# Should American Students Get Islamic Holidays Off from School? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 4, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215 "2015-03-04T18:58:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/101 "2015-03-09T04:16:22Z")
> [@Grotonian](#): > > Educationally sound = attendance, local history (I’d close NYC schools every 11th of September), state holiday, federal holiday, conferences, professional development, or balancing the semesters. > > Educationally unsound = one religion will be selected to “reflect diversity” on days they don’t miss school anyway. Apparently, they do miss school. From [a 2013 article](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election/de-blasio-lhota-close-schools-muslim-holidays-article-1.1488189): > [@](#): > > The city’s school calendar currently has 13 days off for kids, including the Rosh Hashana Jewish New Year and Good Friday. > > Since the current school calendar includes no Muslim holidays, many parents who practice the faith are forced to keep their kids home from school on their holy days. > > When Muslims celebrated Eid Al-Adha on Tuesday this week, the citywide attendance rate dipped to 87 percent, far lower than the average of 97 percent for most school days. > > Last Tuesday, the average attendance rate was 93 percent ---
**Author:** ![butterfiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@butterfiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butterfiles)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/102 "2015-03-09T06:59:07Z")
I am a Muslim from New York. You are wrong about the Eid holiday and the worship requirements for Muslims. The two Eid prayer services are held the morning of each holiday and attendance is very important. It is a family affair at the mosque. Ramadan ending the day before at sundown has nothing to do with it. That is when we eat, not when Eid prayer service is held. I think the closest equivalent of the Eid and its importance to Muslims would be a Jewish high holy day. On Eid, you see loads of people not regularly in attendance at mosque: from busy working professionals, women with small children, down to every Ahmed, Maryam, and their nanas. And that is still not everyone. To demonstrate its importance, you might note that in Muslim fiqh (jurisprudence), and by tradition, attendance at the mosque is considered required even for females who are normally excused from the requirement to attend mosque prayers, such as on Fridays. (Does not mean women don’t go on fridays; we do but are not required to). As a result a typical NY mosque will hold 3-4 prayer services the holiday morning just to accommodate the extra people, or will hold one or two services for large crowds at an outdoor space or convention center. I think what you read about a four day holiday could be more about the celebrations which typically last days especially in countries with a majority Muslim population. In that case, everything but hospitals etc shuts down for about a week. As I mentioned previously, NY schools have been making accommodations with regard to tests and attendance on Eid days for some now. I think this is a case in which the politics finally caught up with what makes sense. But I don’t like DiBlasio. > [@Grotonian](#): > > As far as I know, all Christians can attend evening Ash Wednesday services. AND all Muslims can attend their religious services outside of school hours. Ramadan ends at sundown and the other holiday is some 4-day celebration, according to our friends at Wikipedia. > > So it has nothing to do with attendance and everything to do with pandering to one group, just like DeBlasio said. There is no “in the best interests of students, teachers, and schools.” It’s “in the best interest of getting DeBlasio Muslim votes.” > > If DeBlasio had a sound reason, I’d support it. He does not and I do not. ---
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/103 "2015-03-09T07:06:19Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Apparently, they do miss school. From [a 2013 article](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election/de-blasio-lhota-close-schools-muslim-holidays-article-1.1488189): Yes, it appears they do. Apparently at a rate of about 6-10%. If the 10% is accurate, DeBlasio should publicize that, rather than his diversity nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![MorphinePoet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morphinepoet/32/7315_2.png) [@MorphinePoet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MorphinePoet)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/104 "2015-03-09T07:26:58Z")
In a secular country, schools should not close for any religious holiday. There could be some consideration and allowance given to students of any faith to be absent on religious holidays, but this should not affect the school system as a whole, and no, the line should not be drawn at Christianity due to the large number of its adherents, because this would definitely cause unnecessary trouble with followers of other religions. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/105 "2015-03-09T07:29:26Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Are you from New York. Lots of businesses are closed on Yom Kippur and I can assure you that any manager who tried to make a religiously observant Jew work on Yom Kippur barring extreme circumstances would be in serious legal trouble. Half the Montgomery Mall in Montgomery, Alabama is closed for Yom Kippur! ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/106 "2015-03-09T10:07:14Z")
