In the week of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 21 March, the activities at Primary School Savremena were directed towards the upholding of solidarity and the fight against racial discrimination and racism.Students wrote letters to peers all over the world, sending words of support and compassion and expressing their own thoughts about the world.

CHILDREN FROM OTHER CULTURES UNDERSTAND OUR MESSAGES

Children’s messages are universal. A long time ago, someone said: “Children will save the world.” The week in which we remember the tragic 21 March was dedicated, among other things, to learning about the importance of solidarity.

The truth which the students perceived is: Solidarity ensures us that we are not alone. Empathy provides redemption from fear. Only with solidary does our world make sense. But solidarity must never be assumed, taken for granted. People need clear proof that it is there.

The letters were touching, accurate, uncompromisingly ethical and humane. When we think about our primary students’ messages, we cannot help but wonder if they are the ones that are supposed to learn something, or if they are, perhaps, in fact the ones that ought to do the teaching.

Read one of the letters, addressed to an unknown friend in an unknown country, but containing clear, universal, powerful messages.

Dear friend,

The world is falling apart. We have divided humankind into white, black and yellow. It is terrible how things we have no control over make us feel better or worse. People’s mouths are shut tight, our opinions stay locked in our minds, and there is no way to let our voice out – to make it heard. You cannot speak, scream, ask for help, make a suggestion… We are too blind. We cannot see beneath the rain. We never dig deeper to see the good in another. DO NOT JUDGE A MAN OR A WOMEN BY THE COLOUR OF THE SKIN. But there has been progress. There are people in communities all over the world who are accepted as they should be. I don’t see a black man, a yellow man or a black man. I see people. I see souls lost in a labyrinth of judgement, leading towards doubt and lack of trust.
So be reasonable.

Matija Baketarić, 5-1

21. 3. 1960 SHOWED WHAT WE MUST NOT DENY OR IGNORE

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has been introduced in remembrance of the day in 1960 when police in Sharpeville, South Africa opened fire and killed 69 peaceful protesters against the apartheid pass laws. Introducing this day in 1966, the General Assembly of the United Nations invited the international community to double the efforts towards eliminating all forms of racial discrimination.

It is clearly implied that racism in all its various forms will not disappear if we deny or ignore it. The struggle against racism requires that all relevant institutions take swift punitive action against the perpetrators of racial violence and those who incite racial hatred and intolerance.

Surely, there is hope. Although racial discrimination is still pervasive in various aspects of social life, the future generations’ capacity to overcome it is great. The motivation of Savremena’s students and their peers – full of inspiration, spirit and encouragement – to overcome these issues makes it clear that such projects are fruitful and that they need to be continually implemented in primary education.