Serbian children in American schools are often exposed to propaganda that portrays our people in a negative light through school textbooks and curricula, depicting them as criminals and creating a one-sided perspective, especially regarding the civil wars in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s.
Parents, fearing for their children’s success in school and their treatment by teachers, rarely react to such situations, allowing things to take their course.
Bojana Čemežar from Boston, Massachusetts, is a mother who refused to let her child suffer…
- Last year, my then 9-year-old son Oliver came home from school and started crying. When I asked him what happened, he told me that they had read a book in school about how Serbs killed and tortured Albanians. It turned out to be the novel “Drita, My Home Girl” by author Jenny Lombard. The book was chosen by the teacher and presented as the best book on friendship she had ever read, and as such, all children had to read it as part of their Social Studies curriculum. When I finally got my hands on the book, I realized it was the worst kind of propaganda, a one-sided depiction of the conflict where the Serbs were portrayed as evil murderers and torturers, kicking Albanians to death in the streets, separating their children in schools with walls, while Albanians were depicted as innocent victims. In addition to numerous falsehoods, there were also many factual errors and a lack of geographical knowledge, Bojana told Serbian Times.
In an attempt to help the teacher understand the complexity of the Balkan conflicts, she sent a message through her son suggesting that the teacher read the book “The Bridge on the Drina” by Nobel Prize winner Ivo Andrić. The teacher responded the same day by sending Bojana a copy of “Drita, My Home Girl,” urging her to read it and see how good it was.
- I was shocked by the book’s content, the level of violence, and the bad behavior of the main characters—something I don’t even allow my children to watch on screen, let alone read as required school literature.
What followed was a completely unexpected situation…
- The next day, I went to the school and requested a meeting with the teacher and principal. In the meantime, I had underlined all the passages in the book that contained hate speech against Serbs or outright falsehoods. During our conversation, the teacher told me that my child had presented himself as an Albanian, claiming he spoke Albanian, and that she didn’t understand why I was protesting. I was stunned because I knew my child would never make up such a thing. Besides, I pointed out, his school file clearly stated who he was. I demanded that the book be removed from the curriculum because it was offensive, traumatizing for my child, and completely inappropriate for children of that age, but I met with absolute resistance, Bojana recalled.
FIGHT TO THE END: Bojana Čemežar
The conversation ended with the principal siding with the teacher and rejecting Bojana’s request, leaving her to return home feeling powerless, wiping away her tears.
- That same day, my child came home from school in shock again. After our conversation, the teacher returned to the classroom and announced that they would continue listening to the book. My son immediately asked if he could leave the classroom while his classmates listened. The teacher allowed him to leave but made him stand outside the classroom, opened the door, and turned the volume up to the maximum so he could still hear it. The whole school could hear it!, said Mrs. Čemežar.
That was the last straw. Bojana decided not to be afraid but to fight!
- The next day, I went to the school with my husband as a witness. I waited outside the principal’s office, and although she refused to see me at first, she eventually had to because I wouldn’t leave. She was visibly irritated and made it clear that she had more important matters to attend to. I demanded that she call the district supervisor and threatened to escalate the case further. Meanwhile, the teacher continued her torment. For four whole weeks, she worked with the children on this worthless book, while my child patiently waited outside the classroom for it to be over.
In the meantime, Bojana read a story on Serbian Times about a brave Serbian girl from Chicago who managed to get certain chapters removed from her school’s curriculum because they portrayed Serbs negatively without any evidence.
- I contacted Katarina, who helped me with advice through the Serbian student organization SASO and explained what I needed to do, which forms to fill out, and what procedures to follow. Every week, I sent emails to all relevant authorities, from the school to the school district. Often, there was no response, but I didn’t give up. At one point, the teacher and principal tried to shift the blame onto me, claiming that I had imagined everything and that the book wasn’t problematic at all. They pretended not to see why we felt this way. I ignored the provocations, continued writing, made phone calls, and sought legal assistance from a Serbian woman I had met, Bojana said.
Just as she was beginning to lose hope, she received a letter from the school informing her that a five-member committee had been formed to read the book and determine whether it should remain in the curriculum.
- I felt hopeful for a moment, but then two months of waiting followed. Just as I was losing hope again, I received another email in June briefly informing me that the book would be removed from the entire school district’s curriculum because it was deemed inappropriate. I cried with joy! After all the humiliation and suffering my child and we as a family had endured, justice was finally served!, Bojana said, adding that her sense of victory was amplified by the fact that the principal was removed from her position last year and that her son, having moved to a higher grade, lost contact with the teacher who had tormented him for nearly a month.
REMOVED FROM THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM: “Drita, My Home Girl”
At the end of the conversation, Bojana urged other Serbian mothers and fathers whose children face similar traumas and are forced to learn from textbooks and books that degrade their people to take action and speak up:
- I know many worry about how their children will be treated if they protest, but this is something we must do. If we accept injustice and, out of some imaginary fear, allow our children to suffer and carry trauma, we are doing far greater harm. At first, I only protested verbally, which was a big mistake. It is much better to conduct all communication in writing because that way, there is a record. And we must always monitor our children, what they read, and how they spend their time at school. Listen to your children and maintain a close relationship with them; teach them to be proud of their heritage, Bojana Čemežar emphasized at the end.
The Serbian Times editorial team calls on all parents whose children face similar issues in elementary and high schools or universities to contact us at +1 (708)981-5244 or email us at serbiantimesinfo@gmail.com, and we will provide them with legal assistance and support, explaining the procedures for removing anti-Serbian propaganda from their schools and school districts.
A Childhood of War and Sad Memories
Bojana Čemežar, an architect by profession, was born in Novi Travnik, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where she witnessed the war and, as a 12-year-old girl, had to flee with her family to save their lives.
- Because of all the injustice I experienced as a child, it was even harder for me to accept what my child endured in an American school. In all these years, even before moving to the U.S., I lived in Slovenia and never harbored hatred toward other nations despite my personal hardships. I do not judge people by nationality but by whether they are good or bad, and I am always ready to fight for justice and truth by all available means, Bojana concluded.
Text: Antonije Kovačević Foto: Personal archive
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