I am an ESL teacher at Newcomers High School where I have also run an anti-bias program for the past six years. This program is supported by several wonderful organizations: the Anti-Defamation League's A World of Difference Program, Facing History and Ourselves, and the Council for Unity (see below for information on how to contact these organizations). The students in this program use examples from history and current events as case studies of the dangers of racism and intolerance. Our exploration of any one historical event includes studying historical text, personal stories, literature, film, poetry, artwork, current events, survivor testimony, and drama. Last year, we focused on the Civil Rights Movement and South Africa during and after Apartheid. This year, due to the extraordinary events of September 11th, our class turned to focus on a more current event.

September 11th, 2001: two planes hit the World Trade Center and the students and I watched from windows on the fourth floor of our school building as the towers burned and fell. It was the first week of school. I had only met with the students in my anti-bias program once and I would not see them again that day.

September 12th, 2001: schools were closed. I, like all New Yorkers/Americans, felt confused, upset, scared, angry, and most importantly, resolved to make the students feel safe when they returned to the building. My principal, Lourdes Burrows, gave me permission to pull the students in my anti-bias program out of their classes when school reopened. We were going to set up stations throughout the school where others could come and create memorials for those who were killed, write thank you letters to police officers and fire fighters, make a donation, and learn where and how to volunteer.

September 13, 2001: school reopened. There were delayed school openings for all New York City students and they didn't have to come to school until 10:00 AM, however by 7:30 AM the building was full. I quickly found the members of my class and explained to them our objective for the day. My students are from all over the world: Ecuador, Romania, Morocco, Bangladesh, Greece, Mexico, the Ivory Coast, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Colombia, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand, Togo, Ecuador, Russia, and many more countries. They had moved to the United States to escape a number of serious problems such as poverty, instability, torture, and unemployment. Suddenly, they felt as unsafe here as they had in the countries they had escaped. Further, they were very afraid that as new immigrants, many Muslim, they would be under attack due to anti-immigrant sentiment that was swelling. Lastly, like everyone, they were hurting from the crisis of two days earlier. We set up, announced to the other students what we were doing, and watched as masses came to empty their pockets, draw memorials, and take fliers with information on volunteering. By days end we raised several hundred dollars, in a school where all of the students are entitled to free breakfast and free lunch, and everyone is a newly arrived immigrant. Not one student who visited our stations mentioned concern for his/her own safety or anger for any backlash he/she might have received outside of school. Their selflessness was remarkable. At the end of the day, I looked at the students in my program and saw a change had come over them: they were motivated and focused. They saw that this small action on their parts had done a large amount of good.

September 14, 2001: classes were back to "normal", so my students and I could sit and process the events of the past week. The students were full of confusion, sadness, fear, and anger, but also resolve to make a difference. We discussed the recent attacks on immigrants in New York and throughout the country, particularly those who were Arab or Muslim. We also discussed what the government, police, and school could do to protect those in danger. Nikita, from Russia, wrote in his journal, "It will be very helpful for school officials, university presidents and deans, student government leaders, religious leaders and others to issue public statements that innocent people should not be blamed for the acts of others." As a class, we vowed to report any incidents we witnessed and to educate others about the Muslim/Arab cultures. "The impulse to retaliate can be an instinctive demand for justice, but justice can never be served by blindly striking out in ways which victimize innocent people. The most effective way to counteract hostile stereotypes is through coming in personal contact with other communities. We need to remind students that the Arab world is an entire civilization with a rich and sophisticated cultural heritage." (Nikita's journal) In spite of any fears they had, my students decided that we needed to keep raising money for victims of the attacks and that we would do this by making and selling American flag safety pins.

As the US began its anti-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan, the students in my anti-bias program decided that our new case study should focus on human rights abuses going on in Afghanistan. The year progressed and we learned a great deal. We watched films on Afghanistan such as Beneath the Veil, Unholy War, and Beneath the Borqa. We read countless news articles, both past and present, about the mistreatment of women under the Taliban, the dire conditions civilians have endured since the war with the Soviets, and the new problems caused by US bombing. We held intense discussions in class about where to place blame and what role the US should play. My students had serious concerns about whether or not the US bombing would be effective. Assaba, from Togo, said, "I recognize that many innocent people died at the World Trade Center, but I am opposed to the US bombing. I am not a killer, I am a lifegiver; I am not a troublemaker, I am a peacemaker. There have been hundreds of innocent Afghans affected by the US bombing. People, already poor, have died or been forced to flee."

Finally, we attended a screening of Fabrizio Lazzaretti and Alberto Vendemmiati's film Jung, sponsored by Human Rights Watch International Film Festival. Andrea Holley, of HRWFF joined us at the screening and provided students with copies of the International Declaration of Human Rights. The movie was brutal and graphic, depicting the development of an Emergency hospital to treat casualties of land mines. However, it dealt with a very serious reality for the people of this war-torn country. By the end of the film, my students were distraught and we had to stand outside for almost an hour, digesting the film.

Ultimately, what struck my students most deeply from the film, was the fearlessness and unselfishness of the doctor, Gino Strada, and nurse, Kate Rowlands, in the film. They risked their lives to provide medical treatment to those that needed it most. Ivonne, from Indonesia, said, "I'm very happy to know that there are still people who care about other people. After watching the movie, I now realize that there are people who suffer more than we do. Your movie opened my eyes." Sebastian from Colombia said, "The film went beyond feelings or words. It's hard to express how I feel with anything besides my eyes and the reflection of the images on them."

My students felt resolved that we should send any money we raised from pin sales to this hospital. I contacted Andrea Holley to thank her for bringing us to the film and to tell her our plans. She told me the filmmakers, doctor and nurse would be in NY in February and that we could meet them in person. My students were thrilled.

February 10, 2002: it was a cold, rainy afternoon and I waited outside the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center with a group of students from my program. We had a check for several hundred dollars made out to the Emergency hospital and American flag safety pins to give the people we were about to meet. We were nervous and excited as we saw Kate and Gino come into the theater. Sebastian approached the doctor and nurse and said, "On behalf of my classmates, we would like to present you with this small check to thank you for the wonderful work you and the people of your hospital do every day. We are so inspired by your courage and we want you to know how much it means to us." The doctor and nurse were thrilled that high school students had taken the time to raise money for their cause. Dr. Strada said, "I feel better taking this money, raised by high school students who care about the people of Afghanistan, than I do taking the billions coming from countries who have been bombing Afghanistan with one hand and providing resources with the other."

The students wrote letters to the doctor, nurse and filmmakers, discussing what the day had meant to them. Marcela from Colombia said, "I know that I am not an Afghan, but I feel good knowing people like you, who risk their own lives to try to save people whom they do not know. Thank you for showing us the reality of life in a country where children have to learn the word "death" before learning the alphabet." Sebastian said, "There are no words to express what I am feeling now. However, there is something that I am sure of, and that is that war should not be addressed with war. Whomever we call the "enemy" is still a person." The experience had clearly made a deep impression on their lives.

Further, by raising money for the hospital in Afghanistan, and meeting the people who will directly benefit from this money, they were able to see the power of their actions. Assaba said, "After all the sad events in Afghanistan that we learned about, we needed something positive to keep hope and believe that we have the power to bring a positive change." At the end of this amazing afternoon, I turned to my class and said, "You see. You really can make a difference!" They looked at me and at each other nodding, saying, "Yes, we really can!"

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