
help educate the public by teaching its youngest
members what genocide really means, to help them
understand their own history and what's going on
elsewhere in the world like in Darfur," Schiff
said.
L.A. Unified's goal is to expose its students to
facts about human rights violations in the
world. In March, district teachers attended
training on a new Holocaust curriculum that
helps them put the topic in perspective and
increases their sensitivity to the events,
officials said.
"As a people, if we're not aware of how
prevalent genocide has been in (the last)
century, then it will keep happening," Clay
said. "The key point we want to make is that we
want to impart to students the factual material
and let the students make up their own minds."
"The idea is to study the similarities and
differences of all genocides, because no
genocide can be studied in isolation," said Raffi
Momjian, executive director of the Genocide
Education Project.
"The key is training teachers on how to address
human rights topics, and our ultimate goal is to
empower students to learn why and how these
things happen," said Momjian, whose nonprofit
group develops instructional materials about
human rights and genocide.
"As they grow up and hear about these things,
hopefully they become an informed and active
citizenry."
Staff Writer Rick Orlov contributed to this
report.
naush.boghossian@dailynews.com
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