A sixteen-year-old Muslim teenager was approached by her teacher and asked her why do Muslims kill people as we saw in France?
I am certain that the question must have surprised and shocked the teenager. Why did the teacher ask her such a question about such an outlandish incident?
Certainly, irrespective of his or her cultural, ethnic, or religious background, any sensible person would not support the killing of other people.
The incident with the teenager also exposes anti-Muslim racism and the misperception that all Muslims are one solid block. If a Muslim kills a white European in an act of terrorism, somehow all Muslims are responsible for what happened and should give an explanation.
The teacher’s question is also a strong indication of why some Finnish teachers need training in cultural sensitivity. Apart from challenging one’s prejudices and racism, teachers should teach and preach equity instead of just reading out how great we and how much we promote social equality.
Fortunately, the father of the teenager asked the teacher why he asked such a question to his daughter.
The teacher later apologized and acknowledged that there is a lot of racism and Islamophobia in Europe.
The father wasn’t completely convinced by the teacher’s apology.
See also:
- Kotoutuminen #1: A good synonym for kotoutuminen is too many times the reinforcement of structural racism
- Kotoutuminen #2: A tool of white fragility to rule you
- Kotoutuminen #3: To touch or not to touch
- Kotoutuminen #4: Amalgamate, assimilate is the rule, two-way adaption is a pipedream
- Kotoutuminen #5: Perpetuating the Ulysses syndrome, a chronic stress disorder of refugees
- Kotoutuminen #6: The white Finnish teacher and the migrant adult child. Stop infantilizing!
- Kotoutuminen #7: How do we deal with our prejudices and exceptionalism?
- Kotoutuminen #8: Let’s do away with “us” and “them”
- Kotoutuminen #9: Spreading half-truths about integration
- Kotoutuminen #10: Misleading expectations that will keep you (dis)integrated
*Kotoutiminen is a he Finnish term for integration. It came about in the late-1990s because there was no such term in the Finnish language.