I can only imagine what it must have been like when our parents were young. Of course, like all of us, I’ve heard stories about the perfect society they had, about the lack of nationalism and hatred that, sadly, is a part of our everyday lives in our country. We’ve been taught to divide. Every single one of us is guilty of that. At the sound of one’s name, the first time we hear it, we automatically, as if we were robots, determine if the person is Serbian, Croatian or Bosniak. We determine if they are orthodox, catholic or muslim. Some of us judge and hate them for their nationality. So, I ask them: “Who are you to judge? What has that human being ever done wrong to you?”
The answer is probably nothing. We should embrace the fact that we are all different and cherish it. And, most importantly, we shouldn’t judge people based on nationality and religion, but rather based on their qualities and skills. We shouldn’t ask for one’s nationality, we should ask for one’s interests and thoughts, their ambitions and dreams.
If I had to power to change only one thing in my community, it would be the post-war mindset and the divisions associated with it. In my opinion, it is the one thing that is stalling the whole country. The problem is, most people do not grasp that this country can’t survive without them being one united people.
In my opinion, there is one thing all young people of former Yugoslavia can, and have to do. At least 90% of us have heard nationalistic thoughts and comments from our families and some of us have even started to adapt to their mindset. We have the power not to make the same mistakes with our children, which should be taught about peace, tolerance and understanding and not about nationalism and hatred. And still, sometimes parental guindance isn't enough because children start forming their own opinions and mindsets, mostly based on their surroundings.
The thing is, they are educated in ethnically divided schools. For that reason, they are often unable to meet or talk to anyone who is not of their religion and nationality and slowly, they incarcerate themselves in a prison-like bubble from which they exclude all the others that are “different.”
Of course, this is a rather complicated topic for several reasons, but in my opinion the educational system should be united as fast as possible because those young people will one day be the ones leading our country, and if they hate each other Bosnia and Herzegovina will sink even deeper into the bottomless swamp of problems that it has been in for the past 20 years.