A Great Deal of Courage: a blog entry in honor of J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter’s Birthday

July 31^st is J. K. Rowling’s birthday.[1]  It is also the birthday of her famous fictional hero, Harry Potter.[2]  For their birthday, continuing a tradition I started last year,[3] I’ve decided to write an essay about an aspect of the Harry Potter series.  This year, the topic of my essay is Neville Longbottom’s inner courage and how he learned over the years to believe in himself and his abilities, which is a story we can all learn from.

Neville Longbottom is a forgetful, bullied boy who lacks self-confidence.  His feelings of inadequacy are best shown by the form his boggart takes during a third-year Defense Against the Dark Arts class.  The boggart takes the form of Severus Snape, a professor who makes Neville fearful and nervous.[4]  The intimidation he faces from Professor Snape serves to enhance his already-existing fears of not being a good-enough wizard.  These characteristics of self-doubt and uncertainty are ones that many people can relate to; many of us can remember the teacher who made us nervous, the feeling that we would not live up to the expectations of others or to our expectations for ourselves.  One of the reasons why Neville’s story is so relatable is because he is not perfect; he must overcome both inner doubt and outside intimidation to become the person he wants to be.

Though plagued by self-doubt, Neville shows that he has within himself moral sense and the ability to do the right thing.  During his first year at Hogwarts, he tries to warn his housemate Harry Potter that Draco Malfoy, the school bully, might be trying to get him in trouble.[5]  At the end of the year, Neville catches three of his housemates (Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger) sneaking out of the dormitory.  He doesn’t know their plan, but thinking that they are up to some mischief that will further damage Gryffindor House, he tries to stand in their way.[6]  This why Professor Albus Dumbledore says, when awarding Gryffindor House ten points for his actions, “There are all kinds of courage.  It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.”[7]  This innate courage that Neville possesses shines through when he is motivated to do the right thing to help his friends or his House.  Though he does not always believe in himself, he does understand that there is a difference between right and wrong, and that there are certain situations in which there is a right thing to do.  His inner goodness shines through, and we see in him a person who could accomplish so much if he believed in himself.  There is, inside us, the knowledge that there is something we should do, even if we don’t always have the confidence to do it.  We might watch others performing acts of great goodness and bravery and think that we would never be capable of doing what they did, that we never be good enough.  There are times, however, when we can gather up the courage to take action to help our friends, which makes us realize that we have that ability, too, if only we expect it of ourselves.

Knowing the harm that can be done by the wicked and the difference that can be made by those who risk their lives to do the right thing contributes to Neville’s transformation.  The son of two Aurors who were tortured into insanity because they fought against Lord Voldemort,[8] Neville knows quite personally how horrible it is to be affected by those who hurt others.  Although his parents suffered as a result of their willingness to fight the good fight, he knows that they risked themselves because, if they hadn’t, even more people would have been hurt.  It is because of his parents that, during his fifth year at Hogwarts, Neville gains the confidence, not just for the occasional fight against Draco Malfoy or argument with a friend, but for a fight against enemies much more dangerous than a school bully.  When news about a mass breakout from Azkaban is reported in the Daily Prophet, many students in the school (especially those from wizarding families) are fearful.  They remember relatives who were killed when Lord Voldemort was powerful during the first wizarding war.  The members of Dumbledore’s Army become even more motivated to learn defense, especially Neville.

Harry was pleased to see that all of them, even Zacharias Smith, had been spurred to work harder than ever by the news that ten more Death Eaters were now on the loose, but in nobody was this improvement more pronounced than in Neville.  The news of his parents’ attacker’s escape had wrought a strange and even slightly alarming change in him. [ . . . ] He was improving so fast it was quiet unnerving and when Harry taught them the Shield Charm, means of deflecting minor jinxes so that they rebounded upon the attacker, only Hermione mastered the charm faster than Neville.[9]

Knowing that the person who tortured his parents has escaped from prison motivates Neville; he knows how dangerous the Death Eaters are, and he wants to make sure that they cannot do more harm.  Later in his fifth year, Neville is one of the students — along with Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Ginny — who volunteer to go to the Ministry of Magic with Harry.[10]  When he was younger, Neville risked detention to help his friends by warning them about a school bully, and how he’s willing to risk his life to help others who might be harmed by Lord Voldemort and Death Eaters.

