August 27, 2007
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Public Funding and Arab Culture
A public school is opening soon that has created a little buzz.
A school in New York has opened that offers instruction in Arabic and on the Arab culture. There are those who are concerned that the school will teach radical Islam. Here is the link: Link
Should the government fund a school that offers instruction in Arabic?
Comments (107)
yes
No
Arabic is very important in Middle Eastern affairs and peace talkings. Understanding their culture, ideas, and morals is very important.
those that believe in radical islam are a very small percentage
I just got an ad in the mail offering $100k per year to people who are literate in Arabic to work as translators. I’d say it’s a good idea to teach Arabic to prepare kids for the careers of the future.
Wow, yet a Christian “town”, (Catholic, I beleive), that is wanting to develop in Florida is having all kinds of trouble…
Hell yeah. I’d LOVE to learn about Arabic and Arab culture.
No! We shudnt teech Arabick! This is America and by golly evryone should speek American, I mean Inglish, u no, the language this country invented!!!11 And we shud stop teechin French and Mexican too!!!!!1111
(Yeah, if you couldn’t tell that was a farcical comment, I feel sorry for you.)
The government opens schools that teach Spanish, I don’t see what the hell the controversy is here.
^LOL i kno!!!!! ppl shud speek american GOOOD nd not nun of that arab shit.
Well… it’s not like we can just turn around and say that the culture, language, people, etc. don’t exist. The Arab culture itself (not I said Arab, not Islamic) is an absolutely beautiful culture, very hospitable, and gracious. They need to maintain the line between Arab culture and Islamism, and I think it should be okay.
Sometimes it seems like the things we fear the most are the ones we need to know the most about.
whoops, that was supposed to be *note I said Arabic
Sounds to me like the Arabic language and culture are planning to be taught and I don’t see what’s wrong with that. Other public schools offer Spanish, German, French…….the way the world is going it seems wise to teach Arabic.
I thought Arabs had Hinduism as a religion. Anyways I think the govt. should fund it. It’s teaching the language and the culture not influencing their believes.
That’s a load of bull. I personally know some arabs, and I don’t think they are terrorists.
I hate that people are associating everything middle-east with terror.
We’re the real terrorists.
No, English and no religious education sponsored by the state either.
RYC: You make a very good point about tickets and taxes. Does that mean I can count on your vote when I run for president?
“Should the government fund a school that offers instruction in Arabic?”
Why the fuck not? It might alleviate some of the delusion people are under; that Arab culture = radical Islam. The idea that you can’t teach about a culture without endorsing the negative aspects of that culture is born out of ignorance and paranoia.
Islam and arab are not the same. There is an arab culture and language that is separate from islam. Also, the school district that I grew up in offered a program to learn Arabic language and culture. From my understanding, there was an Arab culture long before Islam was created.
This almost sounds like the equivalent of protesting the teaching of Native American Culture on the grounds that it would teach drunkenness since Native Americans now have a stereotype of being alcoholics.
The same people who think Arabic is radical Islam are probably the utterly cliche hick Bible Belt fucking trash in the deep south who are Creationists who spend time fucking their sisters.
“I hate that people are associating everything middle-east with terror.”
This happens because so many politicians consistently claim that “they” want to kill us because we believe in liberty, without clarifying precisely who “they” is. Or the reality of “why” that is, for that matter.
Jaysus forgive thim uv thar darknis.
I don’t understand the particular need or purpose of an Arabic-American public school. The particular cultural flavor of the school doesn’t immediately make it bad or wrong; but it definately need to keep up that wall of seperation between church and state.
Why not? I speak Spanish fluently and have my job because of it, and I love my culture. I love to share the culture, too.. I also took Italian in school, and I probably would’ve liked taking Arab.
Arab is not Islam, people. The same way that I took Italian and did not become a Catholic, I’m sure it would be safe to say that we won’t have little radical Islamic-American children running around as a result of an Arab class.
WTH is wrong with the world. Maybe if America fucking knew a bit more about different cultures, we’d have a bit less hate.
Whatever dude, that’s your country, not mine.
