Özlem Cekic: Why I have coffee with people who send me hate mail
Özlem Cekic: ¿Por qué tomo un café con gente que me envía correos de odio?
Born in Turkey with Kurdish roots, Özlem Sara Cekic was one of the first women with a Muslim immigrant background to be elected to the Danish Parliament, where she served from 2007 to 2015. Full bio
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and personal abuse
correos de odio y agresiones personales.
that we might meet for coffee and a chat.
para tomar un café y charlar.
that I want to share with you.
que quiero compartir Uds.
when I was a young child.
cuando yo era una niña pequeña.
in the Danish parliament
en el parlamento danés,
con antecedentes minoritarios.
with a minority background.
that not everyone was happy about it
no todos estaban contentos conmigo,
to finding hate messages in my inbox.
mensajes de odio en mi bandeja de entrada.
with something like this:
comenzaban con algo como esto:
doing in our parliament?"
en nuestro parlamento?"
and I had nothing in common.
no teníamos nada en común.
in the parliament said
en el parlamento dijo:
it will give the police a lead."
estos darán pistas a la policía".
"When something happens" and not "if."
"Cuando algo te pase " y no "si...".
were also sent to my home address.
cartas de odio a la dirección de mi casa.
in public debate,
en el debate público,
obtuve una dirección secreta
to protect my family.
para proteger a mi familia.
un nazi comenzó a acosarme.
Muslim women on the street.
a mujeres musulmanas en la calle.
and the phone was ringing constantly.
y el teléfono sonaba constantemente.
he hate you so much, Mom,
"¿Por qué te odia tanto, mamá,
simplemente estúpidas", dije.
that was a pretty clever answer.
era una respuesta bastante inteligente.
que la mayoría de nosotros daríamos.
most of us would give.
son ignorantes.
and they are the bad guys, period.
ellos son los malos, punto.
I was at a friend's house,
estuve en casa de un amigo,
about all the hate and racism I had met.
el odio y racismo que había vivido.
that I should call them up
of the Danish Parliament," he said.
del Parlamento danés", dijo.
you would become a martyr."
te convertirías en una mártir".
meramente beneficiosa para ti".
where I had saved all the hate mail.
todos los correos de odio.
with words like "terrorist,"
comenzaron con palabras como "terrorista"
who had sent me the most.
más correos me había enviado.
so I could say at least I had tried.
decir que al menos lo había intentado.
You have sent me so many hate mails.
Ud. me ha enviado muchos correos de odio.
and we can drink a coffee together
y tomar un café juntos
we met at his house.
nos encontramos en su casa.
when he opened his front door
cuando abrió la puerta de su casa.
nothing like I'd imagined.
a lo que me había imaginado.
identical to the one my parents used.
idéntica a la que usaban mis padres.
for two and a half hours.
that when he waits for the bus
cuando espera el autobús,
el conductor era un racista.
sobre mi experiencia.
of having so much in common
de tener tanto en común
such clearly racist views.
de vista tan claramente racistas.
of those who had sent me hate mails
me habían enviado correos de odio
of what I call #dialoguecoffee.
lo que llamo #dialoguecoffee.
the most terrible things to me
las cosas más terribles
why they hate people like me
por qué odian a la gente como yo,
the last eight years.
los últimos ocho años.
I approach agree to meet me.
me acerco acceden a reunirse conmigo.
to always meet them in their house
encontrarlos en su casa
that I trust them.
que confío en ellos.
because when we eat together,
porque cuando comemos juntos,
what we have in common
lo que tenemos en común
some valuable lessons.
algunas lecciones valiosas.
hate mails are workers,
correos de odio son trabajadores,
their behavior is acceptable,
su comportamiento sea aceptable,
from the hateful views
de los puntos de vista odiosos,
who's expressing those views.
que expresa esos puntos de vista.
as afraid of people they don't know
miedo de las personas que no conocen,
I started inviting myself for coffee.
antes de concordar a tomar un café.
a specific theme keeps coming up.
un tema específico sigue apareciendo.
