Addressing the “All-Serbs-are-War-Criminals” Stereotype—Part 1 in a Mini-Series

The Elephant in the Room

Oh no …. She did not just go there. War criminals? Seriously?

To all four of my precious readers who may be thinking: Laura, for the love of God, why are you spoiling a perfectly good Expat Mommy blog with politics?

This is not a political rant, believe me. But where Serbs are concerned, there’s an elephant in the room. Namely, the 1999 bombing of Serbia. I can’t go much longer writing about Serbian mentality in contrast to American without that elephant becoming so obvious, it must be addressed.

 

US Media Portrayal of the Balkans

Let me back-up a bit. During the 1990s, living close to DC, I read voraciously about the Balkans.

The information I was fed was this: The President of Serbia (or Yugoslavia, depending when in the 1990s is was) Slobodan Milošević enforces ethnic cleansing. Serbs support Milošević. Serbia is responsible for war crimes, ethnic cleansing, the break-up of Yugoslavia, and possibly more, we’ll let you know.

 

Overcoming (Mis)perceptions

Did you know that Slobodan Milošević was ultimately ousted by his own people?

Throughout the 1990s, anti-government groups tried to gain footing. About a year after the bombing ended, a largely non-violent youth protest movement organized by the Serbian people overthrew him. The October 7, 2000 anniversary of Milošević’s resignation was yesterday.

The idea that the Serbian population supported ethnic cleansing is based on neither observation nor proof. Are the civilian men, women and children who lived in Serbia during the bombing war criminals? That’s absurd. (More on this in later posts.)

Even today, thirteen years after the 1999 bombing, mention the Balkans to an average American, and you’ll find the “Serbs are war criminals” stereotype in there somewhere.

Along with the actual war, Serbia lost the media war. After all, history is written by the winners.

 

The Serbian Mentality

The breakup of the Balkans is obviously too complicated to explain in one post. So is a discussion of Serbian mentality.

The reality is that the two are intrinsically linked.

The generation of my friends and family that survived the sanctions and bombing had their youth taken away. Many don’t talk about that time with foreigners, perhaps to bury the memories, perhaps to avoid a heated argument.

Understanding the effect of the war on the Serbian mentality is part of what my research for my next book—set in Belgrade in the 1990s—is about. In addition to plenty of reading, I’ve started talking informally to people about their experiences during the bombing.

So, for the next few Monday blog posts, I’ll be doing a mini-series on the Serbian Mentality. Of course, it will be from the perspective of an expat Mommy, because, how could I not be subjective?

Just FYI … The schedule is as follows:

• Monday—Serbian Mentality Mini-Series
• Wednesday—Adoption issues
• Friday—Weekly news round-up 

If you’re not interested in one of these topics, please do continue to subscribe, just skip the day that doesn’t fancy you. If you have a question for me about living in Serbia, or the Serbian people, perhaps I could address it in a future post. Please don’t hesitate to write me with your ideas!

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Thanks to photobucket for the photo.