99 word prompt : Thinly veiled
February 23, 2017 prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a migration story. It can imagine the dusty or arctic trails of the frontiers past or look to the travel across the galaxy. What issue about modern migration bans might influence an artistic expression in a flash? Migrate where the prompt leads you.
“Women freed from ISIS are burning their veils,” I said, staring at the video on-screen.
“I just watched a classroom full of girls learning how to wear one,” My husband chuckled.
Aghast, I asked, “Where was this?”
“The Midwest.”
“If you put oil and water in a blender, they’ll still find a way to separate once the whirring stops,” I frowned.
“What does that have to do with veils?”
“Migration! We’re the USA, not the dark-ages,” I said.
“What do veils have to do with migration?”
“Why don’t you ask Native Americans what happened when they adopted European clothing?”
I imagine they lost identity, plus they attracted illness? In Tasmania the white settlers saw the local indigenous people running around wearing nothing so in an attempt to ‘help’ them out they gave them overcoats to wear but didn’t tell them to take them off when it rained…as a result pneumonia occurred and hundreds died….our respective ancestors have a lot to answer for I think…
LikeLiked by 2 people
If you look throughout history, it isn’t just our ancestors, it seems to be a human “thing.” Take over countries/make people do things differently/don’t care if they die off.
Sad.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh most definitely, I know it happened everywhere and religion has a lot to answer for too, that is certainly the case in this country….
LikeLiked by 2 people
I think it’s a very interesting topic. My father came to Australia as a 4 year old boy from Italy. And sadly, he’s never been back to see what was left behind………
LikeLiked by 2 people
If he came to Australia when he was 4 years old, he probably remembers very little about Italy. To him, Australia is home probably for the same reason I don’t look at Ireland or Quebec as my home. No memory of anything else.
At the top of my blog is a picture that says “Roxton Pond.” I was in Quebec for editing and got to see the birthplace of my grandfather. LeGendre. Beautiful, but too cold for this Florida female to live.
I’ve always wanted to visit Ireland. The only foreign countries I’ve managed to see are Canada (for editing), France & Switzerland (my sister’s present to me — she knew I’d always wanted to see Switzerland), Morocco & Gibraltar (my daughter had just finished a 6 week arabic course and my son was getting married in Gibraltar shortly after that).
Are there any countries you’ve wanted to visit?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Forced assimilation seems the worst, and yet the eagerness to give up one’s identity to fit in is also a loss. I liked how you wove different experiences into one flash to drive home the point.
I enjoy meeting the tourists to Zion, who come from all over the world. It’s my backwards way of global traveling!
LikeLiked by 1 person
There is something about telling a conquered country to “fit in or die” that tends to leave only the most docile or devious alive.
I wonder how much history has been destroyed by other conquerors in the same way ISIS is destroying ancient relics? How much knowledge lost?
And when will we learn that the only way to prevent this, and the next, “ISIS” from destroying another culture is to have the strength to keep it away?
Don’t know about you, but I would love to meet people from some of the ancient civilizations that are now lost — from the great library at Alexandria to Abd Ar Rahman’s advanced society in medieval Spain during a time when Europeans were still wearing bearskins and wielding knives.
LikeLiked by 1 person
History is typically written by those in power. So much gets lost in the destruction of war even in little matters.
Like you, I’d be fascinated to have a first-hand look at lost civilizations!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Tales of Immigration « Carrot Ranch Communications