One of the places my daughters visited during their summer vacation is the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. While the main objective of a summer vacation in California is usually fun, fun, fun, their aunts try to inject a few education trips in between. This year, they finally made it to the Museum of Tolerance.Jade, my daughter, has been wanting to see this museum ever since we watched the movie about the Freedom Writers. The movie’s synopsis refers to this incident which prompts a trip to the museum:
Then a pivotal moment changed their lives forever. When a racial caricature of one of the African-American students circulated the classroom, Erin Gruwell angrily intercepted the drawing and compared it to the Nazi caricatures of Jews during the Holocaust. To her amazement, the students responded with puzzled looks. Erin Gruwell was appalled to discover that many of her students had never heard of the Holocaust. When she asked how many in her class had been shot at, however, almost all of them raised their hands, and began lifting their shirts to show their scars. This initiated a battle-scar show-and-tell that left Erin Gruwell shocked and inspired to take advantage of the powerful energy she had sparked.
Here are a few facts about the museum:
- The Museum of Tolerance is the only facility of its kind in the world?
- The Museum has served over 4 million visitors, including over one and a half million children and youths have participated in the Museum experience and programs. since 1993.
- Since 1996, over 110,000 adults have been trained in the Museum’s customized professional development programs.
- A trend-setting pioneer, the Museum of Tolerance’s original exhibits and programs are being emulated in institutions throughout the United States and around the world in Northern Ireland, South Africa, Israel, Mexico, Chile, Canada, The Netherlands and France.
- More than 350,000 people have visited the Museum’s traveling Friedl Dicker Brandeis exhibit in Japan alone.
- The Museum has over 200 devoted volunteers serving as docents, library assistants, and book store attendees.
- Soaring above the national average for museums of our size, in our busy season the Museum provides 35 guided tours per day!
- According to recent UCLA study, the Museum has the most diverse visitor and membership base compared to other area museums.
- The Museum’s Tools for Tolerance for Law Enforcement is the largest training provider for Criminal Justice professionals on the West Coast.
- In December 2004, the Museum won the Global Peace and Tolerance Award.
My daughters are part African-American and my nieces are part Jewish and they are all full blooded human beings; making them aware of prejudices and intolerance in the world, hopefully, will make them aware of and will not repeat mistakes of the past. My nieces are probably too young to understand, and my daughters probably understand only a little; but it’s a start and hopefully they will revisit places and events like this and learn from them.
If you’d like to visit:
Museum of Tolerance
Simon Wiesenthal Plaza
9786 West Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90035
General Information: 310-553-8403
