WEBVTT

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So, here I am:

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a straight, white, male,

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without even glasses

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talking to you about racism.

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You may be thinking,
"What does he know about discrimination?"

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I'd like to remind you
that I also have a red beard.

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So I do know a bit about discrimination.

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Over the past four years,

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I've been lucky enough to call Jerusalem,

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Montreal, and then London my home town.

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It didn't hit me straight away,

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but then I realized that all three cities

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have a very interesting
relationship with diversity.

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Those experiences coupled
with an education

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to [inaudible] me inclusiveness,
openness, and respect,

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made me very aware of the discrimination
that happens around the world.

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With all the unfolding events
at the moment,

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I really felt that I had to do,
or at least, say something;

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and because I'm a minimalist,

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I decided to say something,

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and apparently, it's worth spreading.

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I'd like to start by telling you a story.

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The year is 1934, in Nuremberg, Germany.

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My great-grandparents are the owners

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of one of the most prestigious
hat shop in the city.

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Their family came from AufseB,
a small country town outside this city.

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At one point,

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it was best known for having
the highest rate of breweries per capita.

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And also... No; actually, that's it.

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it was a small town with nothing much,

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but that's where my family came from,

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that's where they lived
for over 200 years.

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They were proud of their origins.

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They were not really religious,

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but still, they were very proud
of their Jewish heritage, as well,

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and it is for that sole reason,
that in 1934,

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after one of my grandad's classmate
was attached to a fence the whole night,

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they decided to flee
what was their home for a new one;

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what was then called Palestine.

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Their heritage, their roots
were in Germany,

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in Nuremberg, in AufseB,

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where my name literally comes from.

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But because of racism
and Nazism, they had to flee.

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How do we challenge that?

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As a society, how do we make sure
that this kind of event

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doesn't happen again in the future?

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This is where the magic trick happens.

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Together, we'll see how we can use
racist tools against them.

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Together, let's reverse
engineering racism.

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One day, I was on YouTube watching videos,

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as we often do,

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and then, I saw
a panel discussion on Fox News,

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America's largest news channel
and its strongest conservative voice.

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The panel was discussing Jesus and Santa.

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I was baffled.

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There it was: a panel of professional,
well-educated journalists

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vehemently defending the fact
that both icons were white.

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When it comes to Santa,

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- spoiler alert -

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he doesn't exist.

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So it doesn't really matter;
he's a commercial product.

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When it comes to Jesus, however,
it's a whole other story.

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I think we can say that he had
quite an impact on our world,

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and so his figure is quite important.

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This panel was defending
the fact that he was white

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so seriously,

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that it felt that for them
if he weren't, he would be less of a God.

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And that troubled me.

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If you will, let's look
into Jesus's origins.

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Jesus was born in Nazareth,
as most of you know,

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in today's West Bank.

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Then, it was called Judea.

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But Jesus actually comes from Galilea

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which is just north of Judea.

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According to anthropologist Richard Neave,

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this is what a Galilean
would've looked like at that time.

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Interesting, isn't it?

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It's more of what
we would refer to today as an Arab

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rather than a white Caucasian male.

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I think that by looking into the origins
of certain things or people,

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we're able to show,
explain, and gap bridges

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between people that thought
they had nothing in common;

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for example, Fox News and an Arab.

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Another admirable man is Trevor Noah.

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He's a South-African comedian

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and he's the host
of "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah"

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on Comedy Central.

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Trevor was born in 1984,
in Johannesburg, South Africa

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and he has a very interesting story.

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His mom was a Black South African woman,
and his dad was a Swiss white man.

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So Trevor's very own existence
was illegal.

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He was referred as "colored,"
and he couldn't go to play outside

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as he was rejected
by both Black and white communities.

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In a very interesting documentary
called "You laugh but it's true,"

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Trevor explains
how in post-apartheid South Africa

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as he was becoming a comedian,

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what was once a handicap
became an advantage,

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what was once a threat to his life

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became a way for him to distinguish
himself from other comedians.

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He could relate to both communities,

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and both Black and white communities
saw him as an outsider and an insider.

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From a Johannesburg's slum,

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he came to host one of the America's
progressive, most influential shows.

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And all of this by a lot of work,
a lot of talent, of course,

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but also by understanding
how to use his origins

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to his own advantage.

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So now that we understood

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that we can use origins to fight racism,

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let's see how we can apply it

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to one of today's most important issues:

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the rise of islamophobia.

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Because when you go to Yad Vashem,

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Jerusalem's Holocaust Museum,

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which I've visited over five times,

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you come to realize

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that one of the main issues
that allowed this atrocity to happen

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was the passivity and the silence

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of those who were not concerned.

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Not that they were especially racist,

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but they just didn't act out.

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Of course, there is a problem today
with Muslim extremists,

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but Islam is not the problem.

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It is a political, a financial issue,

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but definitely, religion is not the issue.

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It is important to make this distinction,

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because we should include
those Muslims who are not extremists

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and not exclude them
in the arms of those who are.

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To those who say,

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"Well, Islam is not compatible
with our modern society,"

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"It is a hateful,
it is a destructive religion,"

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I'd like to challenge you,

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and once again, let's go look
into Islam's origin and history.

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First thing: the numbers.

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Have you ever tried counting
from one to ten without numbers?

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Pretty hard task.

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We have to thank the influence
of Islam for this invention.

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al-Razi, a Persian scientist,
was the first to use alcohol in medicine.

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Quite ironic, isn't it?

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Who here hasn't heard
of the "One thousand and one nights"?

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A poetry masterpiece.

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Again, this was written
under the influence of Islam.

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The Taj Mahal -

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an architectural prowess.

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It was both requested
and designed by Muslims.

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For those who have seen it,
you know how beautiful it is:

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in the details, the arts,

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the little stones
that make the beauty of it all.

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Then, finally - belly dancing.

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Oh, yes, we have to thank
Muslim influence for this, as well.

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You can have a real impact in fighting
racism and discrimination around you,

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simply by speaking out

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and by using racist tools against them

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because nothing hurts more

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than being beaten
at your own game, with you own tools.

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Imagine a golfer

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being beaten by his opponents;
but with his own clubs.

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He would probably disregard
the importance of the clubs

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and just admit his opponent was better.

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I believe it goes
the same way with racism.

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If you can fight their ideology
with their logic,

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then you put them in a position

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where they are not able to say
that your argument is invalid.

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So I urge you to speak out.

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All people are countable
for what they say.

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Don't be afraid of arguing with someone.

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Don't be afraid of being a fool,

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because in front of a racist,

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they will always be the fool.

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I'm just a student.

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I don't have more credentials than you do.

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I don't have more knowledge than you do.

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I just have the will to be
on right side of history.

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So tap into your origins,

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your story, and your history,

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and use them to fight discrimination
and racism around you.

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Before I finish,

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I'd like to share with you a quote

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than I saw when I was visiting

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the Genocide Museum
in Kigali, Rwanda, this summer.

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And to this date, it's stuck with me.

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"When we said never again
after the holocaust,

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did it concern only certain people
and not others?"

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Thank you very much.

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(Applause)