LAS VEGAS, Nev.—Trustee Katie Williams released the following statement in observance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day:
"On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we renew our shared promise: #NeverAgain. A promise to reject extremism, to reject white supremacy, to reject the hatred and lack of humanity that leads to genocide. To this end we must strive to do more: in education and on a global stage.
Within our schools, we must continue to truthfully educate our students on the state-sponsored atrocities committed against over six million Jews, along with millions of other minorities and those who did not conform to the hateful, racist agenda of the Nazis. Our students should learn of the danger found in extremism, white supremacy, and hateful political division.
Further, we must do more on the global stage. While we have promised Never Again, we have still allowed for the plague of genocide to occur from time to time, failing to react. In places like Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Rwanda, the lack of immediate intervention has cost anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions of lives.
Even as we remember today, the Chinese government is carrying out similar human rights abuses that have been called genocide against Uyghur Muslims. In this case, as in any similar one, we must stand up to fulfill our promise of Never Again. We must speak out, and we must be loud. I call to memory the speech Elie Wiesel made in December of 1986, while accepting the Nobel Peace Prize:
'We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must—at that moment—become the center of the universe,'
There is no room in our society for the hatred, vitriol, and lack of humanity that lead to the Holocaust. I will take this opportunity, as I have before, to denounce white supremacy, to denounce hatred, and to renew my commitment to preventing their rise in our society.
On this day, let us all renew our promise to the millions who died in the Holocaust. Let us say AND live it, and let us ensure we work diligently every day to see it come to pass: Never Again."