Gambian Woman Refuses to let Son Participate in Halloween
0 Comments
Minneapolis, MN – Fatou Diop, a seamstress who made a way for her family to come to America four years ago is plagued by a scourge each year: Halloween.
“We came to Minnesota in September of 2004,” she said. “Just as I had gotten settled and made my house comfortable for my family, we were abused by some small children a month later”.
That “abuse” was in the form of the neighborhood children knocking on her door and chanting “trick or treat!” each time she peered through the opening.
“At first, I thought it was the police coming to shoot us,” she recalls. “I know how these cops like to kill black people. Remember Diallo? Anyway, after the fifth time, I chased the kids from my door with a broom.”
She said it was because they were harassing and threatening her: Either give us a treat (candy) or we’ll trick (punish) you.
Fatou’s eldest son, Bisam, was just 3 years old at the time. Now rising second grader, he too would like to join his friends in the holiday festivities. His mother will have none of it. She balls up her fist and knocks the back of his head when he whispers that he’d like to be a Batman and fight against injustice.
“Do you know how many grandmuba and malan I had to sew to buy tickets to come to America? Eh?!”
She is nearly inconsolable in her tirade.
“I did not bring this boy and his sisters here to dress in costumes, to beg and accost White people for toffee!”
When asked what little Bisam might do as an alternative, Diop suggested he do something constructive and “dress up like an engineer and go and ask Boeing for an internship.”
