Houston Middle yearbook photo a teachable moment

Rabbi Katie Bauman, Guest Columnist
Rabbi Katie Bauman

Last week, a photograph of two students dressed in Nazi garb appeared in the Houston Middle School yearbook, capturing a role-playing lesson on prejudice and discrimination in Nazi Germany.  Both the Germantown Municipal School District and the principal of Houston Middle School released statements of apology. The School District apologized “to anyone who was offended by the insensitive image.” The principal stated, “We apologize that the yearbook picture may have offended anyone or has caused misunderstanding of our intent.” The School District committed to review the incident. This is a first step, but it cannot be the last.

Our community must support this review and the action steps that flow from it. To do otherwise minimizes a colossal error in judgment by many people and tolerates a lack of appreciation for the power of symbols and images to inflict pain. We owe it to our children to learn through this unfortunate occurrence to treat the study of historical events with greater respect.

We must begin by admitting that the appearance of this photograph in the yearbook was not an accident. It was the result of a series of choices made by people who have normalized a symbol that represents one of the blackest moments humanity has ever known. The costumes required effort to construct. The students paused for a photograph that someone suggested they take. The image of children dressed as Nazis did not catch the attention of students or faculty working on the yearbook.

The principal attributed the Holocaust lesson to the renowned international organization Facing History and Ourselves. However, the choice to include a role-playing activity in the delivery of the lesson was inconsistent with the guidelines the organization explicitly presents. According to the Executive Director of Facing History in Memphis, Marti Tippens Murphy, “Facing History and Ourselves is an international educational organization committed for over 40 years to engaging students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry. Our educational materials and policies are clear: role-playing and other related activities have no place in our curriculum or in the context of teaching any of our historical case studies.”  Each individual decision that led to children wearing Nazi uniforms and symbols is cause for deep soul searching and an alarm, for all our sakes, to use constant vigilance to ensure that the gravity of an historical moment in which millions perished is never diminished.

The Star of David, the Cross, the Crescent, the Statue of Liberty, and even the Grizzly Bear communicate messages about who we are and what we believe. Shapes and colors combine to make statements, set tones, and, most important of all, tell stories. Symbols tell stories so effectively that no amount of explanation or clarification can mitigate their instantaneous and lasting impact.  Whether a rosary, a chamsa, a menorah, whether the Confederate flag or the swastika, we must stand united in our refusal to treat symbols lightly, lest we treat lightly the stories they represent and thereby desecrate our shared humanity.

Failure is human and, when admitted, can be forgiven. The instructional strategy used in this lesson, the photograph, and its publication are failures to deeply examine the reality of the Holocaust and its representations. With humility and resolve, the educator, school, and district must set an example by taking full responsibility for their failures in a way that recognizes the severity of the situation rather than mitigating it. Every failure is also an opportunity to grow.  Let us seize this failure as an opportunity to scrutinize the way we treat historical events and the symbols that represent them. If we do, then we can transform this dark incident into a bright moment of conviction. We can own our shortsightedness and the dangers of it, and we can commit to studying the past even more intensely to prevent desensitization toward the history we all share.