Unity, not uniformity

So I wrote this last night, right before my computer died. Having left my charger in camp this summer, I have been experiencing some difficulty, well, keeping my computer charged. But anyway...

I went to an inter-faith rally yesterday in support of the mosque they want to build near ground zero (or perhaps, in opposition of the opposition) and was inspired in several ways. Of course the first and most obvious was the confluence of people of many different creeds coming together to support a cause whose voice echoes so many people's struggles in America, trying to find freedom -- the struggles (and triumphs) that I am reminded of daily by my students, in broader or narrower ways.

In the inspirational speeches, someone brought up JFK, and how before he was elected he was questioned about his Catholicism, (and then went on to be one of the most popular presidents ever) and how somewhere out there, maybe even in Queens, maybe even in PS OO, a little Mohammed or a little Fatima is waiting to grow up to be president. And maybe in 40 years, being Muslim will be as much of a non-issue as being a Catholic now is. And maybe we will have by then figured out how to deal with our natural predilection towards xenophobia, and realized that every new wave of immigrants, be they from Ireland or Italy or China or Mexico or Pakistan or Bangladesh or Ecuador, seems to undergo the same sort of hazing and mistrust from the Americans that were here first - (even though, of course, really very few of our families were here "first," and those that really were here were sent to Oklahoma by Andrew Jackson and his ilk.) And their scandalous new religions and ways of doing things are so shocking and controversial for a generation or two and then... we get over it.

The pithiest take-home message was "Unity, not uniformity." I spend so much time trying to teach the kids about tolerance, and, as the speakers today were saying, at least how to co-exist but at best how to embrace and welcome and be enriched and inspired by each others' existence. It bothers me that the opposite message is so easy to come by. That it is so easy to write off others as unwanted and not belonging, and that it is so easy not to distinguish between a violent, wrong-headed few among an entire group of peaceful, life-loving people.

Last spring I had an interesting conversation with one of my colleagues in grad school who is Muslim and has school-age children, wondering what she tells them about their "Western" teachers... I mean, I try to keep it professional, and take some pains not to dress like a ho. But I wear skirts without stockings, and tank tops when it's hot, and I certainly don't cover up my head or my hair, and I always wondered what the Muslim kids and their parents think of that. And my colleague explained that she tells her children, simply, "They have their way and we have ours."

Wouldn't it be nice if everyone could be okay with that?