Bigotry is bigotry – conversation with Sam
It was a quiet Saturday morning in the Pickett household. I was enjoying my post gym workout cup of coffee and mentally organizing my day. Since it was Saturday, I was not surprised to see my delightful six-year-old friend approaching my house. She and her family live next door. I was also prepared for whatever questions this very precocious six-year-old came up with this morning. I know that, especially on Saturday, she has the habit of reading the newspaper with her dad and/or attempting to process something one of her classmates has said at school. This morning was to be no exception.
Sam: Hi uncle Jim.
Me: Good morning. Are you ready for school?
Sam: Uncle Jim, it is Saturday. My dad says old people forget what day it is? Are you old people, Uncle Jim? Did you forget?
Me: Perhaps I did. We old people do tend to get confused sometimes.
Sam: Sighs! I thought so! I need to ask a question.
Me? What is your question? You know that you can ask anything.
Sam: Some kids at school said the President is a Muslim and that is a bad thing. Do you think that President is a Muslim Uncle Jim?
Me: Well, Sam, that is an important question. I know that some people think President Obama is a Muslim and they think that all Muslim are bad. In fact, just the other day some person in the audience where the Presidential candidate Donald Trump was speaking said, “We have a problem in this country and it is called Muslims…We know our current president is one.” (Associated Press article by Jill Colvin entitled “he’s criticized for not reining in the man calling Obama a Muslim” reported in Tampa Tribune on September 19,2015 on page 8).
Sam: What?
Me: I guess that was a lot to expect you to hear all at once. The people saying President Obama is a Muslim are usually trying to say that being a Muslim is bad. Do you think it is bad?
Sam: You mean like my friend Aman? He is really nice.
Me: I agree
Sam: Aman is not bad.
Me: No I do not think so either. You know Uncle Jim has other Muslim friends, some of whom you have met.
Sam: Yes. Then why would kids at school say that all Muslims, including Aman, are bad? I tell them they are stupid!
Me: I think that it is brave of you to support Aman. I am sure he appreciates that.
Sam: Yes, but he tells me not to call the other kids stupid. He says that his father says we must be nice to them and not act hateful when someone else is hateful.
Me: That is very interesting. What do you think about that?
Sam: Well, you are always telling me that I have to treat others like I want to be treated. How can I do that when they are so stupid?
Me: Well, I think the word you want is ignorant. Ignorant means we do not know something.
Sam: I know! (Sigh). I have to get the dictionary.
Sam goes to get the Oxford dictionary.
Sam: What word am I looking up?
Me: How about we up the word stupid first. S T U P I D
Sam: Why can’t we just look it up on the computer?
Me: We could but let’s also learn how to use the big dictionary.
Sam: What was that spelling?
Me: S T U P I D
Sam: Here it is. Help me read it.
We read it together:
Definition of stupid:
Lacking intelligence or common sense
Dazed and unable to think clearly
Sam; what does dazed mean uncle Jim?
Me: You know that sometimes you get very tired and cannot concentrate. Remember we talked about that.
(Sam closes her eyes and dramatically walks around the room feeling with her outstretched arms.)
Informal – used to express exasperation or boredom.
Sam: Exasperation?
Me: That is another big word. You know how you get frustrated when I take so long to do something or we have to spend time looking up a word. You could say, “Uncle Jim exasperates me.” Or “Uncle Jim is exasperating.”
Sam: You can say that again!
Me: The second word was I G N O R A N T
Sam: I G N O R
Me: A N T
Sam: Oh here it is.
Me: Great. Let’s read it together.
Oxforddictionary.com definition of ignorant
Lacking knowledge or information about something: not
educated.
Informal – with bad manner
Me: So, Aman is suggesting that the kids who say all Muslims are bad are ignorant. They believe what they have heard from some adults. They do not know, like you do, that they have to question what we adults say. They are ignorant. That is not a bad thing, but we do not want to agree with something we know is not the truth. On the other hand, Aman is suggesting that it is ignorant to call them stupid. It is bad manners to talk to or to talk about them as some of them talk about all Muslims.
Sam: I am glad that I know that Aman and other Muslims are good people.
Me: Yes. There are some Muslims who think just like some of the kids in school - that everyone has to think like they do. They may kill those who think differently. We have also talked about the fact that some Christians think that killing others who do not think like them is good.
Sam: So the President is not Muslim but it would be okay if he were.
Me: Absolutely Sam. You are so wise. I am always so proud of you.
Sam: My head is tired. I think some ice cream would make it feel better.
Me: You are probably right Sam.
