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2005-11-07 - 3:11 p.m.

"The Kapi'o Newspress" Tuesday, November 1, 2005.

Speakout: What do you think about the deaths of 2,000 Amerians in Iraq?

Noah DeGuzman: I think it's interesting that our most loyal citizens are being asked to fight and die for many reasons unkown.

that really pissed me off when i first read it, so i called him out about it in class. i asked him what the fuck he meant by it. in his response he said that the soldiers there were comprable to "pawns." he just fucking called deyson a pawn! fuck that bullshit! the teacher i think was intrigued by the convesation, but he didn't like my swearing (as he shouldn't--i shouldn't have been swearing, but i was feeling pretty emotional). anyway, i exchanged a few more words with him, along the way there were implications that he didn't know what the fuck he was talking about and he tried to keep me in the conversation with that bullshit "i want to hear what you have to say"-shit and then i called him chicken shit as i left the room.

when i got home, i wrote this email:

I'm sorry for my outburst at the start of class and for creating a distraction in terms of diverting attention away from your lesson plan. I just felt overwhelmed when I saw Noah's comments in the paper. After seeing Noah's comments in the school paper with the seeming implication that all of the deaths in Iraq were senseless, I felt like it completely invalidated the sacrifices of every serviceman and woman who served and died in the region. And then hearing him call those soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines "pawns" just further pushed me. Noah doesn't even know the beginning of sacrafices that those men and women who are braver than the most of us, and he has the audacity to call them nothing more than pawns. What makes it even worse is that Noah probably doesn't even realize how wrong he is about the whole subject. I can't take back what I did or what I said, but I am apologizing for the way I conducted myself in your classroom.

-Ryan Okuno

it took a lot to write that apology. as you can tell, towards the end it slowly turns into me bitching about how much of a fucking moron noah is. but anyway, this is the reply i got back.

Hi, Ryan.

Thanks for your e-mail.

I really do regret that you missed an opportunity to hear what I
said to your classmate Noah in the presence of his peers.

I made two points: 1) By simply repeating or elaborating his
_Kapi'o_ statement, he failed to acknowledge that other people have
different experiences and viewpoints. And 2) failing to do that can make
further discussion extremely difficult.

In my experience, there always have been issues and controversies
about which people express deeply felt, sharply different points of view.
And the current wars are likely to be among them.

But at least in the classroom, it can be worthwhile seeing if
there is a way to discuss or debate these in a way that brings out the
roots of the differences. I assume that these kinds of differences will be
with us for many years to come.

In making that claim, I'm not at all suggesting that this is easy.
However, it can be useful, even if participants do not reach agreement.
(I've been around long enough _not_ to believe that all differences are
simply a matter of communication.)

At least for purposes of classroom discussions, students were
asked to consider how each of you expresses sharp differences over facts,
values and conclusions.

In the case at hand on Monday afternoon, one might have asked,
"What is the factual basis for assuming that none of the U.S. soldiers in
Iraq felt they had no reason to be there?" (In my own conversations with
students and others who were in Afghanistan and/or Iraq or who almost got
sent over there, they expressed many different views. Their views ranged
from support for the war to misgivings about it to open opposition.)

The apology is accepted.

And have a pleasant evening.


Vincent

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