I’m not sure – I know there are schools for Chinese students to learn about the Chinese language and culture, if they get government funding then so should Arabic schools. But if they don’t, no. It should be about fairness, really… because I see nothing wrong with teaching kids about their ethnic background.
YES!!! It is a millenia-old culture, and a widely-used language.
GEEZ!!!! What IS wrong with people???
randomneuralfirings, you scared me for a second.
I say, yes.. I don’t see a problem with it. It is a small percentage of people who are actually the “radical Muslims” (as in blowing people up, suicidal bombing, etc.) Thse perspectives of course should be monitered and avoided. But really, ALL of it seems extreme to us, because it is so foreign and different. Perhaps this is why it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have our kids more educated on the religion, culture, people, etc, that they WILL hear about and in a distanced way, be in contact with, for the rest of their lives.
Understanding the culture, yes. Teaching the language, yes. Teaching the classes in Arabic, no. Didn’t “we” already have this discussion about bi-lingual schools?
Besides, the assumption that all Arabic-speaking people are Muslim is as stupid as the assumption that all Americans are Christian, or all English-speaking people are British!
no.
what would be next? Klingon?
i’ve heard about this already- what they’re glossing over is this IS a publicly funded RELIGIOUS school. other religious schools are forced to raised funds privately in America, all except this one aparently.
oh, and the head lady who was going to run this school dropped out recently and she does have ties to the radical groups- infact the teachers at this school have direct ties with CAIR and have been known to be supportive of terroristic movements
don’t believe me? go here and do your own dang research: onenewsnow.com
yes
sheesh
Definitely!
Besides Spanish, Arabic is one of the most in-demand languages in today’s job market.
Arabic & Middle Eastern culture do not necessitate terrorism.
no, i think it should be privately funded by sponsers. I’m all for it.
absolutely. the fact that someone speaks arabic does not make them a terrorist. the argument against it is ridiculous. if people actually took the time to learn about different cultures, they’d know that.
Christopher Miller’s a fucking retard.
Um….aren’t we trying to STOP terrorism, which comes from Arab-speaking people?
I can see having ESL classes, but not a special school that speaks only Arabic.
Sure, they fund spanish, french, and german. It’s not like it’s an arab school, which shouldn’t be government funded.
I don’t get it….arent there schools for a certain race or cultre all over the country? or am i just reading this wrong…? you know like CHRISTIAN school. Or schools only taught in SPANISH. Or JEWISH schools…
i did read this wrong….
Jesus Christ. Why is this controversial?
Yes.
“Um….aren’t we trying to STOP terrorism, which comes from Arab-speaking people?
I can see having ESL classes, but not a special school that speaks only Arabic.
<LI class=itemtimestamp>8/27/2007 8:04 PM
<LI class=itemsubmitter>musicmom60 (message)”
Stereotype much?
YES. One hundred percent.
Theres enough history taught in todays school from the POV of the white guys.
Yes! It’s a language and a culture, what’s the big deal?
Why not?
We need to learn more about their culture so we can come to a better understanding.
Besides, radical Islam and radical Christianity are the SAME DAMN THING.
Yes. The rule is that if there is a certain number of students who speak a certain language in the school’s community, then the school is required to provide instruction in that language. The same rules apply to this.
Plus, it might actually teach kids something.
“Um….aren’t we trying to STOP terrorism, which comes from Arab-speaking people? I can see having ESL classes, but not a special school that speaks only Arabic.<musicmom60 (message)”
Your ignorance really disgusts me.
Why not? I’m all for it. And besides, Arab culture does not include terrorism; no culture does, as a matter of fact. Terrorism is something entirely different and shouldn’t be associated with Islam–perhaps there is a link according to the terrorists themselves, but for the rest of us–who are sane and smart enough to realize the difference–Islam does not equal terrorism.
I don’t think it’s a good idea at all. Not because I have anything against them, exactly. But I don’t think it’s a good time—considering the war going on. It would cause more conflict. Though maybe not allowing it would cause more? It’s hard to say.
