Facing History and Ourselves is an outstanding half year course provided by Westborough High School and is taught by Mr. Gallagher. The main focus of this course is to determine who you are and what you stand for. In order to assist in this search, the course focuses on various events throughout history where hate crimes were committed and explores prejudice against other people. These events include the civil rights movement of the 60’s, the genocide and removal of Native Americans and heavily focuses on the holocaust. These events are taught through discussions, documentaries and films which show how the events occurred and achieve in giving emotion to the events. The goal here is to introduce students to the various sides of these events and to put them in the shoes of the perpetrator, bystanders, victims and resistance alike. Through such civic agency, the student is able to determine for themselves who they would be in such an occurrence and how they would act. I chose this course because I have always had a deep rooted interest in history. In addition, I wanted to explore first hand why and more importantly how such events as the holocaust could have ever taken place. In this interest, I desired to better my understanding of human nature and of how humans think the way they do.
I come from a split family as my parents divorced when I was an early age, but have been fortunate enough to have both parents and step parents who greatly care about me. From them I was taught the morals and values that I live by today. I have played football for about 9 years now and greatly enjoy it. Other things I enjoy doing include watching sports and movies and hanging out with my friends. One day I hope to go to college, find a good job and start a family of my own.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Make a Difference Essay
This course was one of the most influential that I have taken during my three years in high school. This course has forced me to further look at myself and to truly question what type of man I am. The many lessons we have learned throughout the year have covered a wide range of topics and events regarding racism and injustice. It is through these events that I have realized the destructive and hurtful capabilities of humans against their fellow man. It is through this knowledge that I aspire to better myself as a person and strive to prevent such injustices from occurring again. This course has changed me for the better and has made a deep impact on my entire life, as I have seen and learned things of which I will never forget. These things included the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the uprisings in the Warsaw Ghetto and the extermination and experimentation of Jews by the Nazis. All of these events were driven by the prejudices of one group towards another group and involved perpetrators, victims and resistance. Through my knowledge of these historic events I have been benefited as a person as I will no longer stand as a bystander when others are being criminally victimized.
One of the more shocking and impacting effects a lesson had on me was the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s in which African Americans, who were segregated from whites throughout the nation, mostly the South, stood up for their rights. The reason of which this impacted me so much and was the easiest to relate to is because it occurred in our own nation. Here a clear victim was established in the oppressed status of African Americans which suffered under Southern white racism. Even more of an injustice was the rules of marriage set up in the South to prevent Blacks from marrying Whites as shown in the documents we read in class. However, in the 1960s, the African Americans began to resist the current system and the Jim Crow laws of the South by means of peaceful protest. They used methods including sit ins and peaceful marches that frequently turned violent as a result of the opposition from white supremacists to change. This lesson benefited me as it taught me to stand up for your rights against oppression and to challenge the views of those with hate towards another group of people. Even more incredible was the assistance that the Civil Rights movement received from younger whites across the country, which alongside blacks rode on integrated cross country bus demonstrations. This reflects that it does not matter if you are not part of the group being oppressed in order to help in resisting injustice. The effect this had on me was profound because I now feels that I have an obligation to stand up for what is right, even if the atrocity doesn’t directly involve me.
One of the more shocking and impacting effects a lesson had on me was the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s in which African Americans, who were segregated from whites throughout the nation, mostly the South, stood up for their rights. The reason of which this impacted me so much and was the easiest to relate to is because it occurred in our own nation. Here a clear victim was established in the oppressed status of African Americans which suffered under Southern white racism. Even more of an injustice was the rules of marriage set up in the South to prevent Blacks from marrying Whites as shown in the documents we read in class. However, in the 1960s, the African Americans began to resist the current system and the Jim Crow laws of the South by means of peaceful protest. They used methods including sit ins and peaceful marches that frequently turned violent as a result of the opposition from white supremacists to change. This lesson benefited me as it taught me to stand up for your rights against oppression and to challenge the views of those with hate towards another group of people. Even more incredible was the assistance that the Civil Rights movement received from younger whites across the country, which alongside blacks rode on integrated cross country bus demonstrations. This reflects that it does not matter if you are not part of the group being oppressed in order to help in resisting injustice. The effect this had on me was profound because I now feels that I have an obligation to stand up for what is right, even if the atrocity doesn’t directly involve me.
Another aspect of this class that affected me was the rise of the Nazi party and the role of both bystanders and the resistance during it. One thing that especially shocked me was the woman who turned in her neighbor to Nazi officials in which the woman she turned in would later be executed. Even more astonishing was that she wouldn’t even admit that she committed the act and firmly believed that she was free from any crime. Many others like her did the same thing in order to either save themselves or just to appear supportive of the government. Their inactivity to stop the Nazis from committing this crime and even aiding the Nazis only contributed in enabling the crimes to continue. These people in my eyes are cowards as they allowed and helped these actions to continue and only cared about themselves while millions of others were being shipped off to concentration camps. On the flip side was the resistance, for example the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw ghetto uprising. These brave men and women took a stand against their oppressors in order to protect their families, communities and dignity. The action of these partisans inspired me to stand up in defense of my beliefs and to not just lay back and accept oppression. In addition, the SS officer who attempted to expose the holocaust for what it was to the Vatican and the Allies risked his life in order to attempt to save the Jews being killed and to do what was right. Through these examples I learned that self-preservation is not as important as doing the right thing and bringing justice to others being victimized, as one has a moral obligation to do so.
The aspect of this class which will be seared in my mind for the rest of my existence on this Earth are the atrocities committed during the holocaust. Just the idea of savagely killing millions of other human beings horrifies me. The Nazis did everything they possibly could to dehumanize and degrade the Jews by first stripping them of their rights, deporting them into ghettos, then concentration camps and then eventually using them as slaves and killing them in the end. The images in class that we viewed of the concentration camps and the U.S Army documentary about the camps had a great impact on me as I could look into the eyes of another human being and see the torture they had been through and could also see the horrendous images of death. Even more shocking and impacting on me were the medical experiments conducted at the camps like at Auschwitz, as portrayed in the movie the Grey Zone. For me this is the pinnacle of how evil men can be as cruel and gruesome experiments were performed on the camp prisoners, such as freezing them to death and performing operations while the patient was still awake. From this I am changed in the way that I can’t consciously just sit by while racist jokes or crimes are being committed because if uncontested, it can lead to events like the holocaust.
In the conclusion of this course, the lessons I have learned have had a greatly positive impact on me and my character. I have come out of this class a more vigilant person in standing up for my beliefs and in defending the integrity of others and have learned about the destruction racism can cause. While I do not know where I will be in life in twenty years or exactly what my plan will be to get there, the lessons and impact that this class had on me will stay with me as long as I am alive. I now have a better knowledge of the individual I am as after taking this course I find it impossible for me to be a bystander when I can contribute something to call out racism or positively help someone. Unlike most of my other classes the lessons learned in "Facing History and Ourselves", have a meaning outside of the classroom, where life is lived and pertains to everyone. Such injustices cannot be allowed to happen again.
Works Cited
Works Cited
Concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust. MartinFrost.ws. Image. 13 January 2012.Dachau Picture: Soldier Examining the Door to a Gas Chamber. About.com. Image. 13 January 2012.Nazi Camps in Occupied Europe 1943-1944. Jewish Virtual Library. Image. 13 January 2012.Nazis in the Ivory Tower. FrontPageMag.com. Image. 13 January 2012. Students Hosed in Birmingham. Wikipedia. Image. 13 January 2012.
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