> [@Grotonian](#): > > No, NYC Christians have to miss school for Ash Wednesday services. School is not cancelled for them. Red herring. Ash Wednesday has never been a day that people took off work, not even in the heart of Catholic Europe decades and centuries ago. Ash Wednesday has always, in my experience, been a school day at Catholic schools. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/107 "2015-03-09T10:08:48Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > When did Great Debates become a forum for “off-hand” remarks? It has always included off-hand remarks. Unfortunately, it has also always included incessant and off-topic nitpicking. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/108 "2015-03-09T10:14:48Z")
> [@MorphinePoet](#): > > In a secular country, schools should not close for any religious holiday. There could be some consideration and allowance given to students of any faith to be absent on religious holidays, but this should not affect the school system as a whole, and no, the line should not be drawn at Christianity due to the large number of its adherents, because this would definitely cause unnecessary trouble with followers of other religions. Nope. School is not a 260 day per year event. Since there are already 80 week days each year in which children do not go to school, and, since it is more disruptive to have portions of each class drop out for various days, (adjusting lesson plans, making up course work or finding alternative ways to hear lectures, time that then takes away from the time devoted to other students), it makes much more sense, when there are significant segments of each class who will be absent, to simply fit specific holidays into the overall schedule, as long as all the students will be expected to attend for 180 days. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/109 "2015-03-09T10:17:51Z")
> [@Grotonian](#): > > Yes, it appears they do. Apparently at a rate of about 6-10%. If the 10% is accurate, DeBlasio should publicize that, rather than his diversity nonsense. The nonsense is not his use of rthe word, but your perseveration that it bothers you. Providing for the needs of a diverse student body among which diverse groups have different holidays is, in your odd view, bad, simply because he used the word diversity. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/110 "2015-03-09T11:30:09Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > The nonsense is not his use of rthe word, but your perseveration that it bothers you. Providing for the needs of a diverse student body among which diverse groups have different holidays is, in your odd view, bad, simply because he used the word diversity. I’m wondering if the bit bugging people so much about these particular days off is the word _diversity_ or the words _Muslim_ and _Islam_. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/111 "2015-03-09T12:12:35Z")
I once taught at a secondary school in an area of London with a lot of Muslims (this school was about 75% Muslim) and it didn’t give Eid off. Come Eid, we’d have all the Muslim students off school, with permission, a few non-Muslim students in, bitterly resenting their attendance when half their friends were off, and numerous non-Muslim students off because why shouldn’t they when most of their classmates were, but there’s would go down as unauthorised non-attendance, which looked bad for the kids and the school. And the likelihood of teaching anything that day? Not very high. The school gave Eid off the next year. Two Eids, usually, now, actually, but they started with the Eid for Ramadan. TBF, Eids can be more difficult to schedule than some other days off, because they’re on the lunar calendar but not fixed to a day of the week and not predicted long in advance (Easter celebrations are also on the lunar calendar, but fixed to a day of the week and predictable centuries in advance), but over the past few years schools have got better at working around it somehow. If we moved out to Kent or something the odds are the schools would be open at Eid. Muslim students would have permission to be off that day, but they would be in small enough numbers that you could teach a full class and just catch up with the one or two students who missed it, because that’s the sort of the thing you have to deal with now and then anyway. If a school were in an area where 20% of the students were Wicca or Pagan or whatever and had a main feast day where kids were expected to attend all day, and that had applied for more than just one year, then it would be reasonable to extend a school closure day to Wikka/etc too. It’s just practicalities and shouldn’t be a big deal at all. The number of school days per year is the same; this just about maximising the number of students per school day. ---
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/112 "2015-03-09T23:10:07Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > The nonsense is not his use of rthe word, but your perseveration that it bothers you. Providing for the needs of a diverse student body among which diverse groups have different holidays is, in your odd view, bad, simply because he used the word diversity. Perhaps I’m just not understanding the word “diverse”. In the interest of fighting ignorance, perhaps you’d like to enlighten me. Dictionaries list it as synonymous with “difference,” but that’s not how DeBlasio used it. (Obviously, there are already countless differences among the students of NYC. There is no need to “reflect differences” in NYC of all places.) Nor is it how you seem to use it when you accuse me of opposition to “diversity.” How could you possibly know whether I like “differences” or not? What does it even mean? Apparently, you and DeBlasio think traits inhere in groups, not in individuals. Therefore, a school with 2,000 Christians “lacks diversity.” Those 2,000 kids from different homes, backgrounds, socio-economic statuses, interests, and abilities are not “diverse”. As YOUR example suggests, what matters are “diverse groups,” not diverse individuals. Why the focus on groups over individuals whenever there’s talk of diversity? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/113 "2015-03-09T23:23:10Z")
