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photo: CDE building in Sacramento, 2014, EdSource
California is going to add "comfort women" issue to their History-Social Science Curriculum Framework of Grade Ten.
That description depends only on single perspective. But, in fact, this issue has another perspective because it is still in dispute about the determination-of-facts.
SBE(State Board of Education) will make decision about the approval of this new Framework in July 13,14.
The California History-Social Science education policy says "Students should be encouraged to read multiple primary and secondary documents; to understand multiple perspectives" ( mentioned in the History-Social Science Curriculum Framework ).
According to the policy, SBE is not to approve this single-perspective description.
If SBE will approve that, SBE President Dr. Kirst should be blamed for the violation of the education policy.
---- The description
- “Comfort Women,” a euphemism for sexual slaves, were taken by the Japanese Army in occupied territories before and during the war. “Comfort Women” can be taught as an example of institutionalized sexual slavery, and one of the largest cases of human trafficking in the twentieth century; estimates on the total number of comfort women vary, but most argue that hundreds of thousands of women were forced into these situations during Japanese occupation. -
( July 9, 2016 ) California modified the description in June as follows;
- “Comfort Women is a euphemism that describes women who were forced into sexual service by the Japanese Army in occupied territories before and during the war. “Comfort Women” can be taught as an example of institutionalized sexual slavery; estimates on the total number of comfort women vary, but most argue that hundreds of thousands of women were forced into these situations during Japanese occupation. -
This describes the "comfort women" issue as systematic atrocity and human-trafficking by the national policy of Japan.
photo: 2016, The Huffington Post, NOEL CELIS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
---- Problem of the description
1. Contradiction: The description contradicts the fact below;
a) There were completely no record or coverage that parents had searched for their abducted/disappeared daughters after the war.
b) There were completely no record of disappeared/killed victims. Even one name of them was never known.
c) Official documents in the U.S. National Archives shows;
c-1) interrogation of 20 Korean comfort women;
' They(comfort women) lived well because their food and material was not heavily rationed and they had plenty of money with which to purchase desired articles.'
c-2) interrogation of 3 Korean POW who had belonged to the Japanese military;
'All Korean prostitutes(comfort women) that POW have seen in the Pacific were volunteers or had been sold by their parents into prostitution. This is proper in the Korean way of thinking but direct conscription of women by the Japanese would be an outrage that the old and young alike would not tolerate. Men would rise up in a rage killing Japanese no matter what consequence they might suffer.'
These are just some examples. Other than above, it is disclosed publicly that single-perspective description contradicts many facts.
2. Neglect accountability: The reason why SBE(or CDE) believes this description as fact is not disclosed publicly;
SBE(and CDE) seemed to throw away the accountability of explaining correctness of the description. That accountability for students is now inflicted on individual teachers or others. But those teachers or others have no way to negate possible refutation/contradiction.
3. Didn't answer to the rebuttal: Japan officially stated refutation;
Japanese government has conducted a full-scale fact-finding study on the comfort women issue since the early 1990s when the issue started to be taken up as a political issue between Japan and the ROK. According to that result, Japan officially stated refutation about the determination-of-facts as 'the figure of 200,000 persons as the number of comfort women lacked concrete evidence', 'The expression “sex-slaves” also contradicted the facts'.
This means the controversy exists not at the level of rare radical citizens but at the level of nations.
photo: 2013, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
---- Request to SBE President Dr. Kirst
A. SBE is not to approve the new Curriculum Framework unless improving the "comfort women" description.
B. Improve the "comfort women" description into the one with multiple perspectives. ( a proposal shown below )
C. If SBE will approve the single-perspective description as it is,
- President Dr. Kirst is to take accountability of its correctness for students and teachers.
- So, he should publicly disclose the objective/verifiable evidence why SBE concluded that description is stable fact and how raised-contradictions are resolved.
If cannot, SBE President Dr. Kirst should be blamed for his irresponsibility.
---- Improved "comfort women" description (proposal)
- "Comfort Women", women who served Japanese soldiers before and during the war. It is said they were forcibly taken into institutionalized sexual slavery by the Japanese Army. This issue is still in controversy. Japan insists they were not sexual slavery but legal wage workers at brothels where the Army was involved in about such as medical-checkup. As well, Japan acknowledged there partly existed atrocity by lawless soldiers.
This issue also has the aspect of human-trafficking. At that time, some parents had to sell their children due to the poverty. Some of "comfort women" were thought to be those victims.
This controversy is not yet settled due to the absence of objective evidence that showed atrocity or human-trafficking by the national policy of Japan.
"Comfort women" can be taught as a valuable starting point for students to discuss 1. Diversity in determination-of-facts and interpretation of history, 2. The present-day problem of human-trafficking. -
Sincerely.
More info:
- The draft of the new Curriculum Framework , CDE(California Department of Education)
- Curriculum Frameworks Adoption Process , CDE(California Department of Education)
- "Comfort women" description in California curriculum doesn't benefit but harm students and teachers
- Points in the dispute at a glance, "comfort women"
June 19, 2016, Racn Kel
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