20% of young americans say the Holocaust is a myth, another 30% "unsure"

[Dennis 8,391]

One in five young Americans think the Holocaust is a myth. What's even more alarming is the fact that another 30% of the respondents in that age group are unsure whether it's a myth or not. Democratic voters are more likely to say it's a myth  (We achieved equality with republicans we have our own batshit crazy electorate now)

I think we really have a dark future. There's clearly something wrong with our education system.

I do wonder whether social media is contributing to this level of ignorance?

"Social media might play a role. According to a 2022 survey from the Pew Research Centre, Americans under 30 are about as likely to trust information on social media as they are to trust national news organisations. More recently Pew found that 32% of those aged 18-29 get their news from TikTok."

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/12/07/one-in-five-young-americans-think-the-holocaust-is-a-myth

[Lucas 31,097]

Such expensive education in America and it seems like they lack so much basic knowledge on everything

[sarahb 17,185]

Do they actually believe it's a myth or are one in five just trolls? 

[REALITY 80,162]

I'm ready for earth to perish  

[Purrrrrr 18,075]

I always thought recently that the flat earthers as well as the holocaust being a myth thing were just online trolls but i keep being reminded these people actually exist  ew

[Helxig 45,331]

What. The. Actual. F.uck.

I know conspiracy theorists love to pretend so many things aren't real/didn't happen so they can feel so special and smart.. but this is a whole 'nother level of disgusting. This makes me mad for so many reasons. America stop doing education wrong

[Ladle Ghoulash 52,528]

Genuinely have a hard time believing that that’s true 

[Dennis 8,391]

5 minutes ago, Catnikko said:

I always thought recently that the flat earthers as well as the holocaust being a myth thing were just online trolls but i keep being reminded these people actually exist  ew

what I don't get, is imagine spending 12 years+ of your life in a classroom only for you to grow up and deny basic realities. These people have brain damage or something.

[PartySick 172,426]

5 minutes ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

Genuinely have a hard time believing that that’s true 

Same. I would love to read the context but the article is behind a paywall

[Dennis 8,391]

4 minutes ago, PartySick said:

Same. I would love to read the context but the article is behind a paywall

There is no context, the poll asked them about various things, such as hatred against muslims, jews, arabs etc..
And then asked whether they agree or disagree with the statement "the Holocaust is a myth".

You can find the full poll here: https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/econTabReport_tT4jyzG.pdf#page=83

And here's the full article if you want, it doesn't say much on what might be the reasons:
 

Spoiler

On december 5th, for over five hours, lawmakers grilled the presidents of elite universities in a congressional hearing about antisemitism on college campuses. In one of the testiest exchanges a Republican congresswoman, Elise Stefanik, asked whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” violates university rules. It is “context-dependent”, replied Liz Magill, the president of the University of Pennsylvania. Clips of the exchange went viral on X, formerly Twitter. Yad Vashem, a Holocaust museum and research centre, issued a condemnation and stressed the importance of “raising awareness about the history of antisemitism and the Holocaust”.

A new poll from YouGov/The Economist suggests that Yad Vashem has its work cut out. Young Americans—or at least the subset of them who take part in surveys—appear to be remarkably ignorant about one of modern history’s greatest crimes. Some 20% of respondents aged 18-29 think that the Holocaust is a myth, compared with 8% of those aged 30-44 (see chart). An additional 30% of young Americans said they do not know whether the Holocaust is a myth. Many respondents espouse the canard that Jews wield too much power in America: young people are nearly five times more likely to think this than are those aged 65 and older (28% versus 6%).

Now for the harder part: why do some young Americans embrace such views? Perhaps surprisingly, education levels do not appear to be the culprit. In our poll, the proportion of respondents who believe that the Holocaust is a myth is similar across all levels of education.

Social media might play a role. According to a 2022 survey from the Pew Research Centre, Americans under 30 are about as likely to trust information on social media as they are to trust national news organisations. More recently Pew found that 32% of those aged 18-29 get their news from TikTok. Social-media sites are rife with conspiracy theories, and research has found strong associations between rates of social-media use and beliefs in such theories. In one recent survey by Generation Lab, a data-intelligence company, young adults who used TikTok were more likely to hold antisemitic beliefs.

Though young Americans’ views are most stark, antisemitism is rearing its head in other demographic groups. The same YouGov/The Economist poll found that 27% of black respondents and 19% of Hispanics believe that Jews have too much power in America, compared with 13% of white respondents who say so. Whatever the reasons, the polling is alarming. 

Stay on top of American politics with Checks and Balance, our weekly subscriber-only newsletter, which examines the state of American democracy and the issues that matter to voters.

 

[Dennis 8,391]

6 minutes ago, PartySick said:

Same. I would love to read the context but the article is behind a paywall

I'm not sure why my previous response was blocked , but here's the full poll: https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/econTabReport_tT4jyzG.pdf#page=83

There isn't context, it was a direct question: "Do you agree with the following statement: the holocaust is a myth".

[G U C C I 5,578]

10 minutes ago, Dennis said:

what I don't get, is imagine spending 12 years+ of your life in a classroom only for you to grow up and deny basic realities. These people have brain damage or something.

Because thanks to no child left behind they never have to learn anything, much less the damn basics. Corporate America wants dumb workers not educated youth. They realized they made a mistake pushing millennials to get expensive degrees. 

[SharkmanthaC 115,027]

5 minutes ago, Dennis said:

I'm not sure why my previous response was blocked , but here's the full poll: https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/econTabReport_tT4jyzG.pdf#page=83

There isn't context, it was a direct question: "Do you agree with the following statement: the holocaust is a myth".

We have a filter on for when certain words are used it requires approval.  

[PartySick 172,426]

19 minutes ago, Dennis said:

I'm not sure why my previous response was blocked , but here's the full poll: https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/econTabReport_tT4jyzG.pdf#page=83

There isn't context, it was a direct question: "Do you agree with the following statement: the holocaust is a myth".

The mods (total scumbags, I can say that as an ex-mod  jk, great people, lovely people) added certain words to the filter to stop 🇮🇱vs🇵🇸 messes

Anyway, I finally found it

I really have no explanation 'cause usually an*isemitism (idk what words are censored help) is a right wing thing.

The only thing I can think of is that young/left people may be conflating Jews' identity with I*rael, so they sympathize less and take history less seriously in general.

Like, here, older people are quicker to call ant*semitism a serious problem.

Older people are also slightly more likely to call criticism of I*rael ant*semitic

The scary thing here is 21% of people in general think saying "g*nocide is bad" is bigotry

The good news is, I guess, that there's a 2/3 consensus that holocaust denial is ant*semitic

Small victories?

Lastly, lemme wrap this mess up with...polls of young people are never accurate  there are so many bright minds mixed in with all the nihilistic trolls that you can never really trust what anyone says about gen z or hell, even millennials.

I wouldn't worry too much other than calling people stupid for denying historical facts.

This same polls shows that 2/3 of people think our economy is getting worse despite every sign being green so clearly people are just dumb

[PartySick 172,426]

31 minutes ago, Dennis said:

And here's the full article if you want, it doesn't say much on what might be the reasons:

But...it totally does??

32 minutes ago, Dennis said:

More recently Pew found that 32% of those aged 18-29 get their news from TikTok. Social-media sites are rife with conspiracy theories, and research has found strong associations between rates of social-media use and beliefs in such theories. In one recent survey by Generation Lab, a data-intelligence company, young adults who used TikTok were more likely to hold antisemitic beliefs

This definitely accounts for it. People find their echo chambers and stay in them.

TikTok might as well be young person Fox News