Why "Happy Holidays"?

Hi. I’m a Christian and I want to talk to you about our privilege. I’ve been thinking about this throughout this holiday season and reflecting on how I am and am not using my voice to make our schools (and society) more inclusive. While I’m super passionate about race, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation, religion is something I rarely address.

As a Christian, this is one of the few areas in which my identity is privileged. There’s no shortage of “mirrors” for my religion. It permeates every facet of our society. Thus, it is my responsibility to advocate for non-Christian religions, including no religion at all. You see, just like we need white people to talk to other white people about racism, men to talk to other men about sexism and misogyny, and straight folx to talk to other straight folx about heteronormativity, homophobia and transphobia, we need Christians to talk to other Christians about religious discrimination (including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia).

Teachers, we are preparing children to exist in a diverse world. A crucial aspect of that is teaching them that their ways of being are not the only ways or the best ways. As we continue to grow our skills in teaching for social justice, consider the following resources:

• Afraid of getting in trouble for talking about religion? Consider this resource.

• Still not sure this is important? Read more about why you should rethink that here.

• Do you think we’ve been neutral about religion in schools? Read more about how we have been teaching religious intolerance for years.

• Are you convinced and ready to start making more inclusive instructional decisions? Here are some great teaching resources.

• And, of course, here are some great book lists:

  • http://www.religioustolerance.org/reledchil.htm

  • https://bookriot.com/rosh-hashanah-books/

  • https://www.readbrightly.com/childrens-books-muslim-culture/

  • https://socialjusticebooks.org/booklists/muslims/

  • https://pjlibrary.org/beyond-books/pjblog/june-2020/diverse-jewish-childrens-books

  • https://www.whatdowedoallday.com/childrens-picture-books-with-muslim-characters/

  • https://bookriot.com/11-inclusive-childrens-books-written-by-women-of-color/

  • https://www.kveller.com/18-diverse-jewish-childrens-books-to-read-for-mlk-day-and-every-day/

  • https://bookriot.com/jewish-childrens-and-ya-books/

  • https://bookriot.com/childrens-books-about-passover/

  • https://bookriot.com/middle-grade-and-young-adult-audiobooks-with-muslim-girl-protagonists/

  • https://bookriot.com/books-by-uk-authors-of-colour/

  • https://bookriot.com/diwali-books/

  • https://bookriot.com/middle-grade-and-ya-fantasy-books-by-indian-writers/

Keep the conversation going in the comments or in your own circles. Questions for Reflection: How can you expand your and your students’ understanding of religious diversity? What new stories can you tell this year? How can you add to and complicate the stories you’ve been telling in age-appropriate ways?