‘Racism is stupid,’ Wiesel tells 16,000 students

TORONTO — Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel spoke in front of 16,000 students about the importance of tolerance and social action as part of We Day last week. (with video)

Elie Wiesel addressing students at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.  [Phil Ogynist photo]

TORONTO —
Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel spoke in front of
16,000 students about the importance of tolerance and social action as
part of We Day last week.

Elie Wiesel addressing students at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.  [Phil Ogynist photo]

Wiesel joined a number of leading activists, politicians and entertainers – including former Canadian prime minister Paul Martin, author and environmentalist Robert Kennedy Jr., and pop stars Justin Bieber and the Jonas Brothers – at the Air Canada Centre on Oct. 5 for the Free The Children’s annual We Day event.

We Day, which aims to empower youth to make positive change in the world, was conceived by brothers and Thornhill natives Craig and Marc Kielburger.   

In 1995, Craig, now 26, a children’s rights activist, founded Free the Children, an international non-profit organization that has since built more than 500 schools in developing countries.


The 16,000 grade 7-12 students from about 1,000 schools who attended the event were required to commit to a volunteer project through their school, or raise funds for Free The Children’s Adopt a Village program, which aims to help communities break out of poverty.

Wiesel, who was introduced by Indigo Books and Music CEO Heather Reisman as “one of the great champions of the vulnerable” and a “champion of life,” said that while Free the Children emphasizes freedom, “your freedom should never be at the expense of someone who has no freedom.”

Eliciting cheers and even a standing ovation from the students, Wiesel,  founder of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, an organization that fights  intolerance and injustice, said no one should ever accept racism.

“Racism is ugly, racism is stupid, racism is absurd,” said the 81-year-old Boston University professor and author of more than 40 books of fiction and non-fiction, including the Holocaust work Night.

Wiesel, who called his survival of the Shoah “an accident,” said that indifference is not an option, just as racism is not.

“I have said that the opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference, and that is true. The opposite of knowledge is not ignorance, it is indifference. The opposite of beauty is not ugliness but indifference,” he said.

“What we must see in each other, in the street, in the passerby, is not an enemy but a fellow soldier. Not an enemy, but a friend, a companion.”

Wiesel added that no action justifies death, and that “death is a blemish of creation.

“Remember that life is sacred, and, therefore, life cannot be replaced. Functions can be replaced, but not life,” he said.

“Whatever you do in life, whatever endeavour you undertake in life… remember these few words: always think higher and feel deeper… Let not your goal be at the expense of another person’s despair.”

During a press conference, Craig Kielburger, one of the youngest-ever members of the Order of Canada, said that simple actions can make a significant positive change.

“Whether it’s a young person going door to door asking for non-perishable food or coming to an event like this to hear about a message of social change and be inspired and bring it back to their school – [that] is our message,” he said.

“People respond to that message because they are really searching to bring about positive change in this world.”

Kielburger also said the public school system should work to incorporate social action philosophies into the curriculum.

“We need to shift our education process – [it shouldn’t] just [focus on] reading and writing and arithmetic, but we also need to focus on the ‘three Cs’ – compassion, raising young people to care about the world; courage, giving them the means to stand up for what they believe in, and community, we need to show them that they are not alone.”

The Kielburgers also promoted a new campaign called “10 by 10.” The goal is to raise money and donate volunteer hours to fully develop 10 communities in Third World countries by providing education, health care, clean water and sustainable income.

For more information, visit www.giveyour10.com.  

Following the first two We Day events this year – the first in Vancouver on Sept. 29 and the second in Toronto on Oct. 5 – a third and final event for 2009 is scheduled to take place at Hamilton Place on Nov. 5.