Knowing that another person is in danger can motivate us to do what we might have thought ourselves in capable of before.  Because we know the harm that can be done, because we have felt the pain of seeing our loved ones hurting, we know that there are indeed causes worth standing up for.  There are people like Neville, who know someone who was affected; there are others who may not personally know someone who was affected, but know there are others who are suffering.  People work to help defend those who are victims of violence, discrimination, or disease, because they know that there are people in the world whose lives will be improved if they act, rather than just staying silent.

Another important factor that contributed to the confidence Neville gains is the presence of other people in his life who are there for him and encourage him to stand up for himself.  Although there are school bullies like Draco Malfoy and intimidating, insulting teachers like Severus Snape, there are also kind friends and understanding teachers who have a great influence on him.  When Neville confesses that he’s most afraid of Professor Snape, Professor Lupin doesn’t chastise him but rather encourages and teaches him to overcome that fear by using humor.[11]  At the beginning of Neville’s sixth year at Hogwart, when the students in his class are about to start N.E.W.T. level classes, Professor McGonagall tells Neville that he would probably not be able to handle the coursework in the N.E.W.T. level Transfiguration class and asks why he wants to take it, since she didn’t think he enjoyed the subject. He says that his grandmother wants him to.  Professor McGonagall responds, “It’s high time your grandmother learn to be proud of the grandson she’s got, rather than the one she thinks she out to have — particularly after what happened at the Ministry”.  She suggests that he take the N.E.W.T. level Charms class, because he got a higher grade in the O.W.L. exam for that class.[12]  Teachers like Professors Lupin and McGonagall place great emphasis on learning and have high expectations of their students, encouraging them when they most need it.

In our own world, teachers also make a great deal of difference. They have a lot of influence on their students, and have the ability to educate, motivate, inspire, and encourage.  A student may feel that others look down on them, but a good teacher can be the person who gives that student hope for a better future.  Teachers can make us see the potential we have inside ourselves, even if we don’t see it at first, and help us figure out how to make ourselves better people.  They touch our lives in an important way, and we thenceforth affect the lives of others based on what our teachers have taught us.

During his seventh year at Hogwarts is when Neville helps lead Dumbledore’s Army while Harry, Ron, and Hermione are hunting horcruxes.  He stands up to Death Eater professors who tell students to use the Cruciatus Curse on those who’ve gotten detention and give lectures encouraging hatred towards Muggles.  Even though Neville is physically punished for standing up, he still defies these professors.[13]  During the Battle of Hogwarts, he even stands up to Lord Voldemort himself and kills Nagini.[14]  Neville shows courage that he would have thought himself incapable of during his earlier years.

Neville Longbottom’s story shows the transformation of a shy and bullied boy who lacks self-confidence into a brave young man who does what’s right even when his life is in danger.  His story is one that we can all look to for inspiration when we doubt ourselves.  He reminds us that even when we feel fear, it is still possible to do the right thing, still possible to show a great deal of courage.

Happy Birthday to J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter!  Happy Belated Birthday to Neville Longbottom, who was born on July 30^th![15]

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References

[1] J. K. Rowling.  Entry at the Harry Potter wikia.  Retrieved on 27 July 2011 from http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/J._K._Rowling.

[2] Harry Potter.  Entry at the Harry Potter wikia.  Retrieved on 27 July 2011 from http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Harry_Potter.

