JulieAnne D

Challenge on How the Armenian Genocide is Taught in Massachusetts Public Schools

JulieAnne D. Mercier-Foint, Clark University

[Ed. Note: The International Association of Genocide Scholars submitted an amicus curia brief to the Massachusetts court, asking it to dismiss the suit.]

One high school student, two high school teachers, and the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) are suing Massachusetts education officials. They are challenging the Massachusetts Guide to Choosing and Using Curricular Materials on Genocide and Human Rights Issues, which went into effect in March 1999 (Associated Press [dateline: Boston], October 27, 2005). The plaintiffs want the deleted contra-genocide materials, which challenge the authenticity of the massacre of more than one million Armenians by Turks during the First World War, reinstated. Such material was removed from the guidelines after the bill��s sponsor and author, Senator Steven Tolman, sent a letter protesting the inclusion of references to Turkish websites that contest the genocide and after the Armenian National Committee of America issued a press release and letter demanding the removal of ��racist resources from [the] genocide curriculum�� (Boston Globe, December 4, 2005; Griswold vs. Driscoll, United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, http://www.ataa.org/magazine/ataa_civil_complaint.pdf, 16-17).

The plaintiffs claim that they are not disputing whether or not the Armenian Genocide took place, but rather the use of censorship (Boston Globe, November 25, 2005). Harvey Silverglate, Boston civil rights lawyer, who represents the plaintiffs, believes that students should be exposed to all positions concerning the Armenian Genocide and allowed to make their own decisions as to how and if the genocide occurred. According to the plaintiffs, the actions taken by the Massachusetts Department of Education and the Massachusetts Board of Education have violated their rights to free expression and belief guaranteed by the United States Constitution. They feel that the law represses academic debate and excludes contrary points of view (Boston Globe, December 27, 2005; Boston Globe, December 4, 2005).

Commissioner of Education, David P. Driscoll, and Board of Education Chairman, James A. Peyser, have repeatedly declared that the purpose of the legislation is to address the Armenian Genocide, among other genocides and human rights violations, and not to debate whether or not the genocide occurred (Boston Globe, November 25, 2005). Additionally, both have pointed out that the final and current version of the Massachusetts Guide to Choosing and Using Curricular Materials on Genocide and Human Rights Issues promotes the use of instructional materials on genocide and human right issues which provide ��differing points of view on controversial issues�� (Griswold vs. Driscoll, United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, http://www.ataa.org/magazine/ataa_civil_complaint.pdf, 16-17).

The lawsuit, filed October 26, 2005, and now pending in Federal Court, has generated widespread discussion among human rights organizations, ethnic groups, political circles, and academia. Notably, genocide scholars Peter Balakian, Helen Fein, and Gregory H. Stanton have publicly responded to the lawsuit and the plaintiffs�� viewpoints with articles and letters in the Boston Globe. They have declared the lawsuit to be erroneous, affirmed the historical facts of the Armenian Genocide, and asserted that teachers are not obligated to educate students about the beliefs of special-interest groups, such as the ATAA (Boston Globe, December 31, 2005; Boston Globe, December 4, 2005). They have asserted that ��there is a profound difference between disputed history and denialist propaganda�� and that while ��the First Amendment permits us to express anything��it does not enable [the] falsification of history to be taught in our public schools�� (Boston Globe, December 4, 2005).

Recently, a newly established genocide coalition, along with Armenian-American organizations and Massachusetts state representatives, has stood up for the Armenian community. The multi-ethnic, non-partisan coalition kNow Genocide, which seeks to combat the ongoing denial of known cases of genocide, such as the Darfur, Cambodian, Jewish, Rwandan, and the Armenian genocides, together with Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly and Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, joined the Armenians of Massachusetts in the Armenian Genocide Commemoration Ceremony and publicly asserted their support of the Armenians in their battle to ensure that the Armenian Genocide is taught in schools as genocide (Boston Globe, April 20, 2006).

In light of this lawsuit, the issue of Holocaust deniers has been raised. For instance, Senator Tolman has asked, and rightly so, whether the public will next demand that Holocaust deniers have a voice in the classroom (Boston Globe, December 4, 2005). While Holocaust deniers might be discussed in the classroom in the context of the Holocaust and the issues surrounding the Holocaust, their work and their viewpoints are not given a voice in the classroom, and, as genocide scholars, legislators, and others have pointed out, neither should those who deny the Armenian Genocide.