The San Francisco Chronicle today devoted much of its op-ed page to this essay by a Bay Area seventh-grader who toured Cuba with his choir and ate lunch with Fidel Castro! Twelve-year old Eric Tuan writes:
I left the lunch impressed with Fidel. He seems to me like a kind man who is more amiable and friendly than most politicians. Also, he appears to want the best for his people and his country. The U.S. media, however, gives our country an altogether different picture of El Commandante. When we watch TV and we see Fidel, he becomes the cruel, oppressive, "bad guy." It's true that he doesn't allow freedom of speech or private ownership of land. It's also true that he doesn't like the government of the United States.I'm skeptical that this was actually written by a seventh-grader (Any middle school teachers out there care to judge? Dr. Weevil?), but let's assume that it was.But it's hard to believe that the Castro we see on TV and the Castro we saw at the luncheon are the same person! These two different images of the same man show that he is a complex individual. I think that the real El Commandante is not a kind, amiable politician or a cruel, oppressive dictator; I believe that, as usual, the truth is somewhere in between.
I won't fault Eric for getting the impression that the real El Commandante is anything but a cruel, oppressive dictator. And I won't criticize him for thinking that Fidel is "more friendly than most politicians". Eric is only twelve, after all, and I doubt he's broken bread with many other politicians. And it's not like his hosts gave him the opportunity to meet with other twelve year-olds whose fathers are, say, rotting in prison for requesting free elections. Eric has plenty of time to grow up and learn to be skeptical of ruthless despots. But there are still plenty of grown-ups who haven't outgrown their pre-pubescent admiration for totalitarian revolutionaries in green fatigues. Castro's gullible fan club includes the likes of Jean Chretien and Thabo Mbeki and Jesse Ventura, among others.
And I have to admit that Eric is a better writer and displays more maturity than some of the Chronicle's regular columnists. Like Robert Scheer for example.
UPDATE: Doctor Weevil e-mailed me to say that "the essay seems _highly_ unlikely to have been written by a middle-school student without help". But he also admits that he's been teaching middle school for only a few weeks. Joanne Jacobs and her readers are also suspicious about the essay's authorship.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at October 04, 2002 09:10 PMIt sure doesn't sound like a seventh grader to me, though anything's possible. My best guess is that a parent or teacher did an extensive rewrite.
I once worked with a Cuban-American whose father had been a university professor there. He'd called a meeting to protest a directive to include Castro's thought in all lessons. The father spent four years in prison. It's a good thing the family got out too, since the son is gay. He'd have ended up in prison too.
Posted by: Joanne Jacobs on October 5, 2002 03:08 AMYes, it's possible that this 12-year old could grow up to be a skeptical adult. Then again, 12 was the age when John Walker Lindh's "mom" took him to see the movie Malcolm X. Think of it.
Posted by: Diana on October 5, 2002 07:55 PMI was a left-wing radical when I was twelve, and I can imagine myself writing something like that with some proofreading by a parent or teacher. I doubt that's the kid's raw prose, but I can't say it's impossible for a kid to write a rougher version of that essay. He could grow up either way - I ended up a member of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. I outgrew the left, though too many adults haven't.
Diana,
Why did you write John Walker Lindh's "mom" in quotes? I didn't know he had a stepmother. Or are you alluding to her bad parenting skills?
Posted by: Amritas on October 5, 2002 08:54 PMHaving taught 7th grade English for 30 years, I give my testimony as an expert witness. I am 100% certain that it was not written by a 7th grader.
Posted by: Robert Wright on October 6, 2002 08:17 AMMy daughter is in 7th grade and in Enlgish Honors. There is no way she could write a letter like that. I'm betting the kid had more than a few of those words put in his mouth.
Posted by: michele on October 6, 2002 04:53 PMi am best friends with eric tuan and he wrote that essay by himself last year after the cuba/mexico tour. i was a member of the piedmont choir at the time. he is much more intelligent than the average twelve-year-old and is capable of writing more advanced than most adults.
Posted by: anonymous on February 28, 2004 02:44 PMI was in choir with Eric, at the time we went to Cuba. He did write that, trust me. He is one of the most brilliant boys I've ever met, and one of the most promising male singers the choir has ever had.
Posted by: Carolyn on May 10, 2004 07:33 PMI live in San Diego and Eric Tuan is my nephew living in the Bay Area. I stumbled across this page while surfing around about him! Trust me, Eric speaks as eloquently as he writes. Last time I visited his family he was reading Tolstoy. He is a very brilliant kid who never ceases to suprise me with his intelligence.
like a few others here, i know eric personally. he's a brilliant kid. i'm sure he wrote this in 7th grade, he was reading shakespeare and talking old english in regular speech then! he's into not being the norm, and definately has more intelligence and intellect than your average joe.
Posted by: anna the frognose on November 20, 2004 12:33 PM