Conflict on Armenian Genocide Poster
This year's tenth grade genocide posters have generated a little more attention than in past years. The posters, which were made to memorialize genocide victims or connect a genocide to a current conflict, were displayed at Wright State in Allyn Hall on April 27. Visitors could go to the Educational Resource Centers and see each poster hung on the windows, and read the artist statements beside them. Out of the many posters, a few were the center of a conflict, specifically those focusing on the Armenian genocide.
The Armenian genocide took place in Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions from 1915-1923. It was perpetrated by the Young Turks, a nationalist reform group who controlled the government. They aimed to solidify Muslim Turkish dominance. The Armenians were targeted by them for extermination, specifically Christian Armenians. At least 664,000 Armenians died, either in massacres or from systematic ill treatment, exposure, and starvation. In addition, tens of thousands of Armenian children were forcibly removed from their families and converted to Islam. Despite the atrocities committed, neither Turkey nor the United States recognizes the Armenian genocide as a genocide. In fact, in Turkey it is illegal to speak about what happened to the Armenians as a genocide.
This was shown when a visiting assistant professor from Turkey saw the posters on display. Many of the Armenian genocide posters talked about wanting the U.S. or Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide, but there was one in particular that she disagreed with. The poster, whose slogan was Young Turk Hobbies: Separating Armenian Families, was created by Adam Mitchell, a tenth grade student at DRSS.
After seeing his poster, she wrote a letter to the Dayton Regional STEM School, explaining her disagreement with the poster. She noted that it was important to show both sides of the story and to be careful to not offend others. She adds that there were Armenians who killed Turks, and that she hopes DRSS's teachers would make more of an effort to show both sides of the story in following years. However, another professor at Wright State University, Dr. John Sherman, who teaches advanced courses on genocide in the history department, disagrees with her letter. He says that, "This act is what is called 'genocidal denial.' I am confident that all of you, and especially those of you who read and studied about the Armenian genocide, know that it is a historical reality." When asked his thoughts, the tenth grade history teacher, Pablo Nunez acknowledges that, “In hindsight, I could have told this student to put the word "the" at the beginning, giving more clarity that a specific group is been referenced, and more information on the group could have been included in the artist statement.”
When asked his opinion on the attention his poster was receiving, Mitchell said, "I didn't think that my poster would attract this kind of attention, but I am very glad that it did because the whole point of making the poster was to spread awareness about what happened in the horrible genocide." He also said that if he could, he would not change anything about his poster. Similarly, Nunez was also surprised at the amount of notice being given, but was equally glad that such attention was being paid to the posters, which was their original aim. "This was a priceless teachable moment for my students," Nunez said. Despite the unexpected amount of attention, next year’s posters will be displayed at Wright State again.
