Hi

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So... here I am... chillin as usual. Whats new? Really not that much. Im at an interesting juncture in time. At this point India is no longer the focus of my time. Well, it is because im still living there, but the emphasis is this project that I have to do. I've met most of the people I expect to meet and have come to conclusion that it is going to be impossible for me to retain tamil (could not find any tamils at ithaca or around nyack). Its really too bad but im l;ooking forward to gaining fluency in spanish and french. So, recents events.

I play football (soccer) in the park every day with a group of African (sudanese and kenyan) friends. It makes me oh so very happy to be able to playw ith them every day. Theya re great guys and very good players so when this was jeopardized i was forced to take action. There is a woman in our area, actually the next door neighbor of shaker, who about 7 years ago married a kenyan man. He was an alcoholic who beat her, caused rucus and in general made her life a living hell. That is a fact and recognized as such by africans and tmails alike. However, that does not excuse her from blame for her actions. We were playing in the park saturday when this woman comes by and says she wants to speak to my friend Edu. Edu says that he cant talk now because he is playing. Immediately this woman named Ramina flies into a rage and starts gogin off on a rant about all the horrible things her ex-husband named Guildeon did. OK. You feel a little compassion for her at first. But when we all started ingoring her after about 5 minutes she got really angry and from over the fence started calling them "niggers" and said, "foreigners should know their place". Needless to say, this ruffled a few feathers. However, my friends remained calm and once again went back to playing football. "Going to ignore me are they" she must have said to herself as she sprinted onto the field towards my friend Richard who she'd never met. She ran up to him cursing him for looking at her and cocked back her arm to hit him. He grabbed her by the shoulders to keep her away from him but as he did so she recoiled saying, "YOU HIT ME! iM GOING TO TELL THE POLICE!"

Crowds gatered around the park to see what was going on including the president of the neighborhood association. Se was none too pleased for she said "you may never use the park again". This was a catatrphoc tragedy from my perspective. I ran over to her and in my most beseeching respecful voice pleaded with her to understand that we had nothing to do with this woman, that she came just to make trouble for the Africans. She wouldnt hear it. I ran back to the group of Africans and this woman and yelled at the top of my voice "SHUT UP! EVERYONE!" the calmed down instantly somehow. I managed to get her to leave and to ge thte game to continue at which point i left to go talk to the president of the pasupathy nagar association at her home. At first she wouldnt hear me out, but after about 35 minutes she agreed to let us have one mroe chance.

I know this story is not being written well, so I hope you follow the events. Next, i cycled home, passign the police checkpoint on the way only to see her there talking to the police. I overheard her saying to the police that this man hit her, she didnt know why and such. "I cant let her cause my friend to be deported just because hes african and cant speak tamil and she can" I thought. So i went over there and told the police that it was not true, that there were many other witnesses that also saw what happened and such. They believed me. I also went to speak to this womana nd find out her side of the story. Over 90 percent of what she said related to Guildeon, with her failing to provide a reason for her hatred of these africans besdies that they were black and so was ehr exhusband. I listened compassionately, but every time she mentioned guildeon i said, that was in the part, what happened now?" She could not provide anything" To concluse the story, the police fetched richard, but, it turns out the whole neighborhood knoew this woman was a little crazy so they let him go freee without too much fuss. However, I took two things from the story.

1) How much personal experience affedcts perception. No matter what one is told, one's own experience determines outlook. This lady's experiences with a very bad african man made her unable to see the others in any but negative light. She said to me, "They are all useless. They smile and ask for money, but then don't pay it back. They are all the same." "How amny Africans do you know?" I asked. "well i know Guildeon, edu, antony, and steve." She knew only 4 people. 4 people. Thats to me sums up the problem of race relations in America. The lack of interaction. Since, in my opinion, people are good, bad, pretty, and ugly across all races, the more exposure one has, the more they realize this and are able to separate individuals from their race.

2) There comes a time when you must put down your proverbial foot. This woman suffered much. This is without question. But this does not excuse her behavior. It explains it to a large degree, but doesnt excuse it. When I told one friend of this story she blamed the ex husband and refused to put any blame on the woman. Well, I said to her, "If a terrorist kills you for being American is he to blame if his borther has been killed by Americans?" I think yes. Basically, empathy and understanding are important in this world, but that is not to say that one shouldnt push people to become better people.

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Comments

[sally]

Yes
Yes Nathan, I whole-heartedly agree that one must push people to be better. Often it is the only way to move them. However, how you push them is VERY important. I prefer to use music and beauty, Sometimes one must use words and action. I admire you for the way that you stood up for your friends. That was very good. Love, Mom

[Tad]

I know there are at least SOME Tamils in Nyack (Sri Lankan Tamils), but maybe none your age. I could try and see...