International Day for Tolerance

What does this day mean to you?
This was the first year I ackowledged it, even though the issue of tolerance is a recurring theme in politics and in life in general.
This post first appeared on
African Writing Blogs .


What tolerance means in child speak

Yesterday was the United Nations’ International Day for Tolerance. It probably would have gone unnoticed for me were it not for the fact that I found myself at a dinner party themed around this very day. Our hostess had invited a very diverse group of people - French, Francophone African, Anglophone African, Brazilian, Syrian, American...truly representative of the kind of society the UN wants us to espouse. Discussions ranged from peoples’ views of what tolerance meant to them, to debates about whether the word tolerance could be substituted for by other words like respect and understanding. Overwhelmingly it seemed that for many, the word respect, encompassed a great deal more than the word tolerance did.

With increasing reports about a growing racial intolerance  in France and Europe in general – a trend attributed to growing economic insecurity - I recently  had  to explain to my seven-year old son what intolerance means, this after seeing yet another report on attacks on immigrants in some part of Europe. My  explanation to this complicated subject was in seven-year old speak: people can sometimes be very ugly, and often do ugly, mean and hurtful things because they do not respect or understand other people or their opinions. His response to my simplified definition of intolerance: Oh, kinda like calling someone the s-word (stupid) because they don’t like Minecraft? (Minecraft being his favourite computer game). Actually, exactly like that.

I, too, would rather the word tolerance be done away with. Its definition falls short of its well-intended meaning. To me it implies a caveat of dislike : I do not like your  political viewpoint, race, religion, or sexual orientation, but I will nonetheless endure them. Why not let the premise be about respect:  I have due regard for your opinions and your choices, even though I may not understand them. Or from the mouth of my teenage daughter:  Hey, do whatever works, I won’t be judgy.

What does tolerance mean to you?