California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday the establishment of the Governor’s Council on Holocaust and Genocide Education (“the Council”) during a visit to the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. The Council’s mission is to educate students in California about the holocaust and other similar genocidal acts in history to prepare them to recognize and respond to anti-Semitism and bigotry within their campuses.
State Senator Henry Stern, Attorney General Rob Bonta and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond will serve as Co-chairs of the Council. Additionally, the Council will include Assemblymembers Adrin Nazarian, Jose Medina, James Ramos and Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, and Senators Scott Wiener, Connie Leyva and Susan Rubio. Based on future feedback, the Council will also include academics, advocates and community organizations reflecting the wide diversity of communities impacted by genocide throughout history.
Bonta highlighted the importance of coming together to combat hate across society and in education “to confront the stain of bigotry and anti-Semitism in California and across the country,” noting that the Council will prepare schools to recognize the trauma of the past and protect their communities. Thurmond, who created the Education to End Hate Initiative, noted the power of education to serve as a great “equalizer” and find a pathway to healing.
The Council will be tasked with developing a volunteer speaker’s bureau of individuals—that will include holocaust survivors—with an aim to engage teachers and students in conversations about the lessons of genocide, provide best practices and resources to support schools across the state that are dealing with acts of bigotry or discrimination, and host educational events and seminars for educators, students and other stakeholders.
Governor Newsom stated during his announcement:
We find ourselves in a moment of history where hate pervades the public discourse…National surveys have indicated a shocking decline in awareness among young people about the Holocaust and other acts of genocide. But in California, we are offering an antidote to the cynicism that this is how things are, and responding to that hate the best way we know how—with education and empathy.
Newsom’s budget has also allocated $110 million to fund support services for victims and survivors of hate crimes and their families and to facilitate hate crime prevention measures and priorities. Among other things, this funding would go toward addressing racism and bias in all California public schools; supporting a peer social media network project for children and youth, with an emphasis on K-12 students who have experienced bullying or are at risk of bullying based on race, ethnicity, language, or country of origin, whether real or perceived; launching of hate crime hotlines; creation of a new exhibit on anti-Semitism at the Los Angeles Museum of Tolerance; and expansion of the Holocaust Museum LA in Los Angeles.
