I confess, like many others, I don’t
usually feel all that privileged. Because I grew up relatively poor among
relatively affluent people, I have typically felt disadvantaged economically. I
paid my own tuition, I paid for my own wedding dress/wedding, I never went to a
restaurant for dinner until college, etc. Religion is another way I frequently
feel silenced. I doubt anyone in my school building knows I’m a Christian,
because I never bring it up. We had a VP who was a pretty vocal Christian, and
I have heard many of my co-workers bash him for his beliefs behind his back.
Its like Christianity is okay only if you aren’t that passionate about it. I
also feel like the very words “Christianity” or “Jesus” are totally taboo to
say aloud, but we make a point of positively talking about the Islamic faith because
we have so many Muslim students and we (rightly) want them to feel comfortable.
Its like, why do I feel totally justified in having multiple books about Ramadan,
etc., on the shelf, but I would feel weird buying a book involving Christianity?
I will say that in my library I’ve done
a really good job having a diverse collection, though. I feel like any child could
come in and see themselves in the characters in the stories. For an emphasis for
my future orders, I feel like handicapped children could be more represented.
