To the Editor:
The last stage of a genocide is denial, and when that stage is completed another genocide starts. Denial is the one of the reasons why genocides continue to happen and people remain uneducated on this crucial topic. I was shocked when my teacher, Mr. Woods, told us on April 20, 2016 that the Bayonne Community News had published an advertisement for an Armenian genocide denial organization. Is this really what we want to teach our youth? That it’s okay to let the truth die? More than 37 genocides have happened and are still happening because there are people who are still rejecting the truth. This year in my Facing History and Ourselves and Contemporary Human Rights class taught by Mr. Woods, I have learned a plethora of things about genocides that I never learned about in my education. It saddens me to know that people can deny a genocide while the evidence is right in front of them. We weren’t there to stop the Armenian genocide or save those innocent people who were murdered, but the least we can do is to accept that it happened and educate ourselves and others about it. As said by one of my teachers, “When learning about the past, some people say that if they were alive at that time they would’ve certainly done something to stop it, but the same things are going on in our world today while we just remain silent.” It’s time for us to come together and accept the past so that we can help stop the genocides that are happening right now in our world today. If not, we are destroying the lives of millions of people. I’m no expert in Holocaust and genocide studies, but I know and believe that every individual makes individual choices and our choices are the reason why the world still hasn’t changed. Nobody is forcing the Bayonne Community News to publish these advertisements, it’s their own choice. Please don’t promote organizations who are in denial about the Armenian genocide. It is never too late to reveal the truth.
RABIA SANDHU