Imagine sitting in a history class on a day just like any other, except today the teacher introduces a new unit: Religion in World History. Most of the students see this as another day of history class, but for two students it is much more than that; it’s about representation.
A Sikh student sits there knowing her religion won’t be accurately depicted in class, realizing that most of the kids in class don’t even know Sikhism is the fifth-largest religion in the world. A Hindu student sits wondering what pronunciation he will have to correct the teacher on today. Both students know that they will be set apart from the rest of their classmates, becoming labeled as different. Both are becoming accustomed to misrepresentation in the traditional American education system.
The modern American history class is a breeding ground for religious misrepresentation, from textbooks claiming minority religions as inferior to students being ignorant about other religions in the first place. Students within that minority group are always the ones that suffer, whether others can tell or not. When asked if she felt judged during the religion unit in history class, a Hindu high school junior from Wisconsin, expressed, “Definitely. Like when we talk about the caste system [the other students will] be like, ‘Why aren’t you a Brahmin, like why aren’t you the highest?’ And I’m like, ‘I can’t really change what I’m born in.’” This just shows the lasting effects of majority ignorance directed towards a minority group. This ignorance can be a direct result of the misrepresentation of minority religions through the textbooks read in classes.
When approaching the topic of Islam through history class, many major textbooks have added false or negative connotations to the religion itself. For example, in the McGraw-Hill School Education-World Geography textbook, a question about Muslim women wearing a Chador (a large cloth that only the face is visible when worn) is posed. The textbook asks what is revealed through the Chador about a woman’s status in Islam and the suggested answer is, “The Chador reveals that even in countries that claim there is equality for women, religious law still hinders women’s rights.” This is factually incorrect because the Chador is not required by Muslim Law and some Western women wear this voluntarily. Therefore, it cannot be said that the wearing of the Chador shows the “hindering of women’s rights” in Islam. If Islamophobia lives inside the textbooks read to students, then how can they be expected to learn that all religions are equal?
This misrepresentation occurs across the board. Sikhism is one of the religions that faces major falsities within history as taught in the US. Sikhism is often approached in history books as a “branch of Islam and Hinduism.” This is completely inaccurate as the Sikh religion is its own faith and was created in the 1500s by its first Guru, Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Sikhism is its own standing religion and has its own beliefs that are not based on any other religion. Many students in the US are still unfamiliar with the Sikh religion, even though it is the 5th largest religion in the world and has millions of followers across the globe. In general, most Americans are hugely uninformed about the Sikh faith, even though it is so populated. This is a direct result of the misinformation spread through Americanized history and incorrect textbooks.
According to the Sikh Coalition, they have corrected 50 factual errors about Sikhs in six major textbooks used in history classes across the nation. Manpreet Kaur, a Sikh attorney in Houston, regards these changes as monumental, saying, “These corrections enable my children and the next generation to have a better chance to share and explain their faith. It also means understanding, which leads to a more conducive learning environment.” Textbooks with false information can not only create a headache for the minority student but clouded knowledge in those students who are not accustomed to that specific religion.
When talking about religions in history class, great care must be taken to not only talk about majority religions but minority groups as well. When talking about major religions, such as Christianity, it is important that teachers take into account that there are students unfamiliar with Christianity even though it is the majority. When asking a Christian junior at a Wisconsin high school, if she had ever felt confused when talking about the Christianity unit in classes she responded with a simple, “Nope.” However, when the Hindu student was asked that same question she replied with, “Definitely. So I feel like a lot of teachers think that most of the school is Christian, so we should know about this and they briefly go over that unit when I don’t really know too much about it.”
Ignorance in classes can encourage acts like bullying and teasing directed towards religious minorities. A study conducted by the Sikh Coalition in 2012 and 2013 found that just over 50% of Sikh children have experienced bullying at school. The number of turbaned Sikhs experiencing bullying was even worse at an alarming 67%. If the students of American public schools are not educated accurately about minority religions, those minorities will continue to endure this bullying and mistreatment.
Some may utter that “ignorance is bliss,” but ignorance was best described through the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” If students are taught that being ignorant towards other religions is acceptable, then the world we live in will soon turn into a plethora of inequality and misinformation.
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