Interesting. I think learning about Arabic culture is fine, but it is sort of hard to draw the line between Arabic culture and Islam as even though Arabic culture does not necessarily mean Islam, it usually does seem to go hand in hand. Not that Islam is bad and I do not think the problem is terrorism, but the separation of church and state. I think the government can’t fund religions? Right? But taking the question phrased as it is, I think America could use some extra education on culture. And to tell you the truth, I wouldn’t mind the government funding religions in general unless they’re cults or occult or hateful.
RYC: Cheesecake factory rocks, indeed. I had pizza, and french fries, and then cramael cheesecake for dessert…I was stuffed.
I am all for multi-cultural as long as it is even betwene all cultures and even religions (IF IT IS EQAUL).
I found it humerous in highschool when we spent days on buddism and hinduism and Islam, yet when it came to judasim or Christianity – we passed thorugh it in like maybe 5 minutes or so.
The irony is that i went to a private christian university and my world civilization class was more even about all the different cultures and different religions than my public school in highschool… isnt that kinda ironic… ha ha
Daniel (doubledb)
Yes. I support multi-cultural teaching. The people that don’t support it, because of some far fetched idea about all Arabs are terrorist, need to take a class or two.
considering the results and success rates most public schools have – it may be an improvement!
I agree with Drakonskyr, these people must have no clue how dumb they sound making these accusations. I am seriously losing faith in the masses. Perhaps they’re just jealous that they didn’t get any edjamacation.
And I think for those who disagree because of language difference, I believe that not everyone in the US is from the US and in this new generation the younger people tend to lose their tradition. I know I have quite a bit. So I think of it as keeping the people today well cultured (or help them be more cultured). It’s not like anyone is forced to enroll in the school. Just because they go to a school with Arabic culture as a base doesn’t mean they don’t know English and if anything, it makes people even more educated, bilingual. Just look at everyone in the United States. What’s your culture? Isn’t America a mix of everything? That would mean Americans have no culture of their own. Unless you want to go back in time of the colonial times, which would mean racism, trampling on other cultures and countries for the sake of trade (which is not so far from today), or more recently over eating, and hedonists of all sorts. For the caucasian immigrants (Irish, Scandanavian, Norwegian, etc.) who came here from the very beginning they all had some kind of tradition and culture and if we look at descendants today, it’s these descendants who lost their tradition, have nothing left, and are now criticizing people who still have tradition and trying to keep it (if you disagree or don’t practice much culture).
Does America really have to go around the world destroying cultures then do that to themselves at home?
^LOL i kno!!!!! ppl shud speek american GOOOD nd not nun of that arab shit.
I really hope that was intended humor… and it’s true, the koran only teaches peace, so i see nothing wrong with teaching Arabic. Even Islam isn’t filled with crazy people… it’s just those crazy people that give them the bad name.
Radicals can be found in every religion. Radical catholic people for example who some how got the idea strangling people will rid them of inner demons.. way to go.
I don’t see what the controversy is? Arab does not automatically = radical. And Hindi is a religion primarily in India, which is in South Asia.
oh yeah and terrorism exists world-wide and encompasses more than what you see on the news. it’s just a broken f-cking record to be honest, that islam=radical=terrorism. fallacies galore, i don’t even know why i bother
btw – all this stupidity is fear driven. fear is the most dangerous emotion out there – followed by greed/jealousy. be really, really cautious of people fear everything they see just because it doesn’t fit their mold of how things should be…
WTH is wrong with the world. Maybe if America fucking knew a bit more about different cultures, we’d have a bit less hate.
<LI class=itemtimestamp>8/27/2007 7:15 PM
<LI class=itemsubmitter>DrugInducedDuck (message)
A: You know nothing of how people opperate.
B: Stop breathing.
C: When people try teaching about a culture that we’re at odds with, they don’t want to learn about the subtle little things that make Islam what it is. They want to learn how to destroy it, how to attack it where it’s weak, and how to attack the Islams in our country. All in all, this is a bad idea, and will lead only to more hate.
Why not?
We need to learn more about their culture so we can come to a better understanding.
Besides, radical Islam and radical Christianity are the SAME DAMN THING.
<LI class=itemtimestamp>8/27/2007 8:56 PM
<LI class=itemsubmitter>SuperEvilPopTart64 (message)
Are you fucking retarded? Christians don’t suicide bomb people because their beliefs differ than their own. Delete your Xanga, and cancel your internet service package.