[3] Sharmin, Ani.  Morality and the Unknown:  a blog entry in honor of J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter’s Birthday.  Posted on 31 July 2010 at The Eternal Bookshelf.  Retrieved on 30 July 2011 from http://eternalbookshelf.wordpress.com/2010/07/31/morality-and-the-unknown/.

[4] Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  New York:  Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Press, a division of Scholastic, Inc., 2003, Ch 7, p. 134-7.

ISBN:  0-439-13635-0

[5] Rowling, J. K.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.  New York:  Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Press, a division of Scholastic, Inc., 1997, Ch 15, p. 242-3.

ISBN:  0-590-35340-3

[6] Rowling, J. K.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.  New York:  Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Press, a division of Scholastic, Inc., 1997, Ch 16, p. 272-3.

ISBN:  0-590-35340-3

[7] Rowling, J. K.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.  New York:  Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Press, a division of Scholastic, Inc., 1997, Ch 17, p. 306.

ISBN:  0-590-35340-3

[8] Rowling, J. K.  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  New York:  Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Press, a division of Scholastic, Inc., 2003, p. 512-5.

ISBN:  978-0-439-35806-4

[9] Rowling, J. K.  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  New York:  Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Press, a division of Scholastic, Inc., 2003, Ch 25, p.544-53.  [Direct quote from p. 553]

ISBN:  978-0-439-35806-4

[10] Rowling, J. K.  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  New York:  Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Press, a division of Scholastic, Inc., 2003, Ch 33, p. 761-3.

ISBN:  978-0-439-35806-4

[11] Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  New York:  Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Press, a division of Scholastic, Inc., 2003, Ch 7, p. 134-7.

ISBN:  0-439-13635-0

[12] Rowling, J. K.  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  New York:  Arthur A. Levine Books an imprint of Scholastic Press, a division of Scholastic, Inc., 2005, Ch 9, p. 173-4.  [Direct quote from p. 174]

ISBN:  0-439-79132-4

[13] Rowling, J. K.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  New York:  Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Press, a division of Scholastic, Inc., 2007, Ch 29, p. 571-6.

ISBN:  978-0-545-01022-1

[14] Rowling, J. K.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  New York:  Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Press, a division of Scholastic, Inc., 2007, Ch 36, p. 731-3.

ISBN:  978-0-545-01022-1

[15] Neville Longbottom.  Entry at the Harry Potter wikia.  Retrieved on 31 July 2011 from http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Neville_Longbottom.

On Segregated Prayers in Public Schools

Introduction

I recently read some articles and blog entries about gender-segregated Islamic prayers in some Canadian public schools, specifically in Ontario.  In Charter trumps Education Act over prayers, Terry Davidson and the people he quotes mention two issues (secular education and gender equality) which I think are important to discuss here.[1]

Secular Education

An essential characteristic of public schools is that they should be secular, should be schools that neither endorse a particular view on religion nor discriminate against students with a particular view on religion.  These prayers are being described by some as an example of religious freedom (i.e. students being allowed to practice their religious beliefs), but there are some aspects of the situation which make me question this assessment.

If the students were to start a Muslim Club at the school, I think that would definitely be within their rights.  (My former high school had a Christian Club, and I’ve heard that there is now also a Muslim Club.)  If students said that they wanted to pray and wanted to be able to come late to a certain class on Fridays, I think that would be within their rights as well.  If they wanted to go home early on Fridays to go the mosque, that would be within their rights as well.  (I remember that when I was in elementary school some of my fellow students from Catholic families would leave school early on certain days to go to CCD — Confraternity of Christian Doctrine — classes.)  These last two suggestions, of course, would require the students to make up any work they missed.  There are some people suggesting that the prayers in public schools are justified because leaving school early would mean that students would miss class and/or because some students didn’t return to school when they were allowed to leave school for Friday prayers.  The reason I don’t agree with this argument is because students miss class for all kinds of activities, including competitions, events, extra classes, and so on.  If students can miss class for these reasons and still be expected to make up the work, I don’t see why the same cannot be done for a religious activity.  Students not returning to school should be considered irresponsible and should be expected to make up the work; the school should not give up on secularism but expect responsibility and hard work.  Ultimately, it is not the job of the school to help parents preach religion to their children, but to give them an education in secular subjects.

