On the eve of Schuman Day, the 9th of May, Nijmegen University
(together with the City of Nijmegen, Royal Haskoning and the Dutch
Ministry of Foreign Affairs) has honoured the famous scientist and
author Umberto Eco with this year's Treaties of Nijmegen Medal.
Eco was awarded this medal for having devoted himself to
promoting peace in Europe, in remembrance of the Treaties of
Nijmegen that were in 1678 and 1679 one of the first forms of
European agreement and cooperation.
Obsessed conflict
Receiving the medal, Eco started his speech with the
remark that Europe is obsessed by conflict, nowadays mainly
conflict within its own borders. "We still are, inside our
frontiers, involved in a form of warfare with people who are living
in Europe but whom we are considering as non-Europeans."
"We are not yet prepared to accept the idea that in the
forthcoming years every European city will be like New York or like
some Latin American countries." By mentioning New York Eco negated
the utopia of a 'melting pot'. "In stead of merging together,
different cultures coexist [...] and all succeed in cohabiting on
the basis of some common laws and a common lingua franca."
Face the facts
So how to tackle the ever present intolerance? Eco thinks it
starts by facing the facts. "Europe will definitely become a
multiracial continent or a 'colored' one, if you prefer. If you
like it, that's how it's going to be; and even if you don't like
it, that's how it's going to be just the same [...] However,
racists ought te be a race on the way to extinction."
"Intolerance is a perpetual menace for our state of presumed
peace, and it is difficult to eliminate it. Intolerance has
biological roots, it manifests itself among animals as
territoriality, it is based on emotional reactions that are often
superficial - we cannot bear those who are different from us,
because their skin has a different color, because they speak a
language we do not understand, because they eat frogs, dogs,
monkeys, pigs, or garlic, because they tattoo themselves..."
Umberto Eco sees no point in inculcating tolerance in adults
that shoot at one another for ethnic and religious reasons. "Too
late. Therefore uncontrolled intolerance has to be beaten at the
roots, through constant education that starts from earliest
infancy, before it is written down in a book, and before it becomes
a behavioural 'skin' that is too thick and too tough."