Education, “Esperanto” Radical Association’s Demonstration conculded at La Sapienza, Rome
The “Esperanto” Radical Association launched a demonstration against the teaching of a Medical degree only in English at the “Sapienza” Rome University. The demonstration ended at 16.00. Speakers included Giorgio Pagano, Secretary of the “Esperanto” Radical Association, and Marco Cattaneo, translator of the Italian edition of Robert Phillipson’s
“Linguistic Imperialism Continued.” Flyers with Gandhi’s face and his famous quote “to give millions a knowledge of English is to enslave them” were handed out in order to raise student awareness concerning linguistic genocide and the lack of equal opportunity in Italy and around the world, a problem that still has not recieved enough attention. These inequalities exist everywhere in the world, especially between English native speakers and other native speakers of the world.
“Not a single flyer was found on the ground,” Giorgio Pagano said, “a clear sign that the students reacted positively to an unheard of topic, so much so that it could override current public opinion. The non-violent battle against linguistic colonization begins here, by eliminating this widespread belief that it is acceptable to impose the language of one chosen culture on others: we oppose this and value our linguistic heritage and out culture and we are in favour to spread the International Language, called “Esperanto,” as a means of equal opportunity and linguistic democracy, especially in the Babyl of Europe that we live in today, where it is considered an essential and urgent right of the United States of Europe.”
Rome, July 19 2011