“Um….aren’t we trying to STOP terrorism, which comes from Arab-speaking people? I can see having ESL classes, but not a special school that speaks only Arabic.<musicmom60 (message)”
Your ignorance really disgusts me.
<LI class=itemtimestamp>8/27/2007 8:59 PM
<LI class=itemsubmitter>innerblondness (message)
Your naivety makes me want to send you to Iraq, so you can see with your own eyes just what these people want. Don’t reproduce.
What?
We need that kind of education.
There’s a good reason we’re so racist against Muslims.
-David
Not unless they are going to do it for all cultures.
Wow, inaudible_yelling, you don’t watch the news in the past too much, huh? Oh, do some research into radical Christianity, buddy, and you might learn something. Ever heard of David Koresch- The Second Coming? Here is a link to a wikipedia page
David Koresh, baby.
Seriously, you of all people, don’t reproduce.
Hmm… I have my reservations about the school, but as long as they keep religion and politics out of it, there’s no real reason to object against an Arab-language school. As a few people mentioned, Arabic is an important language to learn in world affairs, after all… But separating ‘mosque from state’ could be a tricky proposition and I hope everyone concerned (gov’t, students & parents, and teachers) handles this well. Should be an interesting year.
ryc: Wow… how did you DO that? Any one of those things would be considered a full time job! Anyway, I’m slowly trying to add more things to my schedule without sacrificing sleep, so we’ll see how it goes.
Cant think of a good reason against it.
i find it amusing that people are saying “it has nothing to do with islam(religion)” when the picture clearly shows at least one sign indicating that religion IS the point. which, according to the current interpretation is a MAJOR violation of church and state.
should puplic schoolS teach arabic, and about arabic culture? why not? should there be a “harvey milk” style school for muslims(given the context of the photo, im not buying it as a secular arabic school)? no, no there should not.
What’s so wrong with learning radical Islam? Students are taught radical and not-so-radical democracy and republicanism (sp?). God, people are paranoid. Arabic could be a very, very useful language, especially if considering going into the military, or simply traveling there. Stupid people.
Yes. It’ll be a necessary skill in the emerging world.
As opposed to the rest of our schools that teach radical conservatism and nationalism?
It would be racist to assume that all Arabs are Muslim.
inaudible yelling
Are you fucking retarded? Christians don’t suicide bomb people because their beliefs differ than their own. Delete your Xanga, and cancel your internet service package.
You’re not asking for a list of historical injustices carried under the banner of Christianity, are you?
Might as well learn. Might actually shut the controversy up. Hell, might even make the kids more tolerant.
’nuff said…
Haramzadi
It would be racist to assume that all Arabs are Muslim.
More stupidity or laziness than racism.
Due to the gravity of its attatched stigma, I don’t think the brand of “racism” is one to toss around flippantly.
The real issue that people are having with the school is whether or not it is teaching religion. And if so, the government doesn’t fund other religious schools…so why should they fund this one? “Separation of church and state” was designed not to keep followers of a religion from teaching, but from having a religion running a public institution. So if an Islamic organization was in charge of this school and it was publicly funded, that would be a violation of that separation.
There is nothing wrong teaching Arabic…or Spanish…or French…or whatever. It’s good providing other languages for children to learn in addition to English because it will help them later on in the work force. But the thing I think people forget here is that we are a melting pot. I’m not against having traditions. But my ancestors who immigrated here didn’t want to create division, so they learned English and did their best to no longer define themselves as “Germans” or “Irish” or “Polish.” They were “Americans.” Being American doesn’t mean ignoring your roots, but living free and in peace with each other. Now that is a rather idealistic comment, but normally…if you were to put the different groups of people we have here together back in their original countries, there would be violence. Like this one instance of a gang shootout at the Mall of America back in the 90′s. The two gangs were mortal enemies back in the country they came from, and when they ran into each here they did what they normally would have done. Fortunately they got stopped before too much happened…but that’s my point.