Written September 19, 2015
It was a quiet Saturday morning in the Pickett household. I was enjoying my post gym workout cup of coffee and mentally organizing my day. Since it was Saturday, I was not surprised to see my delightful six-year-old friend approaching my house. She and her family live next door. I was also prepared for whatever questions this very precocious six-year-old came up with this morning. I know that, especially on Saturday, she has the habit of reading the newspaper with her dad and/or attempting to process something one of her classmates has said at school. This morning was to be no exception.
Sam: Hi uncle Jim.
Me: Good morning. Are you ready for school?
Sam: Uncle Jim, it is Saturday. My dad says old people forget what day it is? Are you old people, Uncle Jim? Did you forget?
Me: Perhaps I did. We old people do tend to get confused sometimes.
Sam: Sighs! I thought so! I need to ask a question.
Me? What is your question? You know that you can ask anything.
Sam: Some kids at school said the President is a Muslim and that is a bad thing. Do you think that President is a Muslim Uncle Jim?
Me: Well, Sam, that is an important question. I know that some people think President Obama is a Muslim and they think that all Muslim are bad. In fact, just the other day some person in the audience where the Presidential candidate Donald Trump was speaking said, “We have a problem in this country and it is called Muslims…We know our current president is one.” (Associated Press article by Jill Colvin entitled “he’s criticized for not reining in the man calling Obama a Muslim” reported in Tampa Tribune on September 19,2015 on page 8).
Sam: What?
Me: I guess that was a lot to expect you to hear all at once. The people saying President Obama is a Muslim are usually trying to say that being a Muslim is bad. Do you think it is bad?
Sam: You mean like my friend Aman? He is really nice.
Me: I agree
Sam: Aman is not bad.
Me: No I do not think so either. You know Uncle Jim has other Muslim friends, some of whom you have met.
Sam: Yes. Then why would kids at school say that all Muslims, including Aman, are bad? I tell them they are stupid!
Me: I think that it is brave of you to support Aman. I am sure he appreciates that.
Sam: Yes, but he tells me not to call the other kids stupid. He says that his father says we must be nice to them and not act hateful when someone else is hateful.
Me: That is very interesting. What do you think about that?
Sam: Well, you are always telling me that I have to treat others like I want to be treated. How can I do that when they are so stupid?
Me: Well, I think the word you want is ignorant. Ignorant means we do not know something.
Sam: I know! (Sigh). I have to get the dictionary.
Sam goes to get the Oxford dictionary.
Sam: What word am I looking up?
Me: How about we up the word stupid first. S T U P I D
Sam: Why can’t we just look it up on the computer?
Me: We could but let’s also learn how to use the big dictionary.
Sam: What was that spelling?
Me: S T U P I D
Sam: Here it is. Help me read it.
We read it together:
Definition of stupid:
Lacking intelligence or common sense
Dazed and unable to think clearly
Sam; what does dazed mean uncle Jim?
Me: You know that sometimes you get very tired and cannot concentrate. Remember we talked about that.
(Sam closes her eyes and dramatically walks around the room feeling with her outstretched arms.)
Informal – used to express exasperation or boredom.
Sam: Exasperation?
Me: That is another big word. You know how you get frustrated when I take so long to do something or we have to spend time looking up a word. You could say, “Uncle Jim exasperates me.” Or “Uncle Jim is exasperating.”
Sam: You can say that again!
Me: The second word was I G N O R A N T
Sam: I G N O R
Me: A N T
Sam: Oh here it is.
Me: Great. Let’s read it together.
Oxforddictionary.com definition of ignorant
Lacking knowledge or information about something: not
educated.
Informal – with bad manner
Me: So, Aman is suggesting that the kids who say all Muslims are bad are ignorant. They believe what they have heard from some adults. They do not know, like you do, that they have to question what we adults say. They are ignorant. That is not a bad thing, but we do not want to agree with something we know is not the truth. On the other hand, Aman is suggesting that it is ignorant to call them stupid. It is bad manners to talk to or to talk about them as some of them talk about all Muslims.
Sam: I am glad that I know that Aman and other Muslims are good people.
Me: Yes. There are some Muslims who think just like some of the kids in school - that everyone has to think like they do. They may kill those who think differently. We have also talked about the fact that some Christians think that killing others who do not think like them is good.
Sam: So the President is not Muslim but it would be okay if he were.
Me: Absolutely Sam. You are so wise. I am always so proud of you.
Sam: My head is tired. I think some ice cream would make it feel better.
Me: You are probably right Sam.
Written September 19, 2015
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