So, if I would support students’ right to have a Muslim Club, or to leave school to pray, or to obtain permission to come late to class in order to pray, why do I object to this on the grounds of secularism?  The presence of an imam is, for me, what makes this situation cross a line.  This is not just an example of students wanting to pray and asking to be excused from class for a little while to do so.  This can be considered, in my view, religious instruction.  This is an example of giving a religious leader a time and place to preach to students in a public school, during the school day.

A point that is often ignored, but is important to note, is that including religion in school is not just a wrong done against members of other faiths, but also a wrong done against members of the same faith, who find that another person’s denomination or interpretation is being favored over their own.  In Davidson’s article (mentioned above) there are quotes from Tarek Fatah, founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress.

“The TDSB [Toronto District School Board], by allowing the propagation of religion, is going against the education act,” Tarek Fatah, founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, said on Friday. “(The act) says no religion can be propagated in the public school system.”

And the separating of boys and girls during the prayer sessions?

The TDSB has taken one of the more radical and patriarchal forms of Islam, run with it, and hasn’t bothered to question it, Fatah said.

“How did the TDSB pick the worst form of gender separation and say this is Islam?” Fatah asked. “The TDSB is guilty of importing a version of Islam that is from…Islamic fascists.”[2]

By allowing these prayers, the school district is favoring one form of Islam.  It is favoring a form of Islam that makes girls sit in the back during prayer.  It’s taking the views of some Muslims and giving a religious leader official time during the school day to teach that version of Islam to the children of Muslim parents.

It is also important, extremely important, to consider the views of the students.  I’m not one to automatically dismiss the views of a person just because that person is under the age of eighteen; I don’t like it when adults assume that children are ignorant.  So, just because these students are under eighteen does not mean that I think they have no views on religion and it certainly does not mean that their views on religion are irrelevant.  At the same time, it is dishonest to pretend that a person who is still a minor under the legal guardianship of others is not going to be influenced, or even forced, by adults to pretend to believe what the minor does not really believe.  So, while I am willing to concede (and readily so) that there are probably students in the school who really do agree with their parents’ religious faith, there are probably also those who disagree, but do not feel that they can give voice to their objections.  These prayer sessions — again, headed by an imam — are a way for parents to use school time to force their kids to follow a certain religion and a way for a religious leader to have the chance to monitor which of the Muslim students come to the prayer and which ones don’t.  When we talk about religious freedom for students, let us remember that this religious freedom extends not just to students who agree with their parents’ religious views but also to students who disagree with them.

Aside:  It’s Possible for Two People Who Disagree to Both Be Wrong

As a brief preemptive response to likely criticism, I want to add here that I know there are those who suspect ulterior motives on the part of those who oppose the prayers, and there are those who do try to mask their discriminatory views with fake concern for equality.  There is an accusation by Ellie Kirzner against the groups Canadian Hindu Advocacy and Jewish Defense League.  She writes that their opposition to these prayers is motivated by discriminatory views against Muslims.[3]  Based on the quotes in the article, I’m inclined to agree that Ron Banerjee, the person quoted, is advocating bigotry.  However, that does not mean that the prayers are right.  Both the people who want discriminate against Muslims and the particular Muslims who want to discriminate are wrong.

Gender Equality

Gender segregation is a toxic concept that contaminates the ideas of freedom and equality that are essential to building a better world.  The aspect of these prayers that has rightfully gained a lot of attention is the fact that girls have to pray in the back and girls who are menstruating sit separately, not praying.  This is bigotry, and it should not be allowed in public schools.  It is infuriating that religion is considered an acceptable reason to disregard equality; certain religious people have actually convinced others that letting their religion discriminate in a public school is somehow an example of equality.

