We made the list....

Ok, I know I need to be posting the rest of my pictures, but I had a small revelation today. Well, I was shocked today. I'm hoping the revelation part where everything snaps into place and I can make astute observations about the ways of the world comes later...

I was bored before lunch so I began reading this youth magazine that the government puts out, it was lying around the teachers' lounge. You know a eat-your-vegetables-exercise-daily-be polite- and-don't-discriminate kind of publication. Well, there was this one article called "Tous Diffèrents Mais Tous Egaux (All different, but all equal)." It discussed racist, or discriminatory assumptions and biases, and why they weren't always correct. As a conclusion the article stated:

"Ben Laden est un terroriste. Est-ce que tous les arabes le sont? Bush a voulu occuper l'Irak, est-ce que tous les américains étaient d'accords? Hitler était un nazi. Est-ce que tous les allemands l'ont été?"

It's not what it literally says that bothers me. That part is dead on, it's what I've been preaching to people since I arrived here. But here's the thing...we made a list in an educational publication that placed Bush's name next to Hitler and Bin Laden. What type of message does that send to young people? I haven't decided how this makes me feel yet. Outrage was first. Now I just feel an overwhelming desire to educate myself and then scream at some French people. The disconcerting problem is that I'm not sure I have an argument...