I went to a party last night where at least 3 people didn't know what Aushwitz is

[Silvermoth]

Pretty horrifying. Especially considering people just marked the international day of the holocaust a week ago.

Before you ask they were definitely old enough to know better. They were in their late 20s, early 30s.

It worries me that they vote as well considering how racist politics has become here and I guess it's because they don't know what the consequences of racism are. Granted these were pretty boganish blokes. I think that's kind of why Australian men are known for their machoness but not their intelligence.

When quizzed, one of them simply said he's "not a history buff"

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

my mother didn't even know what Hitler did to 6 million people over 70 years ago. She didn't know what "nazi" was, or "holocaust". all she knew was that he was an evil man in history.

 

[DarkSentinel]

That's ****ed up, Silvermoth.

My generation (late '80s/'90s kids) worries me. We've become very shallow and materialistic people overall.

 

[W/ Great Power]

That's ****ed up, Silvermoth.

My generation (late '80s/'90s kids) worries me. We've become very shallow and materialistic people overall.

I kid you not, a couple of semesters ago in a history elective that I took, me and another student were having a conversation about Nelson Mandela.

A girl in the front of our class turned around and asked, "Nelson Mandela? Wasn't he a rapper?"

My professor overheard her and jokingly said, "Class dismissed! Because I quit!"

 

[warhorse78]

I kid you not, a couple of semesters ago in a history elective that I took, me and another student were having a conversation about Nelson Mandela.

A girl in the front of our class turned around and asked, "Nelson Mandela? Wasn't he a rapper?"

My professor overheard her and jokingly said, "Class dismissed! Because I quit!"

Wow, this sounds familiar. I was at the check out at the grocery store where my friends and I were all talking about the kinds of music we listen to. One of the baggers was listening in, who was young Black girl, and she told us she like RnB. I told her how I pretty much own every thing from Mariah Carey, but my favorite type of music is Rock. She actually told me, my friends and the other customers behind us, that Black people don't listen to Rock. I was like, yeah, maybe not you, but don't be ignorant. She then gets smart with me, and asks me to name one Black rock artist. I just answered, Jimmy Hendrix. The kid actually goes, "who's that, never heard of him!" The woman behind us was an elderly Black woman, and she got smart with the girl back, telling her she needed to just shut her mouth because all she was doing was embarrasing herself.

Unfortunately, since then, I have noticed that the young Black community really have never heard of the likes of Jimmy Hendrix, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Slash.

 

[Soapy]

Man I just love talking about the holocaust at parties.

 

[Warhammer]

Man I just love talking about the holocaust at parties.

I'm sure they were toasting before shots and somebody said "And this is for all the survivors of Auschwitz." Then somebody was like "Eh, what's that?"

And btw, I decided to look up pictures of the Auschwitz medical experiments for some reason. What a mix of sadness and anger.

 

[Hobgoblin]

I met a woman once that had been to France but didn't know where England was.

My mother told me a coworker thought that Central America was in Kansas.

Friends of my father thought that everyone in the Middle East were all alike.

This is why I quit humanity.

 

[Warhammer]

The worst part is like...did you not pay attention in history class? Damn, we had 12 years of it and that's if you opted not to go to college. Or do you not watch television? In your entire life, you are bound to figure out some basic stuff.

 

[Hobgoblin]

I heard so much about WW2 in school that I got tired of it. How could these people know nothing about it?

 

[PyroChamber]

Wow, this sounds familiar. I was at the check out at the grocery store where my friends and I were all talking about the kinds of music we listen to. One of the baggers was listening in, who was young Black girl, and she told us she like RnB. I told her how I pretty much own every thing from Mariah Carey, but my favorite type of music is Rock. She actually told me, my friends and the other customers behind us, that Black people don't listen to Rock. I was like, yeah, maybe not you, but don't be ignorant. She then gets smart with me, and asks me to name one Black rock artist. I just answered, Jimmy Hendrix. The kid actually goes, "who's that, never heard of him!" The woman behind us was an elderly Black woman, and she got smart with the girl back, telling her she needed to just shut her mouth because all she was doing was embarrasing herself.

