The other day, at the institute where I work, a student threw me: “If we are ten people and one does not know Basque, it is logical and respectful to speak in Spanish”. Behind this chain of words and the person who has launched it, there are countless concrete experiences that cannot be analyzed one by one: daily dialogues, speeches, facts, images, videos… And in them you can see a logic that has been imposed through it, the individualistic and false pacifist logic that governs the world.

This same logic prevailing in Euskal Herria (also) conceals the power relations between two or more people, caused by class, sex, origin, skin color, language, etc. Thus, they have led us to think as if we were all free and equal of power, hiding the systemic causes and consequences of our experiences and actions, making us invisible. I do it in Basque or Spanish, what does it matter? I'm free to do what I want. Besides, nobody feels bad, nobody feels bad. Let us respect everything, let everyone do whatever they want, peace is worth a lot…

This mindset obviously hides the structural power relations between us and establishes an apparent peace for the benefit of the oppressor and the oppressed. I translated to this student the question: “What if we do it whenever there is a Spanish, how many times can we speak in our language, in Basque?” The silence arose for a few seconds and another student answered, “Yes, but then everyone should learn Basque and it is very difficult to achieve it…”. Ttak, they began to think collectively, but of course, the structural is hard to change, too difficult for someone who has grown up surrounded by individualism.

More and more in recent years, I have the feeling that students relate Euskera with school and the norm, and in Spanish, on the contrary, with fun and freedom. While as a result of the prolonged struggle we have managed to institutionalize the Basque country to a (small) extent, the diglosia remains in a violent situation, but little is said about it, both in schools, in homes and on the street. This harsh reality has been hidden under the rules of individualism and pseudopeace. For, as Aresti said, peace harms the Basque, and any group pressured.

Realities often don't look at the naked eye, but if they point yes. That is why I believe that this is what we are now dealing with, in short, without giving up the institutional struggle that is imposed, we must recover the street, overcoming the tendency of the former to lower the latter. Beyond the exercise of individual rights and measured words, we need to talk about our dreams as a people, our enemies and our paths towards collective freedoms. To normalize the situations we live in daily life as “normal” and shake the streets. And on those streets, to join forces with other movements that want the freedom of the lower.

In the face of this system that destroys life, languages, peoples and everything that is not profitable for them, and in the face of the states that perpetuate it, in the face of those who separate us and isolate us from each other, in the face of those who want us to lose hope…, the vital need of all liberating movements is to work the community. To do this, we must become aware, get together, get rid of the older complexes, think in group and act. Sowing in place, in every possible area, igniting fights, provoking. We can't do it alone, with friends.

Our language and our community need a new scourge. The Basque Roots Week, to be held from 22 to 28 April, offers us an opportunity to do so, a turning point to motivate and empower us. It is an exercise of collective pride, open to all Euskaltzales who wish to participate.

Because the students of our institute, like everyone else, have the right to be aware of the situation and to be an active part of a liberating community, let us take the street to the Basque!

Sugoi Etxarri Zabaleta, member of the Basque Country