I'm talking to a humanist or a racist,
si hablo con un humanista o un racista,
are to blame for the hate
la culpa del odio
have to stop demonizing.
tienen que dejar de demonizar.
the media, their neighbor
a los medios, a sus vecinos
who stops 10 meters away.
que para a 10 m.
"¿Qué hay de Ud.?
any power or influence --
no tenía ningún poder o influencia.
of the Danish parliament.
miembro del parlamento danés.
and influence where we are,
e influencia donde estamos,
nuestro propio potencial.
me han enseñado
have taught me
can be caught demonizing
puedan estar atrapadas
diferentes puntos de vista.
different population groups.
a diferentes grupos de población.
were very extreme.
religiosas eran muy extremas.
with Danes, with Jews and with racists
daneses, judíos y con los racistas,
against my own prejudices.
contra mis propios prejuicios.
de clase trabajadora y
who have insisted on speaking to me.
que han insistido en hablar conmigo.
citizen and a bridge builder.
democrática y constructora de puentes.
people as possible
como sea posible,
a través del debate,
that doesn't demonize people.
que no demonice a las personas.
you get home and in the coming days,
casa y durante los próximos días.
honesto contigo mismo.
no one else will know it.
President Trump are deplorables?
estadounidense Trump son deplorables?
President Erdoğan are crazy Islamists?
turco Erdoğan son locos islamistas?
in France are stupid fascists?
en Francia son estúpidos fascistas?
who voted for Bernie Sanders
que votaron por Bernie Sanders
to vilify those groups.
para vilipendiar a esos grupos.
do you think I am an idealist?
¿creen Uds. que soy una idealista?
someone who you demonize --
a alguien a quien demonicen.
politically and/or culturally
de acuerdo política o culturalmente
anything in common with.
tener algo en común con Uds.
like this to #dialoguecoffee.
a #dialoguecoffee.
to find an Ingolf in your life,
que encuentren un Ingolf en tu vida,
for #dialoguecofee.
you have to remember this:
en #dialoguecoffee, deben recordar esto:
if the person refuses at first.
si la persona se niega al principio.
to arrange a #dialoguecoffee meeting.
una reunión de #dialoguecoffee.
into their home is just as brave.
es igual de valiente.
focuses on what you have in common.
se centre en lo que tiene en común.
the conversation in a positive way
la conversación de manera positiva
hold definitive and often extreme opinions
personas tienen opiniones definitivas
on the other side than in our own bases.
que en nuestras propias bases.
who think like us
que piensa como nosotros.
in a category of disdain.
en una categoría de desdén.
who are discriminating
con personas que discriminan
to challenge their opinions.
para desafiar sus opiniones.
societies break down --
las sociedades democráticas saludables.
responsibility for the democracy.
personal por la democracia,
thing in a democracy
lo más difícil en una democracia
between people, yes,
entre personas, sí,
the bridges that cross the trenches.
los puentes que cruzan trincheras.
in a terror attack
en un ataque terrorista
en Copenhague en el 2015.
cualquier sugerencia de venganza.
by kindness between people.
por la bondad entre las personas.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Özlem Cekic - Bridge builder, authorBorn in Turkey with Kurdish roots, Özlem Sara Cekic was one of the first women with a Muslim immigrant background to be elected to the Danish Parliament, where she served from 2007 to 2015.
Why you should listen
During her time as a member of Folketing, the Danish Parliament, Özlem Cekic's inbox was inundated with hate mail and threats. She first responded by deleting the emails, but then she started replying and inviting those who had sent her abusive messages to meet and engage in dialogue. She calls it #dialoguecoffee, as the meetings generally happen over coffee, and usually at the home of the person who wrote the message. She has met neo-Nazis, racists and religious extremists as she works to try to understand the origin of the hate, find a common language and develop a toolkit for building bridges.
Özlem Cekic | Speaker | TED.com