12 | JULY 22 • 2021 

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PURELY COMMENTARY

of controversial aspects of 
history,” or even “the impartial 
instruction on the oppression 
of a particular group of people.” 
On the other hand, it bans 
teaching that “an individual, by 
virtue of the individual’s race 
or sex, is inherently privileged” 
(forestalling, presumably, 
lessons in how the redlining in 
the 1930s led to white wealth 
accumulation today or how 
men enjoyed privileges over 
women — well, at just about 
any point in history). The 
prohibition sits within the 
same category as “promoting 
or advocating the violent 
overthrow of the United States 
government”!
Some scholars have objected, 
in particular, to the squishy 
concept outlined in 51.a.6: 
Educators are forbidden to 
teach in a manner that causes 

a student to “feel discomfort, 
guilt, anguish or another form 
of psychological distress solely 
because of the individual’s race 
or sex.” 
Now it’s certainly good 
pedagogic practice to refrain 
from humiliating one’s students 
(I’m embarrassed to even have 
to say that). But it is a tall 
order to teach the history of 
race and sex in this country 
without making someone feel 
discomfort or anguish, just 
as it impossible to teach the 
Holocaust properly without 
causing German students 
to reflect on their national 
history, or the Holodomor 
without giving Russians pause 
to contemplate brutal Soviet 
agrarian policies. 
These laws will chill honest 
engagement with hard truths, 
forcing teachers to lie to their 

students, even if only by 
omission. 
Furthermore, anyone 
teaching Jewish history 
will be challenged to find a 
way to present the legacy of 
antisemitism without running 
afoul of these regulations. 
The historical linkage 
between Catholic theology 
and the persecution of Jews, 
for example, is rife with 
difficult topics. They range 
from the medieval charges 
of host desecration and the 
horrendous blood libel to the 
pope’s kidnapping of 6-year-old 
Edgardo Mortara in 1858 (we 
could, unfortunately, continue 
at length). 
Protestants would also 
be discomfited by Martin 
Luther’s anti-Jewish screed, 
“On the Jews and their Lies” 
(1543). The list of countries 

where Jews have lived in 
their diaspora is pretty much 
identical to the list of countries 
that have discriminated against 
Jews.
Obviously, the presentation 
of challenging material must be 
titrated to the specifics of the 
classroom, considering factors 
like the age and background 
preparation of the students. 
No responsible teacher wants 
to teach students to “hate each 
other” or “hate America.” 
But we all participate in 
a sacred covenant with our 
students: They expect us to tell 
them the truth. These memory 
laws, if enforced, would ask us 
to betray that covenant. 

Henry Abramson is a specialist 

in Jewish history and thought who 

currently serves as a dean of Touro 

College in Brooklyn, N.Y.

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