Pearls to Swine

I guess one of the things I need to get better at is telling the world what is going on here in Denmark--cause I know the world is sitting right at the edge of its seat, waiting to hear!
Well, the other day--and I'm recounting this from the top of my head, the professional journalist that I am--some cops broke up some demonstration and in so doing, someone managed to record a cop calling a demonstrator, Perker.
Now Perker is like the equivalent of the N word in many respects. It was created as a sign of disrespect to people from Pakistan and by extension, other foreigners. According to the Nudansk Ordbog (New Danish Dictionary) perker means, "a Dane or immigrant of especially Arabic or Middle Eastern ancestry."
There were many stories about it in various newspapers and on the news, and my students were visibly upset about it. People who use the word, both immigrants and non-immigrants alike, say that it's just a word and that they have claimed it, much like some state with the N word. (One of the hardest things I have learned living abroad is that it is difficult to explain to non-Black people why it is NOT cool, under any circumstances, to call me by the N word--especially when the only information they receive about Blackness is through the media.)
But there are many others, who dislike the word perker, distance themselves from it and were clearly disgusted with the recordings of this cop. He claimed that he did not say perker but a word, which coincidentally sits right under perker in the New Danish dictionary, perle. Perle means, besides Pearl in English, "something good, beautiful or valuable." So, this cop claims that he was not calling his victim (who coincidentally was of Middle Eastern Descent) a perker, but a pearl!
My students, who are all mostly of Middle Eastern descent were outraged and hurt. I could see on their faces how disappointed they were that the society they lived in could allow something like that to happen. And what happened? A ridiculous story of one man's stupidity was being debated, and thus validated. And they? Once again, was told, no matter how subtle, that they did not matter.
This is why social erosion arises and we must really ask ourselves what are the messages our actions send? It's like folks who tell their kids, do as I say don't do as I do." When in fact, the very existence of our species depends on modeling.
But anyway, I just wanted to share a lovely expression, which to me, sounds much better in Danish than in English: Man ska ikke kaste perler for svin, or Never throw pearls to swine.
farvel,
the lab

oh, and by the N word--I meant nerd.