ERA SPEAKS AT THE ANTI-RACISM YOUTH CONFERENCE
A handful of the most active high schools in the Italian capitol confirmed the appointment of the 29th of January outside the “Pilo Albertelli” high school, at 15.00 hours, for the Anti-racist Youth Assembly. The desire to discuss with the youth is great, just as great as the desire to keep a space in society for our association and our non-violent but efficient cause; too bad institutes won’t offer us their space so that we could meet in the warm and gather our thoughts at ease. In fact, this is only the umpteenth time that we have been forced to settle in the street, some sitting, some leaning on scooters. Even us, the ERA Onlus, sat on the floor, and, with a certain irony, it was here that an interesting situation occurred: two guys of Somalian origin joined that group, curious to see what we were talking about. The problem? They spoke English and to make ourselves understood was quite an adventure!
Due to this little unexpected episode and the speeches made concerning the drammatic palestinian situation and the growing wave of racism, the one that is washing over our country, we reconnected these events to our speech, as we were there to explain the importance of linguistic democracy to these kids, especially in times like these. "The fact that we find ourselves on the street is not a coincidence," said Flavia, on behalf of ERA, "it proves how young people are treated, not only in this country, but in many different nations. The language problem seems irrelevant, but it actually the base for an efficient, democratic participation, also to gain a better understanding of the messages that the massmedia is publishing, in terms of international relations."
Flavia continued her speech, reading out fragments from a conference that was held last February 21, in the UNESCO Paris headquarters, in occasion of the International Mother Language Day; “When it comes to eco-sustainability, to the extent that registered languages record knowledge and local ability related to the natural enviroment, and are used to transmit, even the management of natural resources goes under protecting and promoting languages."
The most important point of the document was the fourth one, which reminds us about freedom of expression, the right to an education and the right to benefit in scientific progress, which is largely conditioned by linguistic factors. Hearing this, those present became very intrigued, but also appeared startled, and asked us right away what could be done to fix the problem, only to find out that the solution already exists: Esperanto as the federal language of the United States of Europe, the only means really capable to break out of the English-speaking oppression and out of the possible deterioration of our language, as well as the empoverishment of our culture, alive an preserved thanks to the Italian language.
"The situation is already very serious," Eleonora adds, "even when it comes to university, where one usually wastes years trying to learn English, never being able to conquer it completely. Not to mention, Great Britain re-invests in our huge language expenses," concluded Eleonora, reminding us of the other highly worrying factor: the monopoly of now publishing only in English.