I don’t consider myself a racist...
... but I think we have reached the limit now! In Denmark schools have meetings for parents now and again. One school have decided to let only women come for such a meeting this evening... because women will not attend if there are men present. I’m talking about Arabic women. What about the single male parent?
We are a democracy in Denmark, so I think that if muslims want to live their life here, they should try to adapt to the way our society functions. John travelled and worked in foreign countries when he was young, and of course he respected the rules and norms of each country while being there - and even learnt to speak the language. I have seen jounalists from Denmark visiting Arabic countries, and of course they respected the norm and covered their heads with a scarf.
I wonder what your view is on this?
Here’s an article from Copenhagen Post on the subject:
Politicians up in arms over school’s anti-bullying meeting that is aimed only at mothers of pupils
"The decision taken by a Copenhagen school to ban fathers from a parental meeting out of respect for Muslim mothers has drawn deep divides between politicians and school leaders.
Holberg School in the city’s Bispebjerg district has scheduled a meeting for parents about the school’s anti-bullying policy this evening. But the meeting at the multi-cultural school is mothers only, and neither Danish nor immigrant fathers of pupils have been welcomed to attend.
The invitation from the school invites mothers to attend a ‘debate about bullying that includes mother talk, yummy food, coffee and cake’. They are also invited to bring their young children with them if needed, as babysitting will be provided.
School principal Søren Ellesøe told Berlingske Tidende newspaper that the school took the decision in order to reach out to a group of parents who usually don’t attend parent teacher meetings.
‘We have immigrant women parents in particular whose husbands believe that women should not take part in something if other men are present,’ he said.
A questionnaire on the school’s website undertaken by older students showed that a quarter of the school pupils come from a non-Danish ethnic background.
Chairman of the Danish Teachers’ Union, Anders Bondo Christensen, is backing the decision taken by the principal.
‘If it’s to ensure that students get a safe and good school day without bullying then I respect the decision,’ he said.
But politicians are up in arms, most notably Socialist People’s Party leader Villy Søvndal, who is outraged that the fathers’ equality is being ignored out of consideration for some ‘obdurate religious ideas’.
‘I’m simply shocked that a principal at a public school can take such a decision. It was likely undertaken with the best intentions, but it is deeply, deeply damaging,’ Søvndal said.
He is now putting pressure on the deputy mayor for the city council’s children and youth administration Anne Vang to intervene and ensure the meeting is cancelled if fathers are not allowed to attend.
Meanwhile the Danish People’s Party (DF) is going a step further and calling for the principal to be fired if the meeting goes ahead at 5.30pm without any fathers present.
‘We won’t allow immigrant men to set the agenda for how we hold meetings in our schools,’ said DF group chairman at the city council Carl Christian Ebbesen."
