The White House, in its caption describing the Armenian Orphan Rug, not only avoided mention of the Armenian Genocide, it failed to even touch upon basic historical aspects of this artwork’s origins, the Armenian National Committee of America reports.
No explanation of who these orphans were, where they were from, why were they orphaned, who made them orphans, or what was done (or not done) to set things right.
Only the prepositional phrase: “Orphaned during World War I…” is used to define the era in which they lost their parents.
“What would an average visitor learn from this, what lessons could he or she learn and apply in trying to prevent renewed genocides around the world? Perhaps that, with enough geopolitical leverage, even the American White House can be conscripted into genocide denial,” ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian said.