But going back to the school, I think it is hard for people to support a school that is Arabic because that culture is closely knit with Islam in many cases. And Islam is right now closely associated with terrorism. Like PreciousOnyx said, their first principal had to leave because she was a part of a group that supported terrorism. So I can see the potential for Islam to permeate the school’s teachings…but I guess it will depend on who they hire.
Boy, are you behind the times. This school has been in the works for awhile and will be opening this fall.
You should be aware that there are lots of “themed” public high schools in New York City. There are high schools for law, medical science, the arts, social justice, journalism, math, teaching, nursing, finance. I think these are fine and are actually a good idea.
However, I believe publicly funded school with a theme of studies of a specific culture OR religion is dangerous, and this is the first school I know of that has this particular theme. I hear that in Florida there is a similarly public funded school for Jewish studies. I also think that is a bad idea. It’s one thing to have a few classes in the Arabic culture and language in a public school. It’s quite another to have the entire school aimed toward that culture and language. It will create an entire group of children who will have more sympathy for extreme thoughts that come from those cultures. Just as the Arabic school may create kids who sympathize “jihad” ideology, the Jewish school may foster extreme-right Zionist ideals as well (not much safer in my book).
“Schools of culture” and “schools of religion” should not be publicly funded. Different cultures should of course be taught in public schools. But an entire school dedicated to any culture but the American one – or to any specific religion – should not be receiving public funding.
There is something else that worries me. Many of the kids attending that high school will be black and Hispanic. If this school turns out to be as feared some kind of school for radical islamic ideas, these groups will be particularly vulnerable. Radical islam is that kind of viciously parasitic ideology that would fester and grow within a group of students who already may feel at the bottom of society. Likely the teachers and school itself won’t teach these things. But this is just the sort of atmosphere where these kinds of sympathies can easily spread unchecked among the students.
I have no issue with public school classes being taught about Arabic culture or language. I do have a problem with an entire school funded by public funds being taught in a language other than English (Chinese schools are privately funded, btw) because I believe that just leads to more fragmentation of American society. The students at this school (or even the Jewish school that is being proposed.. which even as a Jew, I disagree with) will become insulated which could lead to issues like those in France where groups are so divided that its leads to violence.
Nothing wrong with it, but I’d say no, just because I think public schools should teach in English as much as possible.
No. America may be a melting pot of different cultures and religions, but allowing a school to cater specifically to Arabs who refuse to integrate will only bring the economy down lower. These people need to learn American values and English if they want to survive here. If they want their own culture and language to be spoken in schools, they should go back where they came from because we certainly don’t want them here.
If the Feds allow funding of a school like this, I can guarentee angry citizens will eventually firebomb the school or execute students as they walk into school. It’ll be like the ’60s again when blacks had to be protected under National Guard to enter a public school. Why should we go through this again?
Plus, religion is a big part of the Arab culture. If we allowed the school to open, then all things associated with religion would have to be removed such as head scarves and Qu’ran which many Arabs carry. And then there is a question of integration of men and women. Men think they are superior to the women, so would it be kept separate? To do so would make this country take a giant step backwards.
Whoa, cornflakegirl stopped smoking her crack and said something sensible! That makes sense; I just got a call form hell notifying me that it has frozen over.
Note however that this school won’t just cater to Arabic students and in fact most of the students enrolling will not be Arab or Muslim, although I still don’t think the school is a good idea.
RYC: I do understand that directors have to change things cause its summer. But the reason she is never pulled out is cause she complains too much but when shes left alone with the 12 kids she complains that shes overwhelmed and cant handle it. So doesnt it make more sense to take her out? She only had nine kids and they were outta control. I just feel shes with the wrong age group
Whoever just compared Arabic to Klingon is an ignorant moron.
Yes, the government should support such a school. If Americans actually knew something about Islamic culture, the ignorant ones wouldn’t have so much hate.
Heck yes. The U.S. should do all it can to educate children about other cultures so they don’t become afraid of them when the media blows something out of proportion.
Uh, yeah! Saying that teaching Arabic includes teaching radical islam is just ignorant.
So, that’s one person out of what? Millions? Don’t take one person and put that as the spokesperson for an entire religion. You fucking retard.
