FIELD TRIP #1: Museum of Tolerance
Topic: Write up an observational paper to be posted on the club and on one’s website. In your two page report include the following: 1) give some historical background on the Museum; 2) a detailed description of what you saw, heard, and learned and who you spoke with (include here the date you went, who you went with and how long you were there); 3) and finally, a reflection of what you learned. Details are important!
Museum of Tolerance
Sponsored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish organization and a human rights group dedicated to promoting tolerance, Museum of Tolerance is the newest and largest multimedia immersive exhibition designed to examine racism and prejudice in the United States and the world, with a strong focus on the history of the Holocaust.
I visited the Museum on Sunday, July 09, 2006 with my mother, and we stayed in the Museum for about 2 to 3 hours. Upon entering the Museum, we saw a glass exhibition case with several books in it – “The last seven months of Anne Frank,” “The Dairy of a Young Girl – Anne Frank,” and “The Sunflower – On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness”. The exhibition of these books in the entrance immediately gave my mother and I a pretty good idea of the focus of the museum before entering the actual exhibition level.
The exhibition level is downstairs. It is called the “Alan Casden Family Holocaust Museum Wing”. An amicable guide led us there to stand in front of a TV wall. The TV host then started speaking. He asked the visitors to discover the meaning of tolerance and the consequences of intolerance, as well as understand the power of words and their impact. After the host finished talking, two doors behind us were lighted—with the words “prejudiced” and “unprejudiced” lighted on each door—and we were asked to choose to go through one of the doors.
The “unprejudiced” door remains locked, and the “prejudiced” door was opened. So my mother and I went in. There another TV wall showed a video summarizing past events in history that are related to tolerance and intolerance. The video also repeatedly showed a few quotes, such as: “Men, their rights and nothing more. Women, their rights and nothing else.” by Susan B. Anthony; “History has demonstrated that not all races have the same evolutionary capabilities.” By Jean-Marie La Pen.
The quotes served to demonstrate the influence of words. We were asked by the TV host to know the power of words and their impact, and the answers were given: “Words have consequences; words can inspires; words can incite; words can terrify; words can be destructive; etc”
Moreover, words are the only mean that drive people toward or away from tolerance. Right by the TV wall, there is a huge sign titled “The New Face of Hate”. The sign says that many hate mongers have toadied in Klan hoods and Nazi arm bands, repacking age-old hatred using new language and slogans, video and digital images to target their “enemies” and recruit new followers. Examples of these hate mongers’ methods include hate language, hate symbols, hate gatherings, disturbing the peace, threats, vandalism, assault, civil rights violation, arson, murder, and terrorism.
Proceeding to the center of the exhibition, my mother and I saw another huge sign titled “Historic Milestones”. The board under the sign was very interesting and educational because it had both milestones of major historic events and significant events of intolerance and tolerance on it. For example, it stated that Ratification of the Constitution occurred in the year of 1788, and in 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. And during the same period of time, Eastern Indians were dispossessed.
After we walked through the wall of “Historic Milestones,” my mother and I saw another TV wall. We sat down to watch the video/movie. The video showed many cruel realities resulting from intolerance. Many corpses were shown in the video to emphasize the catastrophic effects of prejudice and intolerance.
After we finished the holocaust wing of the museum, we went up to the third floor, which showcased writings of many notable Americans whom are not of Caucasian descent. They include best-selling author Dr. Maya Angelou, award-winning actor Billy Crystal, multiple Grammy winner Carlos Santana, and four-time World Series Champion Joe Torre. The third floor focused on the history of immigration.
When taking the elevator to go up and down the stairs, my mother and I noticed that there was a poster on the elevator wall that says “Special Presentation—From Hate to Hope”. Two guest speakers, Mr. Matthew Boger and Mr. Tim Zaal, were invited to tell the remarkable story of reconciliation. One of the two men was a perpetrator of a hate crime and the other man was the victim. However, we did not get to see this special presentation because we did not see the poster on time.
From visiting the Museum of Tolerance, I learned the importance of tolerance. Most of us think that we are unbiased and tolerant; however, we may still have been socialized into having prejudiced thoughts. It is very important that the society as a whole value the problem of intolerance, as it has proved to have devastating effects throughout the history. From the visit, I also realized that the first step to correct intolerance is to recognize it.
