TOLEDO,
Spain—Catholicism. Judaism. Islam. One city.
Toledo
has been known through the centuries as The City of Tolerance and The City of
Three Cultures. It is also where the Spanish Inquisition began and forced out
the Jewish culture of the city. A city once known for love and tolerance became
breeding grounds for fear and hate.
The
city of Toledo has been around for more than nine times longer than my home
country, and it is evident that Toledo has experienced an exaggerated version
of the constant cultural tensions in my own country.
The
culture and history of Spain are what I am learning the most from. All cultures
have lessons to teach, and if these lessons are not learned then history is
doomed to repeat itself.
As
I walk through the streets of Toledo, Cáceres, or Madrid, I am surprised more
by what is similar than what is different. A husband and wife walking down the
street hand in hand. Two friends having coffee together before work. A mother
scolding her son for running too close to the street.
People
in the United States as well as Spain want better lives for their children,
love their families, and love their country. All the similarities between our
peoples suggest that we might subject to the same tendencies of fear and
ethnocentrism. But we may also be subject to the same acceptance as the people
of Spain have been many times through their long history.
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