"The Promise"

When will Turkey finally admit there was an Armenian genocide, and that Turkey was responsible?  After all, approximately 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Turks during World War I.  “The Promise,” a recently-released film directed by Terry George, is set in the time of the genocide.

The Turkish response?  Never happened.  Turkish investors also backed a different film, “The Ottoman Lieutenant,” in which a Turkish officer helps to save Armenians.  

I just finished a Teaching Company course on the history of American Indians.  The course covered broken treaties, tribal relocation, the Trail of Tears, forced removal of children, the massacre at Wounded Knee, restrictions on Indian religions, and the appropriation of Indian symbols by sports teams who care nothing about real Indians.

As bad as these things were, in America, unlike in Turkey, we can talk about and teach our children about the evils in our past.  We can discuss the horrors of slavery and racial segregation, or the discrimination suffered by immigrants, or treatment of Japanese during World War II.  

Other countries also make an effort.  Last week I posted about a policy in Rwanda to reconcile the Hutus and the Tutsis.  South Africa has a Reconciliation Commission.  Germany teaches its students about the Holocaust.  

To begin to heal past injustices, the first step is to recognize them.  It is a lesson Turkey (and quite a few Americans) seem unable to learn.