"Would Old White Men Get Away With This?"
Ezra Levant asks the right question in the Toronto Sun, pointing out that discrimination only seems to be okay when it comes from the "right" color and nationality of people:
One hundred-and- fifty-four Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan, not just for the big things such as fighting international terrorists, but for the small things, too.Like the right of Afghan girls to go to school. Simple things, like the right to listen to music. These things were actually banned under the Taliban, which enforced sharia law.
So what would our soldiers think of Winnipeg's Louis Riel School Division, where a dozen Muslim immigrant families have demanded changes to the curriculum to accommodate their fundamentalist view of Islam? The families don't want boys and girls in the same classes, such as physical education.
And they don't want their children to hear to any instruments or singing in music class, either.
Instead of sending their kids to a private or religious school, they want the public schools to change.
Superintendent Terry Borys says the families are "adamant' about this, despite both phys-ed and music being compulsory. So the suggestion now is the children be allowed do their musical requirements through a 'writing project."
Brilliant. A music class with no music.
No word yet on how they'll accommodate the request for gender apartheid in gym. How long before parents can "adamantly" demand no mere woman teaches their son -- or if she does, that she has to wear a veil?
Don't laugh. Last fall the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled Muslim women can ask for a court order to clear men out of a courtroom -- court sta ff, lawyers, even the judge -- before taking off their veils to testify.
He brings up Brit Prime Minister David Cameron's speech from last week, pointing out that Cameron vowed to cut off funding to any group that opposes the equality of women, or integration of immigrants. In Cameron's words:
"We've even tolerated these segregated communities behaving in ways that run completely counter to our values. So, when a white person holds objectionable views ... we rightly condemn them. But when equally unacceptable views or practices come from someone who isn't white, we've been too cautious frankly -- frankly, even fearful -- to stand up to them."
Levant then asks:
Who is the better liberal: Cameron or the Winnipeg school board?
via Robert W.
Cameron, of course. I hope the board of education realizes the worst decision they could make would be to socially stigmatize the Muslim schoolchildren further by acquiescing to their parents demands. Freedom to worship doesn't mean the rest of us have to adapt to your craziness.
We are experiencing something similar though. All the unruly, often autistic children that were once segregated from the normal children are now integrated into the classrooms. They are referred to as "special needs". The bottom line though is the two or three children in each class of 25 or 30 require about 80% of the teachers attention. The other bottom line is that some of these children have no social skills at all, and end up bullying both physically and mentally the other students. We are looking into private schooling now to see how they handle this situation.
Eric at February 10, 2011 9:23 AM
I live in Winnipeg. This appalling, embarassing, and even a little nauseating.
Have to go puke, now.
Tim Webster at February 10, 2011 11:26 AM
It never ceases to amaze me that people leave one country for another, presumably because life is better in the new one, and then want to change the new country to be like the old one.
Public schools in Canada have music classes and co-ed gym class. Deal with it. How well would their former country accommodate a minority family's religious views?
Steamer at February 10, 2011 11:53 AM
Oh this is easy to fix.
As a white middle aged male I say:
~ You BETTER keep that veil on in mixed company.
~ What the HELL do you think you're doing learning music as a Muslim?
~ Gym Class? Why don't you sit down in that empty class room over there.
There we go. Now let the magic of knee jerk liberalism do it's job.
ErikZ at February 10, 2011 12:47 PM
That's great, ErikZ. I'm really slow, today, though, because it took me 2 minutes to understand what you were talking about.
WayneB at February 10, 2011 1:04 PM
On the more general topic of Islam and accommodation, have you seen this report from Europol, the criminal intelligence agency of the European Union:
http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/09/some_good_news_about_islamic_terror
It turns out that there were fewer than 300 terrorist incidents in Europe last year, a decline of 1/3 from the previous year. About 80% of these attacks were carried out by indigenous European separatist groups. A grand total of one attack (that's 0.34%) was conducted by Islamists.
Can we please return to rational risk assessment?
Honest Question at February 10, 2011 2:43 PM
We've been down this road before. I had an instructor once who had been able to go to college only because Kansas refused to honor his parents' Amish beliefs and insisted that he be allowed to attend scholl beyond the 8th grade. sometimes we really do need the government to protect a kid's rights against his parents' judgment.
Then there was the entire non-geographic GOVERMNET-FUDED school district in new York State devoted entirely to orthodox Jewish students, so they wouldn't have to be around any filthy gentiles, dontcha know. That finally got defunded by a judge. Activist judges!
No accomiodation at all for any of this. If someone is unwiiling to unveil in front of men, the bailiff should rip it off.
Jim at February 10, 2011 4:02 PM
Leave a comment