How accepting/inclusive are other students towards a Muslim and Brown child?
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Anonymous
| As we decide to move to private, I am worried about my bi-racial Muslim child. His name is a dead give away of our faith. I know the schools are very open and accepting. I want to know if the families of his classmates would 'really' welcome my child? Will my child be constantly asked for his perspective on Islam and being Muslim? In this political climate, will people feel sorry? protective? or just leave him be? I just wish he didn't have this burden. I am even contemplating changing his last name. I am worried about his future driving license having a Muslim name on it. Am I over reacting? |
Anonymous
| Sidwell is very welcoming |
Anonymous
We are so lucky to live in an area where the vast majority of people and families will see your son's differences from their family as a good thing - as something interesting to be celebrated. I too have children with true Muslim names (not cross-overs) that cannot be confused with any other ethnicity. We have never had an issue. But I want to say something to you regardless of that, as someone who understands your worry as a mother for the happiness and safety of your children. These are the times we live in, and changing a name or pretending that your heritage is different that what it is - that cannot be the lesson we learn from these frightening times or what we teach our children. I believe we need to teach our children to be proud of the truth of who they are, while acknowledging the difficulties they may face at times because of it. I don't think you are overreacting, but I do think the shame and stress of having to pretend they are something they are not is so much worse for them. It could scar them lifelong. |
Anonymous
| Not sure where you're looking but most privates in this area are pretty liberal and open-minded. We are also considering whether to go private (have one acceptance thus far) and have never once considered my child's Arabic first name and "foreign" sounding last name to be a hinderance. We are considering privates that are fairly diverse (not Sidwell, but a few that are similarly diverse). So yes, I'd venture that you may be overthinking it a bit. |
Anonymous
Forgot to add that one of us is a black Muslim from a predominantly Muslim African capitol city, and this has not even crossed our minds to be worried about. But we live in a pretty very liberal area and are considering schools where religious/international diversity would likely not be considered a negative. |
Anonymous
Our family would definitely welcome you, including our child. FWIW, my child's best friend is Muslim (we are not)- the mom and I are close as well. I always send her a message at the start of Ramadan and on Eid; she does the same for me on Easter and Christmas, not because we "have" to, but because we know those days are important to each other. 
Not sure how old your child is, but when we do play dates, I also make sure that any food or treats I serve don't contain gelatin or pork (I.e. No ham roll-ups). |
Anonymous
| OP here. You guys are making me cry! Thank you. |
Anonymous
| We are Muslim at our liberal big 3. No issues from the parental or family point of view. We love interacting with families of different ethnicities and religious and social beliefs. It's eye opening to interact with so many different points of view--which makes for very teachable moments in the car ride home. Otoh, many parents seem generally pretty liberal from a dating, sexual activity, Etc, perspective so there is a balancing act that goes on with those matters that we are more conservative on. That's not a complaint, just a statement of fact. That said we'd pick our school over and over and 3x on Sunday if deciding whether to go or not. |
Anonymous
| This ain't the rust belt. I am delighted to say my kids are completely colorblind. |
Anonymous
| I think that most people who consider themselves liberals, whether they are or not, would be embarrassed with themselves if they were not accepting of your child. This is how I feel about a fundamentalist Christian family in our school. We are agnostic. |
Anonymous
| Assuming you're in the DC area, I would say this is a non-issue. The privates are more white than publics for economic reasons, but this is still a very diverse area. |
Anonymous
| A few at our school. No big deal. Moms are nice, dads are nice, kids are cute. |
Anonymous
Agreed. Why on earth do you even have to question this, OP? |
Anonymous
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We are at Norwool School in Bethesda, and we never ever have any issues because of background and ethnicity.
My son's best friend is Jewish and i am very happy we live in this area and everyone are so welcoming. Do not worry!! |
Anonymous
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My son is Muslim. He's at a Montgomery County private school. His class was strange in that last year, five of the 13 kids were Muslim. We've never had issues with others welcoming him and in fact his school is very diverse. He actually had more trouble from a couple of fellow Muslim classmates who told him he's not Muslim enough. For example, we don't require him to pray five times a day and that's something he can figure out on his own when he hits puberty. But most of the other Muslim kids do.
But even that, to me (as a non Muslim myself) is par for the course in childhood. I was told by my Catholic friends I was going to hell. I was Episcopalian. Choose a school that has a culture of inclusiveness and in this area you will be fine. |