Well said, @TatinG
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
So I’ve been stealth deleting some responses that violate ToS, such as (paraphrasing) “I am voting for the person who is a proponent of XYZ.”
The cafe is provided as an outlet for non-college discussion, but ToS still applies.
Thanks @skieurope for working with us to keep this thread open. Hopefully all of us can work with you to make your job easier.
I think one thing we can all do is model civility in stressful situations. Don’t yell at the person who’s told you your flight has been cancelled or you delivery will be late. Listen carefully to the person whose politics are very different from yours (and really listen, don’t just wait until you can talk.) Bring down the temperature in the room when things get dicey.
I’m proud of my husband for doing this today. He played in a soccer game and a new player to the league on the opposing team purposefully spat on one of his teammates. The ref. missed it but when that player subbed out DH calmly told him that spitting just isn’t done and would get him kicked out of the league. The guy yelled that he would spit on anyone he wanted and asked DH if he wanted to “go at it.” His 10 year old yelled that DH was a “*ing racist.” DH just said, “No, of course I don’t want to fight you, and this has nothing to do with race. I just wanted you to know that you’ll get kicked off the team if you spit.” He didn’t bother to tell the other guy that he’s Mexican. DH’s calm deflated the other guy. It’s hard to fight someone when they won’t fight back.
I had to go check in on my (Jewish) grandmother this morning. She messages me every morning to let me know that she’s OK and she didn’t this morning. When I couldn’t get ahold of her, I drove over to her house to make sure she was OK.
Until earlier this year, my grandma had never been a part of my life so I know very little about her childhood… or her for that matter other than what my dad’s told me. I knew that she was one of the few people who survived the holocaust from her family. When she was very young, she and a young brother and sister were sent to the US to live with an uncle and the rest of her family was supposed to follow. They never made it out of Germany.
Anyway, she was OK but she’s scared. like really scared. She’s of course experienced more than her share of antisemitism in her life but she said something just feels different now than it did even just a few years ago.
As for what I’m going to do, I’m a voter and I’ve been involved in get out the vote things. I still can’t physically do most forms of canvassing or volunteering so I donate money. I use my training as a historian to contextualize what’s going on today. I write for a non-academic audience and do trainings and lectures for students and faculty. Unfortunately, as a trained historian of 20th century eugenics, nationalism, race, and so on, my expertise has been sought out far, FAR too much in the last several years.
HIAS helped my mother, her parents and her sister get out of Europe, get permission to stay in the U.S. when their ship arrived in NY in 1939, and get settled in the city. It was an amazingly wonderful organization then, and it is now.
I’m proud of three kids I know personally: My son, working in Syrian refugee camps. A young woman who has been working in schools in Kenya. Another young woman who has moved for an indefinite length of time (she keeps extending it!) to Honduras to work in an orphanage. Young people are making a difference in the world!
I don’t honestly know what to do about it. I do believe in prayer, and I’ve certainly been praying, but I also believe in action. I speak up when I hear a racist remark, and make sure people from targeted groups know that I stand with them. I also give to organizations that I believe are making a difference, but I don’t think any of this is adequate. I am as horrified, disgusted, and sad as the rest of you.
I would like to believe that there are political solutions, but I don’t think it’s as simple as electing the right people or voting for the right referendums. It’s a deeply entrenched problem that will require a multi-faceted approach to address, and sadly, I don’t think we as a people have the will to do this.
I hate to be so negative, but like some of you, I’m no longer confident that we can solve our hatred and violence problems.
As a historian, you have a fabulous opportunity to learn some important information about your family and get her story told.
Our minister said this morning that these kinds of acts are often perpetrated by people who are disconnected —unmoored, I think he said. He said that the job of religious people is to reach out and try to connect to others so that fewer people are unmoored.
Something to think about.
My soon to be 30 D1 and her boyfriend spent the afternoon canvassing this afternoon. While it is sadly true that young adults have experienced a culture with way too much violence in their lives, I think many are also so moved to do something about it.
Look for the enlightening stories to help balance the despair. That is a good life lesson overall.
“The way to respond in a moment of trauma is to reach out.” Congregant of the Tree of Life synagogue.
The world has always been full of terrible things. Sometimes more in one place than in another. One hundred years ago, World War I was coming to an end and the Spanish Flu had begun ravaging the world, killing more than the war, mostly young people. So many young people died that some places termed it “the lost generation”.
@VeryHappy I’m trying but it’s just a complicated situation :). Mostly, she doesn’t like to talk about it much.
People asked what they can do :
What a beautiful thing they did. We need more of helping others out in their times of need.
^Thanks for the link! Very powerful.
My Pittsburgh friend lost one friend and has another in critical condition. Ugh, just ugh.
I donated to HIAS today. They helped my mother, her sister and parents find a ship and do the paperwork to immigrate in 1939, and then to settle in NYC. They now help refugees from all over the world and they were part of the gunman’s rant as he slaughtered old people at temple yesterday.
Just returned from a community gathering in support of the Pittsburgh congregation. I wanted to get some “action items” to pursue…the crowd applauded enthusiastically for anyone who urged us to vote, there was support for “unity” and “love overcomes hate,” but few specific recommendations…except for the rabbi who suggested that we practice tolerance as the standing room only crowd left the parking lot by not honking at other cars. It’s a little thing, but maybe a good first step?
Watch the new documentary “Active Measures” and encourage others to do so also.
@MaineLonghorn , Is you son in Syria, or is he working with Syrian refugees somewhere else?