“We’re going to start closing school on days that individuals who might identify as Muslim (but that’s not a group and they are totally still individuals) might choose to be absent from school en masse (but it’s just a coincidence) in order to show that we’re aware that such individuals (who are totally not group members) might individually and discretely choose, without any influence from any larger collection of individuals, to take actions which other individuals might not. And we’re going to identify these closing days as Day Zippy and Day Handshake.” ---
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/114 "2015-03-09T23:44:11Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > “We’re going to start closing school on days that individuals who might identify as Muslim (but that’s not a group and they are totally still individuals) might choose to be absent from school en masse (but it’s just a coincidence) in order to show that we’re aware that such individuals (who are totally not group members) might individually and discretely choose, without any influence from any larger collection of individuals, to take actions which other individuals might not. And we’re going to identify these closing days as Day Zippy and Day Handshake.” “In the interest of reflecting diversity, because that’s what school calendars should do, we will now be closing on two more, but “diverse”, Christian holidays, Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday.” And the liberals all cheered, “Yay! Diversity!” ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/115 "2015-03-09T23:54:18Z")
> [@Grotonian](#): > > “In the interest of reflecting diversity, because that’s what school calendars should do, we will now be closing on two more, but “diverse”, Christian holidays, Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday.” > > And the liberals all cheered, “Yay! Diversity!” Ah, yes, the country and western style of diversity. What amuses me is how often liberals get accused of political correctness, but you are throwing a fit because someone used a word you don’t like. We can call them persons of Islam if that would make you feel better. ---
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/116 "2015-03-10T00:34:30Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Ah, yes, the country and western style of diversity. Wait, so “diverse” doesn’t simply mean “different”? So what does it mean? What’s the non-country-and-western style of diversity? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/117 "2015-03-10T03:35:15Z")
> [@Grotonian](#): > > Perhaps I’m just not understanding the word “diverse”. In the interest of fighting ignorance, perhaps you’d like to enlighten me. > > Dictionaries list it as synonymous with “difference,” but that’s not how DeBlasio used it. (Obviously, there are already countless differences among the students of NYC. There is no need to “reflect differences” in NYC of all places.) Nor is it how you seem to use it when you accuse me of opposition to “diversity.” How could you possibly know whether I like “differences” or not? What does it even mean? Discussions work better when you do not try to lay out one’s opponent’s arguments–and get them wrong. I have no idea whether you do or do not oppose diversity. What you clearly are upset about–and what I clearly indicated upset you–was the use of the word diversity. I don’t know where you went to get your “definition,” But the [Merriam-Webster definition](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diversity) is pretty clear: > [@](#): > > diversity > noun di·ver·si·ty \də-ˈvər-sə-tē, dī- > : the quality or state of having many different forms, types, ideas, etc. > > : the state of having people who are different races or who have different cultures in a group or organization > > plural di·ver·si·ties > Full Definition of DIVERSITY > > 1 > : the condition of having or being composed of differing elements : variety; especially : the inclusion of different types of people (as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization \ As used by de Blasio, there is not really any confusion regarding his intent. His statement was neither surprising nor unclear: > [@](#): > > Today we’ll announce the addition of Eid al-Adha & al-Fitr to @NYCSchools holiday schedule, a change that respects the diversity of our city. According to the statement, the diversity already exists. The addition of two specific days off is intended to respect that phenomenon. In recognition that Muslims are a recognizable group within the schools, the school system is going to respect that group by honoring two of their notable holidays in the way that it already respects the groups celebrating Yom Kippur, Rosh Hoshanah, Passover, Good Friday, and Christmas. (Easter, occurring on a Sunday, is not part of the school calendar.) The rest of your post was a rather silly attempt at semantic game-playing. Diversity has a meaning. Playing games by swapping out the word “difference” for “diverse” (_synonyms are often not interchangeable and “diverse” is not the same word as “diversity”_), is just silly. You might want to withdraw that argument before someone confuses you with Todd Starnes of Fox News. ---
