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Texas School District Sparks Outrage After Telling Teachers To Offer 'Opposing' Holocaust Viewpoints
Holocaust denial, or the belief or assertion the Holocaust did not happen or was greatly exaggerated, is perhaps the most prominent antisemitic conspiracy theory out there.
The event, which was the genocide of European Jews during World War II, cost 6 million lives, not including the lives of millions of others, including ethnic Poles, the Roma, the disabled and gay men, who were persecuted under the Nazi regime.
There is no doubt the Holocaust took place, so what would an "opposing view" of it entail?
That's what's mired the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, Texas, in controversy this past week, after a top administrator advised teachers to present "opposing" viewpoints if they're going to assign books about the Holocaust.
Gina Peddy, the Carroll school district's executive director of curriculum and instruction, made the remarks during a training session on which books teachers can have in classroom libraries.
A Carroll staff member secretly recorded the training and shared the audio with NBC News.
NEW: A school administrator in Southlake, Texas, advised teachers last week that if they have a book about the Holocaust in their classroom, they should also have a book with an "opposing" perspective.\n\nListen to the audio recording obtained by @NBCNews: https://nbcnews.to/2YNVugH\u00a0pic.twitter.com/yPtM1ncjgV— NBC News (@NBC News) 1634241923
Referring to a new Texas law that requires teachers to offer multiple perspectives when covering "controversial" issues, Peddy said:
"Just try to remember the concepts of [House Bill] 3979."
"And make sure that if you have a book on the Holocaust, that you have one that has an opposing, that has other perspectives."
When asked by a teacher how one can "oppose" the Holocaust, Peddy responded:
"Believe me, that's come up."
The recording soon went viral, generating significant outrage online.
What enabled the Holocaust were people who kept silent as one egregious thing led to another.\nThat\u2019s how unthinkable things happen.https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/10/15/holocaust-texas-school-books-opposing/\u00a0\u2026— David Axelrod (@David Axelrod) 1634357878
The only other side of the Holocaust was the Nazi\u2019s side. Fuck that side to Hell and back. If you want to teach the opposing viewpoints of the systematic eradication of an entire people in a positive light then you can go to Hell too. Get your shit together Texas.— Bizarre Lazar (@Bizarre Lazar) 1634429561
I am named after someone who was murdered by the \u201copposing perspective.\u201dhttps://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1448741745584480259\u00a0\u2026— Dan Elbaum (@Dan Elbaum) 1634318499
So, Texas teachers can't tell their students about systemic racism but they can tell them that there were good people on both sides during the Holocaust? \n\nThat's some BS.— Covie (@Covie) 1634265156
So let me get this straight - the non-existent threat of \u201ccritical race theory\u201d has caused Texas to mandate the teaching of Holocaust denial? \n\nThis seems to be getting A LITTLE out of hand.https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1448741745584480259\u00a0\u2026— Chris Murphy (@Chris Murphy) 1634256397
There is no truth or integrity in an \u201copposing perspective\u201d on the Holocaust.https://twitter.com/nbcnews/status/1448741745584480259\u00a0\u2026— Alessandra Biaggi (@Alessandra Biaggi) 1634317335
Texas admin: \u201cMake sure that if you have a book on the Holocaust, that you have 1 that has an opposing, that has other perspectives\u201d\n\nHoly s\u2014. There is NO other perspective. Hitler and vile despicable bigots slaughtered millions of Jews\n\nYou CANNOT \u201cboth sides\u201d the Holocaust!— Lindy Li (@Lindy Li) 1634251685
I did not have \u201cBoth sides of the Holocaust must be taught\u201d on my 2021 dystopia-exists-in-Texas bingo card.— Barbara Malmet (@Barbara Malmet) 1634262568
Texas school now wants to legalize the teaching of Holocaust-denial. This this utterly nonsense. There isn\u2019t \u201cboth sides\u201d to certain things like the Holocaust. \n\nEverything is bigger in Texas \u2014 including pro-Nazi sentiments and pro-COVID laws.https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1448741745584480259\u00a0\u2026— Eric Feigl-Ding (@Eric Feigl-Ding) 1634246191
Peddy has not responded to requests for comment.
However, Carroll spokeswoman Karen Fitzgerald said the district "recognizes that all Texas teachers are in a precarious position with the latest legal requirements" in regard to the law, noting that an updated version will go into effect in December:
"Our purpose is to support our teachers in ensuring they have all of the professional development, resources and materials needed."
"Our district has not and will not mandate books be removed nor will we mandate that classroom libraries be unavailable."
According to Clay Robison, a spokesman for the Texas State Teachers Association, there is nothing in House Bill 3979 that explicitly mentions classroom libraries.
He issued a statement criticizing Peddy's remarks:
"We find it reprehensible for an educator to require a Holocaust denier to get equal treatment with the facts of history."
"That's absurd. It's worse than absurd. And this law does not require it."
The Carroll Independent School District also found itself in the news earlier this month after board trustees voted 3-2 to reprimand a teacher who had assigned an anti-racism book to her class.
The book, This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work by Tiffany Jewell, was at the center of a complaint filed by parents who voiced their opposition after their child brought a copy home from school.