Who are the terrorists?
Today was a big day. I had my usual struggle with certain students to try to get my message across in the classroom and on the whole it was a good day. Some victories even. The claymation class started out looking like disorganized chaos and ended up with each group taking photos of their clay figures with the program i-stop motion. Some students who had previously been less than engaged suddenly seemed quite excited to see their clay figures come to life.
In "Eleven's Val," which means "The Student's Choice," I had the boys from one of the 8th grade classes. The girls were with the biology teacher. I asked the boys if they wanted to watch a movie and they chose a Turkish Swedish stand-up called Shan Atci. I asked if it would be "appropriate" and was assured it was. The recording was made in a theater in Göteborg and Shan's routine consisted of his personal take on the cultural differences between "Blattar" and "Svenner." These are both derogatory terms for respectively "non-white immigrants in Sweden" and "white Swedes."
It was actually a huge relief to be able to laugh at the topic of cultural differences in Sweden, instead of trying to ignore it. The words used are so loaded and frightening in other contexts, it was like a breath of fresh air to just laugh. Meanwhile, news was coming in of innocent people gunned down in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand by someone who can only be described as a terrorist. On Shan Acti's FaceBook page is a post this evening with a definition of the word, "Terrorism: the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, for political aims."
Let's not be intimidated by words. Let's define them, use them, communicate with them, break down barriers with them. We are all human. We mustn't let culture, creed, or language divide us. Those who would drive wedges between us on the grounds of culture, skin color, or religion are terrorists.
In "Eleven's Val," which means "The Student's Choice," I had the boys from one of the 8th grade classes. The girls were with the biology teacher. I asked the boys if they wanted to watch a movie and they chose a Turkish Swedish stand-up called Shan Atci. I asked if it would be "appropriate" and was assured it was. The recording was made in a theater in Göteborg and Shan's routine consisted of his personal take on the cultural differences between "Blattar" and "Svenner." These are both derogatory terms for respectively "non-white immigrants in Sweden" and "white Swedes."
It was actually a huge relief to be able to laugh at the topic of cultural differences in Sweden, instead of trying to ignore it. The words used are so loaded and frightening in other contexts, it was like a breath of fresh air to just laugh. Meanwhile, news was coming in of innocent people gunned down in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand by someone who can only be described as a terrorist. On Shan Acti's FaceBook page is a post this evening with a definition of the word, "Terrorism: the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, for political aims."
Let's not be intimidated by words. Let's define them, use them, communicate with them, break down barriers with them. We are all human. We mustn't let culture, creed, or language divide us. Those who would drive wedges between us on the grounds of culture, skin color, or religion are terrorists.
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