The Perpetrator-Centered Narrative of the Holocaust in Social Studies Standards: A Case Study of South Carolina

Abstract

In this study, I used a critical analysis approach to identify and examine the perpetrator- and victim-centered perspectives within the Holocaust narrative of the 2019 South Carolina Social Studies College- and Career-Ready Standards. Given the recent revision of the standards, I compared the 2019 standards to the 2011 South Carolina Social Studies Academic Standards to identify shifts in the prescribed Holocaust narrative. Because the 2019 standards are inquiry-based, I explored the role of perpetrator-centered narratives in relation to inquiry goals. Past studies of the Holocaust in state standards and materials focused on accurate content inclusion. However, using Rubin’s (2020) Jewish critical race framework, this study moves the research in a new direction by examining the text of the Holocaust content in standards for culturally inclusive narratives. The findings of this study indicate that the Holocaust narrative in the 2019 standards was predominantly perpetrator-centered, thereby the marginalization of Jewish voices was embedded in the standards. The findings also demonstrate that developing inquiry-based standards does not guarantee the expulsion of oppressive narratives from standards documents.