Don't Tell Me This Place Ain't Got No Heart, You Just Gotta Poke Around
Pencils scrawl trying to catch the last tidbit of knowledge, I realize I am touching legs with the girl sitting next to me...I leave it there. Then the question...what caused the occurrence on 9/11?I'm sitting in my International Relations class (composed of about 50 people) here at UW and this question is dropped, it lands like an A-bomb.
People sit paralyzed in quiet contemplation, or indifference, some various ideas are provided...it's because our privilege comes at the cost of others abroad...it's our relations with Israel...it's our involvement in the Iraqi-Iranian conflict...
Our professor then proceeds to say (not a direct quote), "Well let me present you with the two leading general theories. The first is that it was because of U.S. actions, involvement, exploitation, etc. The second is the fact that it is more of a fundamental difference, that Al Qaeda opposed what the U.S. IS. Democracy, capitalism, relatively tolerant. The first we can change, the second we essentially can't. What do you think in these ideas?"
He proceeded to ask for a show of hands for people who thought that the first was the case, then the second.
Hands were overwhelming pushed into the air after the second option. And some reasoning was requested. This is were I sat silently in shock, until near the end of class. A few sample direct quotes:
"Hate is hate, there's nothing you can do about it. Some people just hate us."
"They just see the world in a messed up way, we can't change that."
I won't go on, because I don't want to inaccurately quote people, but I couldn't believe the apathy and amount of "they"s being thrown around the room. Finally, I composed myself and threw in my two cents that we shouldn't judge the people in an entire region/religion of the world simply by the actions of a few. I suggested that perhaps it was a matter of misunderstanding or misperceptions between cultures, something that could be solved. How accurate is our perception of "them"? A few other similar comments. I didn't get much response as the bell soon rang, but I wish we could have continued that discussion. I think I'm going to ask the professor to continue it next class, for this was a situation where our education isn't about some dot you'll have to fill in on a Scantron.
I think I'll dream tonight of taking that entire room of people on Salaam with me. That would be some real impact.
posted by Burbs @ 8:53 PM
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