Heather Mallick wrote an article about how embarrassing it must be for the girls to be singled out when they are menstruating and comments that gender equality would require letting girls pray alongside the boys, not behind them.[4]  She makes a good point, and it bothers me that people who advocate taking the views and feelings of a religious group into consideration don’t stop to consider the views and feelings of girls who are being told that they are second-class, and who feel pressured to follow discriminatory rules that they do not believe in.

One argument that seems to come up whenever there is an issue about unequal treatment of women is the argument that it’s alright for women to be treated unequally, because that unequal treatment protects them.  One insulting argument of this type was made by Steve Smith (in the comments section one of Professor Coyne’s blog posts at Why Evolution is True).  He writes that he retracted his criticism on the gender segregation in Islamic prayer because a Muslim woman told him that a practical reason for women praying behind men is that, otherwise, men would be distracted by the view of women from behind.[5]  This kind of attitude is one that places the responsibilities for men’s actions on women; it suggests that women self-segregating is a way to protect themselves from mistreatment from men, instead of demanding that men should be considered responsible for their own actions and that women shouldn’t be mistreated.  I’ve heard women make this argument about other gender equality issues, and while I understand the desire to take a practical protective step within a discriminatory system, ultimately it is the system itself that is wrong.

Michael Ruse, who is often criticized by fellow atheists for arguing for the compatibility of science and religion, nonetheless does realize that “there is such a dark side to religion”.  He writes, “Let me spell it out.  Girls with their periods are not sinful.  They are not sick.  They are not weak.  That anyone would think otherwise in this day and age boggles the mind.  It boggles the mind even more that respectable members of the Toronto District School Board should think this treatment of females is something that should be tolerated on school grounds, at any time.”  He adds, for good measure, that “decent people, responsible for the welfare of children, don’t allow prejudice against girls with their periods.  They don’t, they really don’t”.[6]  I agree.  They don’t, they really don’t.  Anyone who believes that excluding girls who are menstruating (or segregating girls in general) is a good practice has lost all sense of decency, if they had it in the first place.

Eric MacDonald has written an adamant rant, insisting (in short) that enough is enough already.  In response to Tarek Fatah’s comments (quoted above) he writes, “And this is simply why religion does not belong in public space, because there is no way of establishing what is and what is not an aspect or teaching or practice of any particular religion”.  About gender segregation and discrimination, he writes, “The time is coming when we are going to have to take the bull by the horns and tell religions that they simply must live up to the understanding of equality that is written into the laws of the land”.[7]  His frustration is understandable, given the frequency with which religious freedom is cited to promote bigotry.  Equality matters and gender equality should not be ignored or violated in the name of religion, especially not in public schools.

Fatima Cader writes that the Friday prayers made her a Muslim feminist and were actually a step in the right direction.  Because congregational prayers on Fridays are considered mandatory for boys and optional for girls, the boys would get permission to leave school to go to the prayers, but the girls would not.  Both parents and teachers were not interested in letting girls go to the prayers, but there were girls who wanted to pray and would have to do so secretly in the school.  Then, the school decided to allow students to pray on site during Ramadan, which meant that both boys and girls could participate.

To me, it seems that the school was wrong in the first place by not allowing girls to go to the Friday prayers, and the religion is wrong for having different rules for prayer for boys and girls.  If the religion is wrong for having different rules for boys and girls, the remedy is not to bring the religion and its segregation into the school, but to challenge and change the rules of the religion.  Discriminatory rules in Islam should not cause the school to discriminate accordingly; the school should have made it its policy to allow girls who asked to attend Friday prayers as well.