“WTH is wrong with the world. Maybe if America fucking knew a bit more about different cultures, we’d have a bit less hate.”
Hehe, I found the hatefulness of that comment amusing.
Ideally, I don’t really have a problem with this. I guess it could be abused, but so can a lot of things.
Why not? Arabic is a beautiful language. Learning it does not make you a radical muslim! Does learning German make you a Nazi? I think not.
AND, there IS a difference between Radical Islam and Islam in general. Very few Islamic people have extremist views. It’s those extremists that pressure and threaten other muslims to work for them.
Sure, you could argue that they don’t like us. But most of them are probably as ignorant about our culture as most of us are about theirs.
It might actually help us in the war on terror to learn more about Arab culture and the language. Be able to speak Arabic right now is a skill that is highly sought after by the United States government agencies.
Why the hell SHOULDN’T they?
It would be an interesting thing to learn about.
“More stupidity or laziness than racism. Due to the gravity of its attatched stigma, I don’t think the brand of “racism” is one to toss around flippantly.”
Well, would I classify people saying “All blacks live off welfare and eat friend chicken”, “All asians are nerdy and short”, “All Mexicans mow lawns, pick fruit, and load their trucks up with cheap furniture”, “All Persians are sneaky/cheap in business deals”, “All Indians are tech support workers”, “All Native Americans own casinos”, as “laziness”? No, I would classify it as racism. But it’s possible that laziness lead to racism.
NO, just like they’re not supposed to fund ANY religious schooling.
no
Sure, when they open Christian schools and teach Western values.
Of course!
Ignorant assholes!
Some schools teach Russian or Chinese, it doesn’t mean they teach communism!
I’m an Arab but I’m 100% Christian.
I’m not going to break into your homes, force you to read the Koran, denounce Christ, and blow you up.
All Muslims believe in different things, just like all Jews, all Hinduists, all Buddhists, and of course, Christians. Certain religions DO have denominations.
You CAN seperate Race and Religion with Arabs, people!
TheLion InWinter:
yes, race and religion can and are separated, however that is NOT the case with this school, yes it will teach Arabic, which in itself is not at all the problem. the problem is that it will teach Islam (go to onenewsnow.com and go through their archives from the last month- there have been several reports about this school and its questionable leadership) and receive public funding from the government in a country that has made a specific divide in the areas of church and state. that is the ONLY issue here
I think it is a great idea since news thinks that they are all going to blow up soon anyway.
No. If they were in an Arab country, so be it. If it was a private school, that’s okay. To misappropriate tax dollars for a school like this is unconstitutional. It is exclusive to one community. Not everyone in the communty will gain benefits from it. In short, it shows favoritism by the government to one ethnic group and not to the whole community. Some might be able to say the government is endorsing religion, because Islam is very much the foundation of the Arab culture.
If this was a private school, I would have no problem with it whatsoever.
Yes. We should open ourselves up tyo the languages and cultures of the world, perhaps then we could understand other culture’s motives better and move towards a more peaceful world. We should dop this for countless other languages and countries.
The Arab world and Islam are one and the same. Why are we paying for this? The libs are the biggest bunch of hypocrites ever. Now that they have eradicated Christianity from public schools, they want to replace it with Islam. They could not pick a culture that does not hate the west. They are not about tolerance or diversity or any of those nice words they are using to cover their real agenda. They are the enemies of our nation, and they are the enemies of Christ. Lets call a spade a spade. This is all coming to a head. If the Christians dont speak up, eventually (and maybe not in our lifetime), we will be an Islamic state. Ladies, get ready to cover up, to your eyeballs. And, everybody get ready for beheadings, and stonings, and no more xanga……
Some comments on here sadden me, I didn’t know people could be so ignorant.
I’m an Arab Christian. I don’t hack off my sister’s clit and my mom isn’t covered from head to toe, and I have absolutely no intentions of bombing an place on earth. It’s people who propensiate the stereotypes we’ve been subjected to.
If someone took the time to teach Arabic culture, maybe there would be less ignorant people.
I think this is as bad an Idea as Maryland PBS prepairing to have a Spanish Tv channel. If private funding is used, I don’t mind, but not public, which could be used for other things.