Unfortunately, since then, I have noticed that the young Black community really have never heard of the likes of Jimmy Hendrix, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Slash.

This reminds me of when I first started college, there was a woman in our class who was black but spoke in a British accent. And everyone was shocked because apparently none of them knew there were black British people.

 

[warhorse78]

This reminds me of when I first started college, there was a woman in our class who was black but spoke in a British accent. And everyone was shocked because apparently none of them knew there were black British people.

Yep, been through that too. Many think that all Blacks in the world are direct decendants of either Africa, or slaves that came from Africa. So, when I just put my chin in my hand and ask them to please explain to me how the Aboriginal Australians came to be, all I get are crickets. And, I am in no way, a history buff.

 

[Gr0oT]

You must be a blast at parties.

 

[Greens]

That's ****ed up, Silvermoth.

My generation (late '80s/'90s kids) worries me. We've become very shallow and materialistic people overall.

I don't see how a couple of stupid people make an entire generation shallow. There are plenty of ******* babyboomers, for example.

 

[Schlosser85]

When Kanye West and Paul McCartney did their duet, there were a ton of Twitter comments like "who is this Paul McCartney? He's about to have a career thanks to Kanye!". One person complimented Kanye for "shining a spotlight on unknown artists".

 

[Hotwire]

Play some Cards Against Humanity and you'll find out there's a lot of stuff like that that people don't know. Even though they really should. I've had to explain not only what Aushwitz was but even how to pronounce it.


For a similar experience more in line with The Hype, my CAH game has a handwritten black card that says, "Obi Wan also taught Luke the secret art of ___________?" We had to stop and explain to three players (under 21) who Obi Wan and Luke were!

 

[Warhammer]

This thread is pissing me off. I'm not saying somebody has to be a Jeopardy champion, but damn! Do you live under a rock?!

 

[Ultron-5]

When Kanye West and Paul McCartney did their duet, there were a ton of Twitter comments like "who is this Paul McCartney? He's about to have a career thanks to Kanye!". One person complimented Kanye for "shining a spotlight on unknown artists".

Tell me they're not serious.

 

[Lilbaz]

How many people know what year zero was? Or have even heard of the Tutsi's or Arkan and the Tigers?

The holocaust was horrific and should be remembered. But lets not forget either that it is not unique and similar things are happening today.

 

[Teelie]

There are always going to be people who don't know of an (in)famous person, place or event in history. Doesn't make them or their entire generation stupid or ignorant, although it does sometimes make you wonder where they were the day that was discussed.

 

[Warhammer]

Well, there's a reason why people don't know what Year Zero, the Tutsi's, or Arkan's Tigers are. It wasn't a problem the Western world cared about. I'm not saying it's justified. Hell, I had to wiki Year Zero.

 

[Teelie]

There is also the limitation of trying to teach so many historical atrocities and events to students. Especially when you have to cover your own history first. Most of my history classes in grade school barely if ever made it past World War II let alone going onto mention anything about the Korean War and virtually nothing on Vietnam.

Imagine 20-30 years from now trying to bring kids up to speed with both the Gulf War and Iraq/Afganistan and 9/11 inbetween (for Americans at least), plus whatever may happen now. Let alone every other major event outside of that. At the current pace and obsession with studying history that is pre-1900, it might never come up.

 

[Urich Leeds]

When Kanye West and Paul McCartney did their duet, there were a ton of Twitter comments like "who is this Paul McCartney? He's about to have a career thanks to Kanye!". One person complimented Kanye for "shining a spotlight on unknown artists".

That day, I almost lost the will to live. I just laid in the fetal position for a few hours and pondered the state our world.

 

[Schlosser85]

After the New Year in 2014, there were people on Twitter who thought it was America's two thousand and fourteenth birthday.

 

[Morg]

I know some people who don't believe we ever went to the the moon