Museum of Tolerance
Sponsored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish organization and a human rights group dedicated to promoting tolerance, Museum of Tolerance is the newest and largest multimedia immersive exhibition designed to examine racism and prejudice in the United States and the world, with a strong focus on the history of the Holocaust.
I visited the Museum on Sunday, July 09, 2006 with my mother, and we stayed in the Museum for about 2 to 3 hours. Upon entering the Museum, we saw a glass exhibition case with several books in it – “The last seven months of Anne Frank,” “The Dairy of a Young Girl – Anne Frank,” and “The Sunflower – On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness”. The exhibition of these books in the entrance immediately gave my mother and I a pretty good idea of the focus of the museum before entering the actual exhibition level.
The exhibition level is downstairs. It is called the “Alan Casden Family Holocaust Museum Wing”. An amicable guide led us there to stand in front of a TV wall. The TV host then started speaking. He asked the visitors to discover the meaning of tolerance and the consequences of intolerance, as well as understand the power of words and their impact. After the host finished talking, two doors behind us were lighted—with the words “prejudiced” and “unprejudiced” lighted on each door—and we were asked to choose to go through one of the doors.
The “unprejudiced” door remains locked, and the “prejudiced” door was opened. So my mother and I went in. There another TV wall showed a video summarizing past events in history that are related to tolerance and intolerance. The video also repeatedly showed a few quotes, such as: “Men, their rights and nothing more. Women, their rights and nothing else.” by Susan B. Anthony; “History has demonstrated that not all races have the same evolutionary capabilities.” By Jean-Marie La Pen.
The quotes served to demonstrate the influence of words. We were asked by the TV host to know the power of words and their impact, and the answers were given: “Words have consequences; words can inspires; words can incite; words can terrify; words can be destructive; etc”
Moreover, words are the only mean that drive people toward or away from tolerance. Right by the TV wall, there is a huge sign titled “The New Face of Hate”. The sign says that many hate mongers have toadied in Klan hoods and Nazi arm bands, repacking age-old hatred using new language and slogans, video and digital images to target their “enemies” and recruit new followers. Examples of these hate mongers’ methods include hate language, hate symbols, hate gatherings, disturbing the peace, threats, vandalism, assault, civil rights violation, arson, murder, and terrorism.
Proceeding to the center of the exhibition, my mother and I saw another huge sign titled “Historic Milestones”. The board under the sign was very interesting and educational because it had both milestones of major historic events and significant events of intolerance and tolerance on it. For example, it stated that Ratification of the Constitution occurred in the year of 1788, and in 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. And during the same period of time, Eastern Indians were dispossessed.
After we walked through the wall of “Historic Milestones,” my mother and I saw another TV wall. We sat down to watch the video/movie. The video showed many cruel realities resulting from intolerance. Many corpses were shown in the video to emphasize the catastrophic effects of prejudice and intolerance.
After we finished the holocaust wing of the museum, we went up to the third floor, which showcased writings of many notable Americans whom are not of Caucasian descent. They include best-selling author Dr. Maya Angelou, award-winning actor Billy Crystal, multiple Grammy winner Carlos Santana, and four-time World Series Champion Joe Torre. The third floor focused on the history of immigration.
When taking the elevator to go up and down the stairs, my mother and I noticed that there was a poster on the elevator wall that says “Special Presentation—From Hate to Hope”. Two guest speakers, Mr. Matthew Boger and Mr. Tim Zaal, were invited to tell the remarkable story of reconciliation. One of the two men was a perpetrator of a hate crime and the other man was the victim. However, we did not get to see this special presentation because we did not see the poster on time.
From visiting the Museum of Tolerance, I learned the importance of tolerance. Most of us think that we are unbiased and tolerant; however, we may still have been socialized into having prejudiced thoughts. It is very important that the society as a whole value the problem of intolerance, as it has proved to have devastating effects throughout the history. From the visit, I also realized that the first step to correct intolerance is to recognize it.
posted by Mavis Chao at 6:43 PM
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