Make April 8 International Friendship Day
April 8, 2013 could be a day to welcome immigrants and people from other nations. My colleague and friend Dr. Mohammad Mahallati, at Oberlin College, wants Congress to declare April 8 International Friendship Day. Mahallati, from a family with generations of Imams, says “difference is a blessing.” He has his hands full at Oberlin due to a rash of recent racial incidents, but he is an optimist. Indeed, we all should be optimists and activists.
Why? One big reason is that our country is facing an unrelenting campaign to demonize immigrants, especially those from Mexico, South and Central America, and the Middle East. This in part is based on fears of the changing demographic backgrounds of the people who make up our society. Fear of new immigrants is nothing new, nor is bigotry, racial strife, or other aspects of anti-immigrant xenophobia. These days there is also an entire industry devoted to spreading false and malicious claims about Muslims.
Xenophobia is one of those words few of us think about; but it just means fear of the stranger or anything we find strange or unfamiliar. We are told by social scientists that as a species we are programmed to face the stranger with a “fight or flight” response.
They leave out the third “F” for friendship. It’s not just a utopian dream; the future of our nation depends on teaching about difference and friendship among people from diverse backgrounds as a practical national policy.
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/14/204512/936/Front_Page/Make_April_8_International_Friendship_Day