Elena Chiavazza Prieto, Grade 12
UWCSA (Arusha)
When I applied to UWC, one of the aspects that most captivated my attention was the opportunity to share classrooms or to hold debates in class with people from very diverse parts of the world. I envisioned hundreds of scenarios before arriving at UWC East Africa; however, reality exceeded my expectations. I think without a doubt one of the most incredible experiences I had was during a history class in which we studied The Civil Rights Movements in the United States, and what struck me most was seeing the expressions on the faces of my African classmates when our teacher described the horrible events that African-American had to go through during apartheid in America.
There are certain historical facts that affect us a little more than others; for example, I remember when I studied in Argentina, how difficult it was for me not to cry when we talked in class about the dictatorial period that the country went through in the '70s, I think that perhaps was the same feeling that my Tanzanian classmate that sits next to me felt when she read in the history book the torture and murders committed against African-American people not too long ago. I remember that during that class, I couldn't stop seeing the faces of my classmates, they were all silent, with their eyes wide and bright, listening carefully to everything our teacher explained. I started to think "How hard must it be to think that if you had been born at that time, in that country, you could have been murdered simply for having a different skin color? ", is a sensation that has hardly ever crossed my mind.
When I studied in Argentina, I could say that my classmates and I came from quite similar backgrounds. Therefore, I never had the opportunity to share a class with black people or some other different race to mine (although it is already known that in Latin America, our genes are highly mixed). When I used to study in history what happened in Europe during the wars and what happened during the colonization of America, I never noticed anyone shedding tears or showing extreme interest in the subject. However, for the first time in my life, I saw my classmates cry and slowly close their history books because it was difficult for them to keep reading. That's when I understood that sometimes to better understand history; it is important to put yourself in the shoes of those who feel it most closely, in the shoes of those who may even fear it.
Yes, that was the first time I feared history, the first time I felt empathy for the people who had to live it and sorry for the people who even have a hard time processing it. I think the main objective of history is to study the terrible mistakes made in the past so as not to make them again in the present. I learned that apartheid was undoubtedly one of the darkest moments in American history, but I also learned that this was a process that not only occurred in the United States but in places that are much closer to where I live now, those places are South Africa and Namibia, where apartheid also devastated the normal life of black people, places where racism remains as a latent problem, places where apartheid left its traces very marked.
When I left that class, I realized that it is important as a history student to understand that memory is something extremely powerful, that it can even be used as a weapon to fight against all the injustices that have been experienced in the past. Memory is the one that keeps alive the premise of "not repeating the mistakes of the past", and with everything that is happening now, I am afraid that sooner or later memory will become oblivion. That kind of history helped me perhaps understand the history of apartheid from a more emotional position, and helped me understand history in general as a force for change in the world.
That class will always be marked in my heart. The videos of African Americans recounting how they lived apartheid in their own flesh reminded me of racist experiences that some of my classmates suffered not so long ago; this cannot continue to happen, history must not be repeated, we must say "enough" to those mistakes that ended in tragedies. I am sure that all the people who were part of the Civil Rights Movements would be very proud to see how the masses continue fighting for their rights, but they would also be frustrated to see how these masses continue to suffer the same discrimination, frustrated to see how racism becomes an endless cycle.
History is important, but it is past. It is time to set our sights on the future. It is time to move forward with the processes of change that have occurred in all nations. We must begin to be those agents that make history move progressively and don't let it fall into decline again. It is important to begin to rethink history from the perspective of those who suffered the most, from the perspectives of victims and minorities, and begin to think critically about that history that is told to us from the perspective of the privileged ones. UWC is an organization with students seeking to create change, and that change is only possible when we learn to recognize all our mistakes.
There are certain historical facts that affect us a little more than others; for example, I remember when I studied in Argentina, how difficult it was for me not to cry when we talked in class about the dictatorial period that the country went through in the '70s, I think that perhaps was the same feeling that my Tanzanian classmate that sits next to me felt when she read in the history book the torture and murders committed against African-American people not too long ago. I remember that during that class, I couldn't stop seeing the faces of my classmates, they were all silent, with their eyes wide and bright, listening carefully to everything our teacher explained. I started to think "How hard must it be to think that if you had been born at that time, in that country, you could have been murdered simply for having a different skin color? ", is a sensation that has hardly ever crossed my mind.
When I studied in Argentina, I could say that my classmates and I came from quite similar backgrounds. Therefore, I never had the opportunity to share a class with black people or some other different race to mine (although it is already known that in Latin America, our genes are highly mixed). When I used to study in history what happened in Europe during the wars and what happened during the colonization of America, I never noticed anyone shedding tears or showing extreme interest in the subject. However, for the first time in my life, I saw my classmates cry and slowly close their history books because it was difficult for them to keep reading. That's when I understood that sometimes to better understand history; it is important to put yourself in the shoes of those who feel it most closely, in the shoes of those who may even fear it.
Yes, that was the first time I feared history, the first time I felt empathy for the people who had to live it and sorry for the people who even have a hard time processing it. I think the main objective of history is to study the terrible mistakes made in the past so as not to make them again in the present. I learned that apartheid was undoubtedly one of the darkest moments in American history, but I also learned that this was a process that not only occurred in the United States but in places that are much closer to where I live now, those places are South Africa and Namibia, where apartheid also devastated the normal life of black people, places where racism remains as a latent problem, places where apartheid left its traces very marked.
When I left that class, I realized that it is important as a history student to understand that memory is something extremely powerful, that it can even be used as a weapon to fight against all the injustices that have been experienced in the past. Memory is the one that keeps alive the premise of "not repeating the mistakes of the past", and with everything that is happening now, I am afraid that sooner or later memory will become oblivion. That kind of history helped me perhaps understand the history of apartheid from a more emotional position, and helped me understand history in general as a force for change in the world.
That class will always be marked in my heart. The videos of African Americans recounting how they lived apartheid in their own flesh reminded me of racist experiences that some of my classmates suffered not so long ago; this cannot continue to happen, history must not be repeated, we must say "enough" to those mistakes that ended in tragedies. I am sure that all the people who were part of the Civil Rights Movements would be very proud to see how the masses continue fighting for their rights, but they would also be frustrated to see how these masses continue to suffer the same discrimination, frustrated to see how racism becomes an endless cycle.
History is important, but it is past. It is time to set our sights on the future. It is time to move forward with the processes of change that have occurred in all nations. We must begin to be those agents that make history move progressively and don't let it fall into decline again. It is important to begin to rethink history from the perspective of those who suffered the most, from the perspectives of victims and minorities, and begin to think critically about that history that is told to us from the perspective of the privileged ones. UWC is an organization with students seeking to create change, and that change is only possible when we learn to recognize all our mistakes.
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