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June 4, 2007
Really Mr. Singh?
I hate it when blog ideas hit me before I'm about to pass out. This phenomenon requires that I purge out an outline that will be sufficient enough for me to remember what it was I found so interesting in the first place. In the event the below is in-cohesive, I have failed.
Here is what was so interesting:
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=70391
For the lazy, the article summarizes a well-known issue in our schools: discrimination. In this case it's of a religious nature. A Muslim Queens student was recently forced to cut his hair by another Muslim student.
What got my attention was the following quote, spoken by Amardeep Singh of the Sikh Coalition. :
"In Queens, of the people we surveyed, over 70 percent of the Sikh are teased or harassed based on their religion. That is not acceptable. That is not what New York is all about.”
Really, Mr. Singh?
I'm pretty sure that that's exactly what New York is about.
We speak a lot about tolerance in this city. Programs have been budgeted in public schools to increase the amount of tolerance people have for cultures different from their own. It doesn't work. We tolerate, but not accept, the cultures around us because we are forced to. We tolerate them because we're a picky people who profit off of diversity. Without all the different minorities in this city, where would we get that world famous New York cuisine from?
70% of a population being teased for their religious beliefs is unacceptable. I just think he's a little daft as to how abusive the New York school system, and New York, can be.
Mr. Singh was accompanied by Mr. Liu, whom I have heard speak at city council education hearings. He's a very passionate, well spoken member of the panel who tends to deal with issue most pertinent to the Asian community. I have absolutely no issue with this. Mr. Liu is an Asian-American man serving on our city council, and he should be representing the community he serves. It is understandable that he is at the front of the discussion about racial tensions within the Asian community.
What makes this city so susceptible to discrimination is that the minorities in this city shift from neighborhood to neighborhood. Every race and religion is a minority at some point in this city. I'm white, but in my Junior High School, High School and College I was most definitely a minority. Yes, I was picked on, and yes, a few times I was attacked because I was the minority. You may say, "Hey! This isn't racial discrimination, it's religious". Fine, let me round up some religious Jews I went to junior high, high school and college with and see if they were abused at all.
I'm sure they escaped unscathed.
Is it absolutely disgusting that students are discriminated against at all? Yes, of course it is. But please, let's stop pretending that it's only one group or another. It's every group.
If we're going to find a way to fight discrimination, let' s be real about how many different kinds there are and all the people it effects.
Posted by lysa at June 4, 2007 11:11 PM
Comments
Amen! Sometimes I like being of a minority...so that I don't feel like I'm part of the system. It gives me a milk crate to stand on.
Posted by: Scottie at June 5, 2007 1:20 PM
Sucha tough subject to discuss. Do you rely on the system to preach tolerance? Or do you rely on the culture taking care of itself? Can we really teach tolerance?
Sometimes i do wish i could just buy the world a coke and live in harmony. Then i realize world war 4 would break out when people fight about drinking diet coke, or how soda is horrible for you, or drink water from mountains of yore, or pomegranite mango chutney tea made by celibate monks...
Posted by: booboo at June 5, 2007 2:39 PM
Bravo. That is all. :)
Posted by: average blogger at June 5, 2007 3:31 PM
I wouldn't drink pomegranate mango chutney tea made by celibate monks if it meant instant and permanent worldwide peace would break out. This is clearly not the point of your piece (or is it??), I'm just saying.
Posted by: Kbee at June 6, 2007 4:58 PM