Reflections and a Comment

Dear Bosnian, France and U.S. fellows,

I have expressed to several of you how much I have really enjoyed group discussions both inside of the classrom when given class time to debrief and outside of HIA when we're walking around Paris -getting lost- and/or savoring crepes together. Personally, I have learned a lot from fellows, especially the French and Bosnian fellows, during discussions. I will not use names but I thank those of you who have been in my discussion groups and have had the patience to answer my questions. I really wish we could have had more time to digest information and deconstruct arguments together in an effective fashion since the beginning.

My short comment for you all is actually taken from a group discussion I recently participated in. At times, there seems to be a celebration for the U.S.' success in approaching race discourse, whenever it is compared to France. I personally think it is quite hypocritical for the U.S. fellows to allow our speakers and other fellows to make comments that may even hint such success without presenting any challenges to this notion of U.S. victory when talking about issues pertaining to minorities and race.

Yes, the U.S. may embrace dialogue about our history rooted in slavery and institutional segregation and celebrate its history of immigrants and present day diversity, BUT let's not forget that people in the U.S. are still generally afraid to talk realities like modern day slavery (ex: garment industry sweatshops in Los Angeles and agriculture) and modern day educational apartheid in the U.S. -both topics deeply rooted and intertwined with issues of race, socio-economic status, legal status, but also (let me emphasize this) race.

I do recognize that the people of the U.S. have made progress in addressing race -and this is mostly attributed to our willingness to recognize our history and talk about racism. However, mainstream society is still not willing to recognize the legacy of inequalities that continues to thrive today (elimination of affirmative action demonstrates this) and is reluctant to see the complexities of race in the present.

I don't mean to be preaching to the choir, but I hope that during this program and later, in the future, when we become human rights activists and spokespeople for our country we are more honest with ourselves and with others about the realities of our own country. The U.S. has a lot to learn from the situation in France, because we are not too far ahead in this dialogue about race (as some may think) and the fact that Obama may be the first black president of the U.S. does not and should not lead us to conclude that struggle of ethnic minorities in the U.S. is over.

Paz,
A