While the prayers may be considered a step forward in Islam by some, others could point out that it is still far from equal — and compared to the fact that girls are allowed (I presume) to sit in the front row during classes, it’s a step backward for the school.  At the end of her article, Cader makes my point for me.  She writes, “I wonder now how I and the school might have grown had we all along had the chance to share openly in a process, without fear or paranoia, whereby students could decide for themselves how their prayers should be arranged. God knows, teenagers hate being told what to do. Trust that Muslim women hate it no less.”[8]  I’d ask her to consider that while she might think these prayers an improvement, and may want to change the system from within, another female Muslim student might prefer to have permission from the school to pray by herself or with other friends who do not support segregation, so that she doesn’t have to sit in the back.  Having these prayers available as the Islamic prayer option for students, instead of a policy where students can “decide for themselves how their prayers should be arranged” is the problem, and it’s why these prayers are not an example of equality for Muslims or for women.

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Acknowledgement

I first read about this article in an entry at Ophelia Benson’s Notes and Comments Blog at Butterflies and Wheels.[9]

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Edits

1. One fantastic article that I inadvertently did not include in the original entry is Robyn Urback’s Girls should not be segregated on public school property.  (URL:  http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2011/07/11/girls-should-not-be-segregated-on-public-school-property/)

2. There is now a petition asking for the prayers to be desegregated.  (URL:  http://www.change.org/petitions/dont-segregate-menstruating-girls-in-public-schools)  To give credit, I found the petition via Pharyngula.  (URL:  http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/07/we_need_a_petition_to_urge_a_s.php)

3. I originally forgot to include a link to the article mentioned in the short aside.  It has now been added.

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References

[1] Davidson, Terry.  Charter trumps Education Act over prayers.  Posted on 8 July 2011 in Toronto Sun.  Retrieved on 23 July 2011 from http://www.torontosun.com/2011/07/08/charter-trumps-education-act-over-prayers.

[2] Same as #1

[3] Kirzner, Ellie.  Ellie Kirzner on Muslim school prayer.  Posted in the week of 14-21 July 2011 in Vol 30 No 26 of Now Toronto.  Retrieved on 24 July 2011 from http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=181795.

[4] Mallick, Heather.  Time for someone to speak up for shy young girls.  Posted on 10 July 2011 at The Toronto Star.  Retrieved 23 July 2011 from http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1022295–mallick-time-for-someone-to-speak-up-for-shy-young-girls.

[5] Smith, Steve.  Comment #10.  Posted on 16 July 2011 at 7:33 am in the comment section of Jerry Coyne’s Muslim prayer, misogyny, and Ruse’s ambitendencies.  Retrieved on 23 July 2011 from http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/07/16/muslim-prayer-and-ruses-ambitendencies/#comment-119485.

[6] Ruse, Michael.  Prayer, Menstruation, and the Toronto District School Board.  Posted on 15 July 2011 at The Brainstorm Blog of The Chronicle of Higher Education.  Retrieved on 24 July 2011 from http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/menstruating-girls-and-the-toronto-district-school-board/37370.

[7] MacDonald, Eric.  On the Side of the Angels.  Posted on 16 July 2011 at Choice in Dying.  Retrieved on 24 July 2011 from http://choiceindying.com/2011/07/16/on-the-side-of-the-angels/.

[8] Cader, Fathima.  My school prayer:  How my Friday ritual made me a Muslim feminist.  Posted in the week of 14-21 July 2011 in Vol 30 No 26 of Now Toronto.  Retrieved on 24 July 2011 from http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=181789.

[9] Benson, Ophelia.  Filthy Girls.  Posted on 14 July 2011 at The Notes and Comments Blog at Butterflies and Wheels.  Retrieved on 24 July 2011 from http://www.butterfliesandwheels.org/2011/filthy-girls/.

A Letter of Thanks to Johann Hari

[Columnist Johann Hari recently wrote an article about homophobia in Islam. It was specifically about Britain but, I think, applicable to other parts of the world as well. I decided to write him an email to express my gratitude. I was hesitant to share the email, due to some personal content, but decided that it was important to do so.]

