Voices

Edward Kissi

By Ann Carney | USF News

In January, Edward Kissi traveled to the UNESCO headquarters in Paris to participate in a high-level panel discussion on Holocaust education and the prevention of genocide. It was part of an ongoing global conversation for the USF professor of Africana Studies, who has dedicated his life to documenting and exposing the processes that make genocide happen.

In September 2012, Kissi was tapped to serve on a statewide task force on Holocaust education. A year earlier, he was among a group of international policymakers and educators who gathered to develop practical ways to prevent genocide through education. And in 2009, Kissi was called on by the United Nations to contribute a discussion paper for the UN’s landmark Discussion Papers Journal written by leading scholars in the field of Holocaust and genocide studies.

Kissi, who was born and raised in Ghana, West Africa, had never heard the word “Holocaust” when he began his graduate studies at Concordia University in Canada under Frank Chalk, a leading scholar in genocide studies. Fascinated, he went on to become the first post-doctoral fellow in the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University and a visiting professor at the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University. In 2003, Kissi joined the faculty of USF.

What is the biggest misconception about the Holocaust?

That it could only have happened in Germany. If you look at the history of humanity, you realize some of these ideas — anti-semitism, eugenics, racism, ethnic prejudice, white supremacy — have been peddled in other places as well.

Are high school students able to understand the Holocaust?

I think so. The Holocaust is heavy material, but its lessons can be translated to every mind that is developing.

Why is the Holocaust the framework for genocide education?

The concept of genocide we have today came out of the Holocaust. It was the Holocaust that made the world community and the UN resolve to abolish that behavior and make it a crime for any person, group or nation to destroy a group of people. The Holocaust provides a conceptual framework for analyses — for purposes of understanding causation and for comparisons.

What can we do to prevent genocide?

There are several things. First, we have to start with the supposition that every human being is worth something. Second, we do not have to wait for other states in the global system with tools and resources to stop genocide. The responsibility to protect should be a communal responsibility. Third, in every nation we need to create ethical spaces occupied by ethically minded citizens who will work tirelessly to prevent perpetrators of genocide from coming to power.

Are we making progress?

I think we are. Today we know what genocide is, and it is punishable. Now we have the legal instruments. The fact that we can talk about it, take courses about it — that’s progress.

Why is the classroom the best place for your work?

The classroom offers me space to contribute to the way people think and analyze things. Every semester, unlike anyplace else I could work, I have 40 to 80 students whose minds and intellects I am helping to shape.

What is the most important thing you teach your students?

First, to read broadly. Second, to think critically. The fact that it’s in a textbook doesn’t make it factual.