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/118 "2015-03-10T05:27:56Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Discussions work better when you do not try to lay out one’s opponent’s arguments–and get them wrong. > > I have no idea whether you do or do not oppose diversity. What you clearly are upset about–and what I clearly indicated upset you–was the use of the word diversity. > > I don’t know where you went to get your “definition,” But the [Merriam-Webster definition](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diversity) is pretty clear:As used by de Blasio, there is not really any confusion regarding his intent. His statement was neither surprising nor unclear:According to the statement, the diversity already exists. The addition of two specific days off is intended to respect that phenomenon. In recognition that Muslims are a recognizable group within the schools, the school system is going to respect that group by honoring two of their notable holidays in the way that it already respects the groups celebrating Yom Kippur, Rosh Hoshanah, Passover, Good Friday, and Christmas. (Easter, occurring on a Sunday, is not part of the school calendar.) > > The rest of your post was a rather silly attempt at semantic game-playing. Diversity has a meaning. Playing games by swapping out the word “difference” for “diverse” (_synonyms are often not interchangeable and “diverse” is not the same word as “diversity”_), is just silly. You might want to withdraw that argument before someone confuses you with Todd Starnes of Fox News. Sorry, I must’ve hallucinated that you wrote, “reflexive opposition to ‘diversity.’” So you didn’t write that? Or you DID write it, but now you only meant the word, not the concept? Read the OP. The stated reason for the change was to “reflect diversity.” There was also a tweet, which did NOT state a reason FOR the change, but did state that the change would “respect diversity.” Are you pretending that you did not see the clearly stated reason FOR the change in the OP? Because if you didn’t you should re-read it. If the OP got the quotation from the story wrong, perhaps a mod could clean it up. Um, no kidding the diversity already exists, that’s why it’s stupid to change the calendar “to reflect it.” I already said that. But thanks for the definition. So diversity is all about group identity and “types of people,” whatever that means. I especially like the modern scientific identification of “different races” that your definition included. Good to know that it is as gauzy a concept as I thought. By the by, I’m not the least bit upset by “diversity,” either as a word or a concept. Diversity sounds awesome to me. I just wouldn’t advocate changing a school calendar to reflect it. I also like athleticism, but I wouldn’t change the school calendar to reflect that, either. Now that the Muslims have their holidays, shouldn’t we all be working toward more important things for the NYC schools, such as getting the gays, Mexicans, and communists their own days? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/119 "2015-03-10T10:42:42Z")
> [@Grotonian](#): > > Sorry, I must’ve hallucinated that you wrote, “reflexive opposition to ‘diversity.’” So you didn’t write that? Or you DID write it, but now you only meant the word, not the concept? I wrote that exactly as you have quoted it, not as you are trying to weasel away from what you wrote. Note that the word I posted is in quotes, indicating that it is the word to which you were objecting, not the concept. > [@Grotonian](#): > > Read the OP. The stated reason for the change was to “reflect diversity.” There was also a tweet, which did NOT state a reason FOR the change, but did state that the change would “respect diversity.” Are you pretending that you did not see the clearly stated reason FOR the change in the OP? Because if you didn’t you should re-read it. If the OP got the quotation from the story wrong, perhaps a mod could clean it up. The “reason for” that has you tied in knots was a reporter’s interpretation of the statement. The actual statement is the mayor’s tweet. > [@Grotonian](#): > > But thanks for the definition. So diversity is all about group identity and “types of people,” whatever that means. I especially like the modern scientific identification of “different races” that your definition included. Good to know that it is as gauzy a concept as I thought. > > By the by, I’m not the least bit upset by “diversity,” either as a word or a concept. Diversity sounds awesome to me. I just wouldn’t advocate changing a school calendar to reflect it. I also like athleticism, but I wouldn’t change the school calendar to reflect that, either. > > Now that the Muslims have their holidays, shouldn’t we all be working toward more important things for the NYC schools, such as getting the gays, Mexicans, and communists their own days? More silly semantic games, with a dash of utter nonsense thrown in to make your argument appear explicitly foolish. I have no idea, now, whether you simply have a reflexive opposition to the word or whether you are trying to use codes to avoid being explicit in your opposition to Muslims. You already posted that you had no objection to different school districts having days off for local celebrations, so your complaint about changing the school calendar contradicts your own posted opinion. As to “getting the gays, Mexicans, and communists their own days,” (aside from the various prejudices that expression demonstrates), they are not cultural groups with their own recognized holidays in the U.S. Objecting to (or sarcastically dismissing) the addition of Muslim holidays to the calendar when Christians’ and Jews’ holidays are already recognized is, at best, odd. In either event, whether you simply have a knee-jerk reaction when you encounter the word “diversity” or whether you are actually opposed to recognizing Islam in the schools, you have put forth no substantive reason to oppose the addition to the calendar. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/120 "2015-03-10T15:42:08Z")
> [@Grotonian](#): > > Sorry, I must’ve hallucinated that you wrote, “reflexive opposition to ‘diversity.’” So you didn’t write that? Or you DID write it, but now you only meant the word, not the concept? This is really funny. Or maybe that’s “funny.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215.md?page=7)