Learning and Accepting “Differences”

同志社国際高等学校２年

斉藤萌

栄Sounds of the harsh metal crashing into the 400meter building
echoed through the city.

17 minutes later, the second thunder-likejolt pushed the city into an enormous pit of chaos.

People scrambled

like tiny ants being attacked by a huge and invisible enemy.

Somefrantically tried to reach their loved ones, some collapsed onto thestreets and burst out crying, and some just stood there, stupefied by
the overwhelming scene unfolding in front of them.
The double-attack on the world trade center ten years ago senta wave of shock across the world, and of course, across the BigApple.

Almost 3000 people were killed and an innumerable numberof people received emotional traumas.

People in the city werecompletely engulfed by fear. It is a common phenomenon, to see feartransform into hatred and violence.

This was exactly what happened.

New Yorkers and Americans were shocked by this sudden attack on
their homeland.

For the first time in U.S history, the mainland wasattacked and people became aware of their vulnerability.

This feartransformed its self into deep-rooted hatred.
After

9/11,

casesofethnicities started to appear.

violence

againstpeople

withArabic

Many Arab Americans and Muslims

were subjected to groundless discrimination following the September
11th terrorist attacks. There have been many cases of violence against
Arab Americans and people who had been stereotyped as Arabs,

such as Iranians and people from South Asia, because of their “similarityto Arabs in their appearances”.

Also, people with Arabic ethnicities

are frequently treated unfairly in places like airports, where theymust go through an especially thorough check to board their aircrafts.
But one must wonder.
wrong?

Had these segregated people done anything

Did they have anything to do with the terrorist attacks?

Many were immigrants who had been living in the U.S over decades.
Why were they, all of a sudden, seen as an enemy by theironce-peaceful neighbors?
This summer, I was blessed with the opportunity of being apart of a summer program called Phillips Academy Andover Summer
Session.

This was an academically rigorous program that was heldin a small town in Andover, Massachusetts.

Students from about 100

countries gathered in this small town to spend a month learning,
experiencing,andconnecting,tothemselvesmulti-colored cultures existing in the world.
andsurreal

different

atmosphere,

wherelanguages-English,

youFrench,

as

well

as

theIt truly had an amazing

could

constantly

hear

five

Spanish,Chinese,

and

other

languages that you could not quite place-from right where you where
standing.

The table that I sat during my lunch breaks included

people from Germany, America, Russia, Cambodia, France, Indonesia,England, China, and Turkey.

In the evenings I would study with myclassmates who came from countries such as Colombia, Greece,
Puerto Rico, and Bangladesh.

Naturally, each person spoke different

languages, had different complexions, and had different ideas.

Eachperson had their own cultures, their own religions, and their ownperspectives.

With this much differentiation between the students, aconflict over cultural differences can easily be expected.
that was not the case.

However,

Despite our cultural differences, we were able

to connect with one another and were able to become best of friends.
How was this possible?

How could people with such different

backgrounds get along so cheerfully?
One thing that I noticed in the attitudes of the people in
Andover was their eagerness of learning about each other’s cultures.
Almost all of my friends seemed curious about one another and their
distinct cultures.

“So, tell me about your country,” was a frequently

heard phrase across the campus during the summer.
I too was asked this question multiple times.

In response, I

would always explain to my inquirer that the Japanese culture valuedmutual respect and harmony, and that it was a culture that wasclosely tied to the people’s daily lives.

My inquirer seemed toremember this when I bowed to a fellow Japanese friend in thecorridor.

My inquirer nodded approvingly and said, “Teach memore”.
In another instance, a girl in my class that was a Muslim had
to fast because of Ramadan.

Especially because 9/11 happened when

I was still in first grade of elementary school, I had always had theimpression

thatIslamwasnotexactlyfrightening.

I confessed this to my friend.

bad,butstill,alittle

She took me to breakfast

and explained to me that Islam was a religion of peace, focusing on
internal conflict and overcoming your desires.

She told me thatRamadan was a part of that path to conquering yourself andfollowing Allah.

I was amazed by the tranquil nature of Islam andat the same time, was ashamed of my ignorance.

I realized that Ihad, based on the shaky opinion of society, stereotyped and judged
an entire culture wrongly.

But now I know that I was completely

mistaken.
This ignorance of mine can also be seen in the people whohave been discriminating Arab Americans after September 11th. Thesepeople attack Arab Americans because they stereotype and judge
Islam and Arabs and do not try to learn the culture.

It is very

dangerous to keep something that you cannot understand and leave itthat way because it leads to stereotyping, judging, and as a result,hating.

This is not just in the instance of the September 11th attacks.

Many of the problems concerning discrimination and conflict between
parties are caused by lack of mutual understanding.
The “Andover standard”, which learning and accepting eachother was a natural phenomenon, could be a sublime solution to this.
What if we could have the curiosity and the motivation to keep onlearning and accepting each other’s cultures?

If the “Andoverstandard” were to spread, segregation and discrimination would surely
fade away.

Members of the coming generation must keep in mind

that it is their responsibility and obligation to have the curiosity
towards the cultures in the world and to make an effort tounderstand them. Ignorance can bring costly consequences. Learningand accepting differences are a key to a more peaceful future.