Search Our Collection

This past fortnight has seen an alarming number of antisemitic and racist incidents in the news: in Germany, two people were killed and many more terrorised in a mass shooting attempt that targeted a synagogue; in Bulgaria, football fans taunted players with racist chants and Nazi salutes; in Hertfordshire, a teacher allegedly “joked” about sending primary school pupils who failed to complete their work “to the gas chamber”(and then told them not to tell anyone); and in politics, another Labour politician resigned from the party citing the rise of antisemitism as the reason for her departure.

In a Facing History and Ourselves classroom, asking students to question and think critically is challenging every day, but especially when we read headlines about violence in communities close to home. During the week leading up to Thanksgiving, a video showing the 2014 murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was released on the same day that Mr. Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder. Facing History offers essential questions to consider and strategies for helping students process the myriad thoughts, feelings, and opinions they are experiencing.

In my senior year at Magnificat High School in Cleveland, I signed up to take a class on the Holocaust called “Dangers of Indifference.”

The class was unique in that three teachers taught it: a history teacher, an art teacher, and a religion teacher. Having these three perspectives helped me understand something I had not realized before – that hatred is not the largest problem we face, indifference is.

February 3, 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the passage of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

An important dialogue has started at Facing History about ways to use Facing History online tools to nurture civic behavior in the digital age. More and more our online tools are allowing for students to engage with one another all over the world. This has been especially important in trying out new resources such as Reporter, Bully and Freedom Riders, as well as Facing History online courses, have brought together international classrooms to share a common core of knowledge.