Holocaust

[Mel Roseman <mrosema@EIS.CALSTATE.EDU>]

Bill Sears writes in part:

>One was the history of on of the consentration camps seen through the
>eyes of diaries.
>The other was a discussion about why this person thought the
>whole thing was a lie.  Two sides to the same story.

        Two sides to what story?  Should students also discuss whether the
United States exists?  Whether human beings ever set foot on the moon?
Whether Hitler (or George Washington) was a real person?  Whether the
Constitution of the U.S. exists as a document?  Whether there's a law
against premeditated murder?

        Not every event or entity is a "story" with two sides. Opinions
have sides, most often many more than two.  Facts, in contrast, are
incontrovertible.  One responsibility of teachers is to teach their
students the distinction between facts and opinions.

        "Talk radio" and "Talk TV" deliberately and consciously ignore
the distinction because people react emotionally (as I am doing), and raw
emotion is the fodder for sales of the products advertised on the
programs.  I think that students should be taught how they are being
manipulated by what they hear and see instead of being taught that
everything is a question which has two sides.

        Knowing Bill Sears, I'm certain that his lessons included such
analyses, but the brevity of his remarks didn't make that clear.

        Sorry for this flame, but as one who lost relatives to the
Holocaust, I just had to respond.
                                                - Mel

____________________________________________________________________________
Mel Roseman
Internet: mrosema@ctp.org