The weather last night was frightful! We had rain late yesterday that turned into heavy snow that would come in bursts of wind. It was still too warm for it to stick, but it was beautiful when it was coming down and sometimes surprising in its fury. But during the night, we had a sleet storm. The ground is covered in crunchy little balls this morning. It made for an interesting walk to school, for sure. We are expecting rain, then sleet and then snow today with snow tomorrow and Wednesday. It will be interesting weather - as one local to Greenville, SC, meteorologist put it.
My question for the day on Friday was "Do Germans celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day?" The answer is no. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great man who set out to take on a very large problem and solve it in a peaceable way. I have a great admiration and respect for that, particularly in times today where gun violence, crime and race relations seem to be worse than ever. In all honesty, it is likely not significantly worse today than it ever was, but we hear about it on the news all the time. It makes it feel worse. And in some places, where the quality of life has declined, it will be worse. But in others, it will have improved so the violence will also have improved. I will say it again: Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great man, and I am glad that we honor him on this day in our country. But he is not remembered all over the world. He was an American man, dealing with an American problem, and through his acts and the tragedy of his short life, he became an American hero. I hope you enjoy your day off and can take some time to think about the sacrifices and messages of this man. It takes all of us to change our country, little by little.
Race relations are a problem here as well, but it is not a white/black problem. Here, there is discrimination against immigrants such as Russians and Turkish people. There is also a definite undercurrent of issues with Muslim versus Christian peoples. I have heard other Germans say that they cannot understand why the Muslims would need to build their own church here - there are already plenty of churches. The Turkish people here face an extra hard road in that they are both immigrants as well as Muslim. I was warned on many separate occasions to watch out for them with my children in school. I have been approached by some of the older kids who found us interesting, but who showed it as a teenager would. I see the kids hanging around the bus station, and I have read about crimes that are committed by Turkish youth. I am wary, and I hate to think that I have developed a prejudice.
But I find that the issues related to the prejudices here are very similar to the ones we have at home. I want to keep myself and my family safe. I want to maintain the lifestyle I am accustomed to. And I want my surroundings (the bus station, the schools, and city park) to reflect my ideals. The Turkish people have come here for employment. They want a better lifestyle for their families, but their background is not the same as mine. They see surviving and getting a foot in the door more important than education, because it must be. They are working many, many hours and must leave their children on their own, not giving them the guidance on manners and responsibility that I think of as important. But it is sometimes for them either work or go hungry. But their children are learning how to survive on the street, and when they become parents themselves, they do not have the skills to help their own children to stop this cycle.
Although some would argue that these are not the roots of our race relation issues in the USA, I believe pretty strongly that they are. The communities that are in the minority, Latino and African American, for example, are now trying to better their lives in whatever way they feel they can. For some, it means living off the system. For others, it means leaving the kids to raise themselves while they work 7 days a week. For others, after so long a struggle, or after so long of seeing their parents and grandparents struggle and getting nowhere, they see survival only in drugs and violence - often abandoning their children to be cared for by the state or other relatives. And then there are some, who also see Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream - it means studying hard, getting that education, fighting for what is important in a peaceable way and breaking the cycle - and having the hard truth of knowing that their battles will be harder than the battles my children will have in order to reach their goals.
The question for the day is "Will Germany be paying attention to tomorrow's inauguration?"
The words for the day are dream: der Traum (troum) and freedom: die Freiheit (fri hite where the "i's" have the sound as in kite).
Auf Wiedersehen,
Frau Spitzer
The word for the day is freedom:
