Educating Our Teachers — A Community’s Unappreciated Right
by Murali Balaji
by Murali Balaji
Growing up in the Philadelphia suburbs, I was often peppered with questions from both classmates and teachers about my religion. A teacher asked me once if Hindus performed animal sacrifices while numerous classmates — including friends — asked me repeatedly about the caste system, arranged marriage, and reincarnation.
My parents used to feel frustrated by the stories I’d tell them when I came home. But ultimately they felt powerless to do anything about it. Sadly, for my generation of Hindu Americans who grew up in the 1970s, 1980s, and even 1990s, there weren’t too many options in terms of dealing with misinformed teachers or ignorant classmates. Of course, our parents could complain (and they would), but it rarely led to any sort of tangible outcome. As a result, misrepresentations about Hinduism — whether they related to caste, cultural practices such as arranged marriage, or philosophical views such as karma and reincarnation — went unabated and sadly became entrenched in America’s classrooms and textbooks, where they continue to reside.
There are two extremes which may arise when it comes to relationships between Hindu parents and their children’s educators. One is the in-your-face approach and the other is non-confrontational. Much of this could be a result of how some Hindus, particularly those who immigrated from other parts of the world, feel constantly slighted in their workplace environments and in the public sphere, thus making them more sensitive to perceived affronts in the classroom. The latter might be more attributable to many in the post-Gandhi generation who conflate non-confrontation with passivity and do nothing to change misconceptions. Either way, Hindu parents too often end up being more reactive than