Dear Mr. Hari:

My name is Sharmin, and I am writing to thank you for writing Can we talk about Muslim homophobia now? I am an atheist from a Muslim family living in United States. I’m also gay. My parents do not know, but I do try to keep up hope for the future, as they greatly value education (especially in science), have encouraged me go to school so I can be independent, have been realizing some of the pitfalls of arranged marriages, and get along with people of different religions. I am still concerned about what they might think, as they still hold on to some ideas which I consider incorrect or problematic, and I feel terribly for the people you described in your article who have had to deal with bigotry and hostility from others close to them.

The part in your article about younger Muslims having even more extreme views than their parents was especially troubling. I know some of my fellow college students are very religiously conservative and others have more moderate religious beliefs that incorporate secular knowledge. Even some who are very kind and generous, who would never hurt anyone, still hold some questionable views when homosexuality is mentioned. It seems that there are those who have not had their religious beliefs challenged, despite their education and good grades, because school teachers and administrators are reluctant to teach correct information out of fear of angry religious parents. I agree with your suggestion that schools should be teaching that homosexuality is natural.

One of the reasons your article gave me hope is because it reminded me that there are people who speak up for equal rights for different groups of people. For a long time, I have felt frustrated by the fact that many people’s reactions to discriminatory beliefs within Islam has been either to ignore the problem or to discriminate against immigrants. I have felt that the people who actually care about equal rights for everyone are not heard—that one side wanted to discriminate against me because my parents are immigrants and the other side was unwilling to consider that there are problems with Islam. Over the past few years, I have realized that there are people out there who are speaking out against the bigotry supported by religions without advocating discrimination against members of those religions (or against people whose families are from countries where those religions are powerful). Thank you for reminding me of that and for being one of the people doing this.

I hope I have expressed my gratitude clearly and that you know that there are people who appreciate what you have written. Thank you again.

Sincerely yours,

Ani Sharmin

“We do not need magic to save the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” (J. K Rowling, The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination, Harvard University Commencement Address, June 2008)

“Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons.” (J. K. Rowling, For Girls Only, Probably…)

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Notes

1. If you are LGBTQI and feel upset or alone, please keep up hope and know that you’re not alone. For anyone who is bullied or feels different, visit the It Gets Better Project website[1] and watch the videos there. Rebecca Drysdale’s entry for the project was a song called It Gets Better,[2] and listening to it makes me happy.

2. Yes, that is actually the signature I append to the end of my emails.

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Edit (as of 18 February 2012)

Last year, Johann Hari admitted to plagiarism. I’m adding this edit to say that I do not condone his behavior; what he did was wrong. I’m leaving this entry here because, even though he did something wrong, the email contains some of my own views about Islam and homosexuality that I want to still be available for others to read.

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References

[1] It Gets Better Project official website. Retrieved on April 4, 2011 from http://www.itgetsbetter.org/.

[2] Drysdale, Rebecca. It gets better—–a music video by rebecca drysdale. Uploaded on YouTube by beckdrys on January 4, 2011. Retrieved on April 4, 2011 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTQNwMxqM3E.

Eradicate Hate, Not Literary History: Censoring words is not the right way to fight against racism

Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a very controversial book, even after more than a century.  According to the American Library Association,[1] it was the fifth most frequently challenged book in the 1990s[2] and the fourteenth most frequently challenged book in the 2000s.[3] This book, along with The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, is a beloved classic, but both are often controversial due to the fact that they contain racial epithets.

It seems the book has come under a more subtle, yet still dangerous, form of censorship.  The publisher NewSouth Books is going to release a new edition of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in February.  In this new edition, the word “nigger” will be replaced with “slave” and the word “injun” will be replaced with “Indian”.  Alan Gribben, an English professor at Auburn University in Montgomery, suggested this idea to the publisher, because he was hesitant to read the racial epithets aloud.  He thought that perhaps the book would not face as much opposition, and more people would be willing to teach it, if the words were changed.[4] While I do feel a certain amount of sympathy for the teachers who say they have a difficult time figuring out how to teach classic works that contain questionable language, I think that changing the words is wrong; it is both ineffective as a way to discourage racism and is also a dishonest alteration and misrepresentation of the words of an author.

