Revolutionist of the Week: The Prosecutor Who is Teaching Tolerance

After defacing the school with racist and anti-Semitic graffiti, five teenagers will report on books addressing some of history’s most divisive and tragic periods. This novel sentencing requirement, instead of the usual community service and probation, was the brainchild of prosecuting attorney Alejandra Rueda. She told the New York Times that just being sentenced wasn’t going to bring the message home. “I just thought maybe if the read these books, it will make an impression on them, and they will stand up for people who are being oppressed,” she said. That is why we are naming her our Revolutionist of the Week.

Rueda came up with a brilliant idea. Most kids grow up to become bigots and racists because of ignorance and propaganda. Reading allows us to see life through other people’s eyes. Countering the propaganda by giving these children different perspectives, and showing them the perils and consequences of bigotry and hatred in the context of history, will have a profound impact on them. This is an outstanding idea. We should be encouraging everyone, youth as well as adults, to experience the writings of those who are different than them so they can reflect on what we all learned in kindergarten, the Ethic of Reciprocity, aka, the Golden Rule—Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

America, What Have You Become?

Some recent articles reinforced my pride in being a Canadian. In the October 29- November 4 edition of The Economist the cover story “Liberty Moves North: Canada's Example to the World” outlined how “Canada is uniquely fortunate in many ways—but its liberalism and tolerance hold lessons for other Western countries.” 

USA Today reported, “The Georgia Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that a law that prohibits insulting or verbally abusing a public school employee in front of students violates the First Amendment.” This perplexing ruling makes it OK to bully and abuse employees, and—worse yet—do it in front of students during their most impressionable years.

Then there was the piece in The New York Times about Hamdi Ulukaya who employs resettled refugees in his Chobani yogurt factories. He’s now being targeted on social media by right-wing websites.

When you compound these examples with all of the bullying and hate mongering we are witnessing in the media in real time on prime time, Americans appear to want to normalize the abnormal. Again: thank God I am a Canadian!

Photo: BIGSTOCK