I'm pretty sure we have all heard of this story about the Pakistani father who allegedly choked his daughter in Canada due her wearing Western dress to school and not opting for the Hijab that is customary for many Muslim women. At work today, I stopped in the breakroom and the TV was on and this story was being discussed by some talking heads. This is where my reality takes a turn for the ignorant. I was eating a great snack when a person from another department was in there consuming their lunch and heard the news story and said out loud, "That girl is in the US now and should dress like we dress and hijab is a silly name." I looked over at the person and said, "Wow, you are pretty tolerant of other cultures. That silly thing is an Arabic term for cover and it's a scarf that I am sure you have seen worn by Muslim women." This person then said, "So, you think what the father did was OK?" I said, "How do you draw THAT conclusion by me commenting on YOUR comment and saying nothing about the father in this story?" The person says, "Well, if he wants her to dress in that scarf, they should move back to where they came from!" I said, "Are you serious? It's amazing how this "LAND OF THE FREE" we live in only applies to Americans who speak one language and really believe the world is only about the US."
I know the father was 100% wrong for killing his daughter, but the real issue is that this father did not properly deal with a rebellious daughter and lost his mind and now his daughter is dead and he will sit in jail until he dies. My point was that the family in this story has customs that tunnel-visioned Americans think are "stupid" and just because many American kids can step all over their parents and many of the US laws give children WAY TOO MANY rights that the government has no business stepping into, immigrants are to not be judged by what one idiot did because their customs were not being followed.
I suggested this person get some Diversity Training and told them to remember that the US is not the only country in this world and holding on to cultural traditions is a major part of many people's identity when they move to another country for whatever reason. I shook my head and went back to work......
12.12.2007
The Arabic term for "cover"
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5 comments:
Ignorance is bliss.
...and the US is full of a lot of ignorance. If you're gonna kill your daughter over that... that's not very loving. I'm sure a regular beating or some other type of punishment would've done nicely. Wait a minute, is that cruelty?
I thought this was in Canada? What does 'Merica have to do with this?
Canada is truly the land of the free! And Canadians are so nice!
Stupid people abound. Intolerant 'mericans abound. I have always hated that world...tolerant. I think people should not focus on being tolerant, but should focus on being accepting. Big difference in the words there.
I was talking about the US being full of ignorance, yes, like the people in Josue's office watching the TV. I know it happened in Canada. In the following sentence I was referring to anyone killing their daughter, rather than punishing, is not very loving; a punishment would suffice; the family is a different culture and has a different set of rules. I am not sure if the father intended to kill his daughter though cuz she died at the hospital. At least he didn't stab her to death or shoot her... wait a minute, she's dead now. Oh well.
Josue' remember the remark Leatzow made when we discussing cultures and he said to you.."don't your people all eat taco's and beans?" Stupido Stupido...
You know I hear that a lot at work. You're in America..... speak English.. or wear the right clothes... These fools don't even posses an education and they are going to pass judgment on others when they themselves can't speak or WON'T speak proper English.. so sad how naive people are and how narrow minded.
We just had this discussion tonight.. of course amongst those who actually know what they are talking about...
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