The Teach Against Genocide (TAG) Campaign seeks to pass and implement funded state-level legislation mandating the inclusion of comprehensive genocide education in the curricula of public schools, and to create mechanisms to train teachers on the subject.

 

 

The vast majority of Americans share our view that genocide education is an important and necessary component of public education. An April 2007 poll conducted by the Genocide Intervention Network found that 80% of Americans support mandatory genocide education in public schools. Illinois State Senator Jacqueline Collins, who helped pass state legislation mandating genocide education, describes its importance to all Americans:

By studying these tragic lessons from history, we can help our children understand the importance of freedom…When they recognize that crimes of genocide continue in some corners of the world, even in the 21st century, it will raise their awareness and help them understand what can happen when you judge people by their race, their homeland or their beliefs.

As the United States government works to stop the first genocide of the 21st century, it is young people who are pushing their leaders to “save Darfur.” More than any other issue – including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – it is the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Sudan that has awakened America’s youth. More than 1,000 student chapters have been established at high school and colleges across the country.

As one student activist remarked:

Learning about the Rwandan genocide in high school and knowing that I was alive while it was happening was a huge shock. It inspired me to learn about how such destruction could take place in our day and age. I started to learn about Armenia, Cambodia, Bosnia, and the Holocaust and also started reading the newspaper. When I heard about Darfur, well, there was no way I was going to stand by.

 

Legislation for mandatory genocide education has been passed already in 4 states. In the coming months, TAG will be mobilizing young people, educators, and concerned Americans of all backgrounds to pass similar legislation in the remaining, 46 states. We will build off the successes of our Sudan divestment campaign which, to date, has been responsible for passing legislation for states to divest from companies invested in Sudan in 22 states.