We live in a society in which racism still exists, so it is understandable that a racial epithet still carries with it a rather strong sting.  We cannot see these words in a completely historical manner, because we know that there is still discrimination against African Americans and Native Americans today.  I feel a strong hesitation to speak or even type such epithets, even though I know I am talking about the words, rather than using them to insult another person.  It can feel intimidating if a student is one of a few people in the class of a particular group, and an epithet in a book is referring to the group that they are a part of.  Censoring these words, however, is not going to make the problem of racism go away.  One of the ways in which racism thrives is by people denying that it exists.  There are those who support discrimination outright and those who pretend that it is no longer a problem.  There are those who pretend that acknowledging the existence of minority groups is “politically correct”, when it is really just an acknowledgement of reality.  There are those who make clearly racist comments and then claim that they are not racist.  We should oppose racism, and we cannot do that if we don’t talk about it or refuse to admit that it exists.  Instead of removing words from books, instead of denying our bad history, we should make it clear that racism is not acceptable.  We should call out and condemn those who promote hatred and discrimination.

Literature can teach us great things, if read and taught properly, and the integrity of a text is important if we want to examine and study its content.  Even a book in which a character expresses discriminatory ideas can be valuable to read.  Although a book may contain epithets, it can allow us to see the clear wrongness of discrimination, the harm that it causes.  We can see the cruelty of discrimination and feel sympathy for those who are being hurt by it.  I remember reading Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, a book which is also controversial for similar reasons, and it has a message against discrimination, despite the fact that there are racial epithets.  On this alteration of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Dr. Sarah Chuchwell, of the University of East Anglia, is quoted (by Benedicte Page in The Guardian) as saying,

The fault lies with the teaching, not the book.  You can’t say ‘I’ll change Dickens so it is compatible with my teaching method’.  Twain’s books are not just literary documents but historical documents, and that word is totemic because it encodes all of the violence of slavery.  The point of the book is that Huckleberry Finn starts out a racist in a racist society, and stops being racist and leaves that society.  These changes mean the book ceases to show the moral development of his character.  They have no merit and are misleading to readers.  The whole point of literature is to expose us to different ideas and different eras, and they won’t always be nice and benign.  It’s dumbing down.[5]

Students should not be underestimated; they see the world around them.  They are capable of understanding that a book contains ideas that we now know are wrong, even though people in the past wrongly thought they were okay.  They are also capable of understanding a book written by an author of a different race or with characters of a different race.  Perhaps a better way to create a curriculum that is more reflective of our diversity is to include books with diverse authors and characters.  It can be frustrating (and embarrassing) when the only book in the school curriculum with a minority character is a book in which the minority character is being treated badly.  Instead of removing books, why not encourage students to read more books and a greater variety of books?  Accuracy, honesty, and a willingness to read books by those who are different from us are a better way to combat discrimination than an editor’s pen.

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References

[1] The American Library Association’s official website can be found at http://www.ala.org/.

[2] 100 most frequently challenged books:  1990 – 1999.  American Library Associated.  Retrieved on January 6, 2011 from http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedbydecade/1990_1999/index.cfm.

[3] 100 most frequently challenged books:  2000-2009.  American Library Association.  Retrieved on January 6, 2011 from http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedbydecade/2000_2009/index.cfm.

[4] Bosman, Julie.  Publisher Tinkers With Twain.  Published at The New York Times on January 4, 2011.  Retrieved on January 6, 2011 from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/books/05huck.html.

[5] [Quote of Dr. Sarah Churchwell, as reported by Benedicte Page] Page, Benedict.  New Huckleberry Finn edition censors ‘n-word’.  Published in The Guardian on Januray 5, 2011.  Retrieved on January 6, 2011 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jan/05/huckleberry-finn-edition-censors-n-word.