I have always
wanted to learn Arabic.
I know a few
words already, enough to curse in the language, which probably isn’t exactly
conducive to speaking in the country.
When I
expressed a want to learn Arabic to someone I knew and they asked me why I
wanted to learn a ‘terrorist language.’
Notice how I characterized this person as someone I knew, not a friend,
because they are obviously too stupid to be my friend. Arabic is one of the
oldest, most beautiful languages in the world, and yet this person instantly
dismissed it because of an association with a certain class of people.
I understand
that living in a post 9/11 world has made us fearful of the unknown. It is far
easier to classify everyone who speaks Arabic or who wears a head scarf as a
terrorist. Easier, but certainly
wrong. We can’t fear and hate an
entire language or an entire people just because of the actions of a select
few. It doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t help us grow and it won’t help us find
peace.
But understanding
each other will. For me, learning Arabic has everything to do with poetry. I
have a terrible fascination with Middle Eastern poetry, so much so that I did
my thesis on it and I want to get a PHD studying it. In my mind, peace for the world is when we look at the best in each
culture, not at the worst.
Instead of
labeling everyone who speaks Arabic terrorists, wouldn’t it be better to label
them all poets?
Challenge to
my Readers:
I already
talked about how everyone should learn at least one, if not more, language
other than their native tongue, so I won’t say it again. Instead, I challenge
us to think outside the box, to avoid that kneejerk reaction against another
person or a new thing and be open to everything.
No comments:
Post a Comment