velvetpage (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
velvetpage) wrote2005-02-21 01:17 pm
velvetpage) wrote2005-02-21 01:17 pm
Something worrisome
I was chatting with two of my girls at recess. These are two of my sweetest kids. If they were a few years older, I'd be asking them to babysit. They're smart, they're kind, they're artistic in several ways, and they know how to behave. If Elizabeth grows up to be like them, I'll feel I've done a good job.
They were teaching me a few phrases of Serbian, and somehow the discussion switched to the war there. One of them told me that if it came to a war, she would volunteer for the military because it was the right thing to do for one's country. I agreed that if there were a war calling on me to defend my country, I might volunteer, but I asked her if she would still volunteer if her country were the agressor. She answered, and the other girl agreed, that they probably would, if they thought it was in a good cause. I asked what a good cause was.
This sweet, wouldn't-hurt-a-fly ten-year-old told me that revenge was a good reason for a country to declare war, and she would volunteer in that situation. The other girl (equally sweet) said she might be prepared to fight against Croatia under certain conditions. I was getting more and more concerned by this, but the next comment totally floored me (though I don't think I showed it - I want to be able to talk about this later, and if I'd shown how I really felt I would have closed that open door.) One said she would be prepared to fight Jews, and the other agreed.
Now, the idea of revenge as a justification for war is as old as the hills. It's also very, very European. There are plenty of people in France whose opinion of Germany is guarded at best; given half a reason, they might be prepared to fight for the sake of revenge. These feelings simmer below the surface all over Europe, and it didn't really surprise me that these girls would think like that. They were both born in Canada, but old hatreds die hard and their families were hurt horribly not that long ago.
The anti-semitism surprised me, though. More than that; it shocked me to my toenails. That sentiment must have come from their families. There's no other source, unless it's still taught in their heritage-language classes. So these two well-established immigrant families, which to all appearances are as close to totally integrated as first-gen immigrants ever get, are promoting anti-semitism to their children.
I can't address this in class. It was told to me as part of a casual conversation. There's a level of trust in that, and I can't break it. I like and respect these girls and their families, and I can't embarrass them or worse, lose their trust, by addressing this as a whole-class issue.
What I am going to do, though, is make time for more of these casual conversations. I'm going to tell them bits of the history about why Jews were in Europe in the first place; why they were hated there, and what they were put through for centuries leading up to the Holocaust. I will tell them about the Holocaust. And I'll hope that the basic goodness of these two young women will win out over inherited bigotry.
What else can I do?
They were teaching me a few phrases of Serbian, and somehow the discussion switched to the war there. One of them told me that if it came to a war, she would volunteer for the military because it was the right thing to do for one's country. I agreed that if there were a war calling on me to defend my country, I might volunteer, but I asked her if she would still volunteer if her country were the agressor. She answered, and the other girl agreed, that they probably would, if they thought it was in a good cause. I asked what a good cause was.
This sweet, wouldn't-hurt-a-fly ten-year-old told me that revenge was a good reason for a country to declare war, and she would volunteer in that situation. The other girl (equally sweet) said she might be prepared to fight against Croatia under certain conditions. I was getting more and more concerned by this, but the next comment totally floored me (though I don't think I showed it - I want to be able to talk about this later, and if I'd shown how I really felt I would have closed that open door.) One said she would be prepared to fight Jews, and the other agreed.
Now, the idea of revenge as a justification for war is as old as the hills. It's also very, very European. There are plenty of people in France whose opinion of Germany is guarded at best; given half a reason, they might be prepared to fight for the sake of revenge. These feelings simmer below the surface all over Europe, and it didn't really surprise me that these girls would think like that. They were both born in Canada, but old hatreds die hard and their families were hurt horribly not that long ago.
The anti-semitism surprised me, though. More than that; it shocked me to my toenails. That sentiment must have come from their families. There's no other source, unless it's still taught in their heritage-language classes. So these two well-established immigrant families, which to all appearances are as close to totally integrated as first-gen immigrants ever get, are promoting anti-semitism to their children.
I can't address this in class. It was told to me as part of a casual conversation. There's a level of trust in that, and I can't break it. I like and respect these girls and their families, and I can't embarrass them or worse, lose their trust, by addressing this as a whole-class issue.
What I am going to do, though, is make time for more of these casual conversations. I'm going to tell them bits of the history about why Jews were in Europe in the first place; why they were hated there, and what they were put through for centuries leading up to the Holocaust. I will tell them about the Holocaust. And I'll hope that the basic goodness of these two young women will win out over inherited bigotry.
What else can I do?