Introduction

Facing History and Ourselves is a course that I feel that everyone should take in their high school career. Not only does it keep alive the memory of the atrocities committed by the Nazi Party and the German people, but it also forces the students to look introspectively at how they act and what they do. Instead of being a bystander and just staying out of situations that seem like they’ll be a little complicated, the course teaches you to intervene, and protect the person being victimized. I have lived in Westborough my entire life, and have therefore never really been forced to look extensively at other races and cultures and their sufferings. I’ve lived in this confined environment where not much other than pop media floods the streets and being exposed to the true harshness of some of the topics that we’ve briefly covered in school was a true eye-opener. Anyone who lives in the suburbs especially, but also everyone everywhere, should be forced to take this class in order to graduate high school. It takes people, well at least it took me, out of that one-track state of mind where you’re just going out for your own and don’t really care who you leave burned out in the trail. This course was life changing, and added an entire different level of perspective into my track of mind. By taking this course I have undoubtedly become more conscience of the power of words and even importantly the power of actions. If you just sit back and let someone be victimized you are sending a specific message to the attacker saying that it’s alright to do that. This course teaches you to stand up and fight against injustice, and if everybody was forced to take it, there would be a significant amount less racism in the world today.