For many years, the US was at the very forefront of concrete efforts to affirm human rights by implementing programmes still titled “affirmative” in a number of different sectors, especially education.

Programmes would start from the premise that in minority communities (mainly consisting of black citizens but not only) there exist social barriers that keep young people back from attaining certain standards that are embedded in academic tests required for University enrollment. So, selection criteria would be amended to enable such students to still gain access to University courses.

Recently the US Supreme Court has ruled that these measures are discriminatory and contradict the equal rights treatment guaranteed to all citizens by the American constitution. The decision is not in tune with the real needs of American society and is rather a reflection of the current Court’s conservative ideological outlook. Affirmative action programmes have been helping to narrow the social divide between members of minority communities and those of other communities who in reality can only be considered as privileged citizens.              

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MALTESE CUISINE

Is Maltese cuisine coming back into its own? Rabbit cooked any number of ways. Baked pasta. Ravioli prepared as when our grandmothers were still young. Soups that apparently delighted widows. Snail stews. “Ftajjar”... It seems that these and other foods we are accustomed to consider as Maltese are making a comeback and are getting increasingly noticed. In restaurants, diners are showing their appreciation.

This is a development that should be encouraged. Though influenced by inherited “Italian” tastes as well as the preferences of British sailors and soldiers stationed on the island, Maltese cuisine did retain its own identity even if it almost got forgotten.

Still, there remains a problem:  If interest and liking are to be promoted with respect to a certain kind of cuisine, it has to be served by people who themselves must demonstrate they have such an interest and such a liking. However increasingly, the staff complement in our restaurants consists of foreigners!

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EMIGRATION

A lot of comments were passed about the findings of a recent opinion poll: many young people declared they wished they had been born elsewhere and/or wanted to go live abroad.

Emigration was always a choice that our people needed to decide upon over the years. Frequently it was no choice at all, since there was no alternative to it. Those who left had to do so in order to find work.

Today, emigrants are looking for a better life and a better environment, even if local living standards have been continually on the rise. In the past as well, though not to the extent that according to the opinion poll is occurring now, young people would seek to leave the restricted lifestyle that characterised a small, isolated and traditional community.