Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Empowerment and Perspective

Dear Friends,

I only have one week [+ 3 days] left in Skopje and am entering into a time of reflection as I prepare to return to Seattle and the craziness that is Spring Quarter.

As I begin the transition back to Seattle and into the academic sphere, I wanted to share a small personal reflection with you, specifically about the words empowerment and perspective.

These are two terms that I thought I understood- I am empowered because I am a woman who can vote, I am educated, I am respected in certain circles. I understand different perspectives because I have worked with minority populations, listened to their stories and respect foreign cultures. But empowered does just mean having power and being "culturally sensitive" doesn't just mean avoiding racial slurs or offensive lingo.

Empowerment:
I am beginning to believe that empowerment is less about the state of having power and more about the "EM" part. This prefix implies a process-- putting something into something. For example, I already am in power. I was born into my right to vote, to cut my hair, to speak my mind. I was born into a family whose values I respect and share. It is easy, therefore, for me to step into a culture like Macedonia and say, oh, it's easy to break down ethnic boundaries, it's very simply to make a school green. I do it, I recycle. But I forget that it was not I who took those first steps and fought against the basic, accepted status quo. And I don't know if I would have had the courage to do so. I do not mean to negate or put down our culture where we often take things for granted, simply to say that I have learned so much from these students and people here who are struggling to feel empowered. People who believe in things their parents and communities don't understand or validate.

Perspective:
I think in any country we grow up believing that the history we learned is unbiased and true. Perhaps this is my own bias, but I think American history prides itself especially on representing both sides -- although the mass genocide of Native Americans is by no means flashed about throughout history books, we have learned it. Wait, I take that back. If we were to have a true American History, it wouldn't start with the country's foundation, rather any course would include all tribes and battles that were fought before the arrival of the white man... I can't even name one fight.

The same situation is everywhere, I suppose, but especially exaggerated in Macedonia. With two large communities divided by language, religion, and ethnicity in many sectors of society including education, the histories they learn have been separated as well. In Macedonian language classrooms they learn Macedonian history--- the history of the ethnic Macedonians. In Albanian language classrooms, they learn the history of ethnic Albanians. But they don't learn each other's history.

How could this not do harm?

In this social analysis paper I am writing right now, I am doing my best at presenting a fair and unbiased version of events that have happened in the Former Yugoslavia and the Republic of Macedonia.. But when is one a separatist and when is that same person fighting for independence. When does a terrorist become a freedom fighter? When do you start the chain of events that triggers mass murder.. Maybe histories about Yugoslavia portray Serbia as the main perpetrator [i am not disagreeing with this assertion], but mention nothing of the Croatian genocide of Serbs during the Second World War...


I know both these issues are neither new nor simple. I know it's easier to say all of this being an outsider and not understanding the complexities of the situation. I know my desire to be unbiased comes from my American P.C. culture where we think that what we say/do/think is not offensive to anyone. I suppose all I can do is write about it.. hopefully provides some food for thought for others.

Best,
Tess

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