Arab American and other Young Muslim Women continue to Face Islamophobic Threats—it’s always about the Hijab
By John Mason / Arab America Contributing Writer
The hijab has become the focus of social and political anger on the part of certain Americans. And while the disrespect of ripping the hijab from Muslim girls and women dates to the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, such a negative sentiment was reinforced under the previous American president as part of his Islamophobic strategy. Now, in these continuing turbulent times, we all need to stand up for the rights of Hijabis.
Not only Rep. Ilhan Omar suffers from Islamophobia—a grassroots trend targets young Hijabis
Transitioning from one, ostensibly Islamophobic president to the next one, who opposes Islamophobia, has not necessarily changed the sociopolitical environment, influencing Americans to be any more receptive to people who have different religious beliefs. The topic is so with us that there is even a website that tracks Islamophobia daily.
One recent report from “Today in Islamophobia,” sponsored by Georgetown University, a report read: “In the United States, hundreds of students from Fairfax High School in Virginia walked out in protest Thursday morning to show their support for a student they say was attacked in an Islamophobic incident.”
What happened to cause this outpouring of student sentiment was an alleged racist attack at a Fairfax County Virginia school on a Muslim Arab student. Several students told Fox channel 5 that on that Tuesday a student shouted racial slurs at the young Somali American female student, then ripping off her hijab. They then say the first student beat up the second before taking off her hijab. After the attacker received only one day of suspension, many the student body decided to protest.
Fairfax students subsequently created a website, Change.org, including a petition that now has over 6,000 signatures. The students stated they wanted to hold the attacking student responsible, one of them saying about the victim, “Her hijab is so important to her. I was talking to her about it, and she, like, felt so bad, so exposed.” That the student who was attacked was also Black and Muslim complicated the matter even further.
Another student, supporting the Hijabi student, expanded the sentiment of her fellow student, suggesting, “Being part of that religion, the hijab is almost like a representative. It’s like it’s very valuable and for her to be exposed, for her to have that one thing that’s protecting her, and having that taken off for everyone to see, it was incredibly damaging for her.” Fortunately, the Fairfax County Public School administration supported the students’ right to protest.
…It’s not only students who strip fellow students of their Hijabs
Tearing a hijab from a student’s head by a fellow student is topped by another story from the same Virginia Fairfax County School system. Only this time it was a teacher who did the deed. There and in other classrooms across the nation, hijabs have become the object among teachers whose social angst is directed at Muslims. News magazine Newsweek reported several years ago a teacher had been placed on leave for removing a student’s hijab.
The young Muslim who was the object of the attack said she had liked her teacher who had ripped off her hijab. She reported that she was talking with a fellow student when the teacher “pulled off her hijab from behind.” To her shock, he then said: “Oh, your hair is so pretty.” The Fairfax School system announced that the incident was “inappropriate and unacceptable” and that during an investigation, the teacher would be placed on leave.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) insisted that disciplinary action needed to be taken against the teacher. CAIR national executive director Nihad Awad averred, “No student should be bullied or attacked because of his or her faith. Teachers must protect students, not subject them to harassment or intimidation,”
Another case of a student having her hijab ripped off occurred near Philadelphia, when a young African American Muslim woman was assaulted at North Penn High School. The 16-year old said she had been jumped by two female students during the holy month of Ramadan. The victim was suspended according to Fox 29 news. She exclaimed, “I don’t understand why it happened. I don’t think anyone does.” A video of the attack posted on Instagram went viral.
“For it to happen, not only to me, but in front of everyone on purpose. It just doesn’t feel right and I’m not okay,” the victim explained. The attack occurred after two white female students spewed hate language at her. The victim was expelled for 10 days because she tried to defend herself. The head of the local NAACP, a Muslim, suggested that the attack was a hate crime. School district officials apologized for the way they handled the case, noting “they could have done a better job in helping [the young woman] retrieve her hijab.”
This kind of disrespect of Muslim girls and women is not new, much of the negative sentiment dating to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and reinforced under the previous American president. In these times of social and political strife, we are unfortunately bound to see more of the same and all Hijabis need to stand up for their rights. All self-respecting Americans should stand up for them as well.
Sources
–“A daily list of headlines about Islamophobia,” the Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University, 12/17/2021
–“Muslim Students Are Getting Their Hijabs Pulled Off by Teachers in Classrooms Across the Nation,” Newsweek, 11/16/17
–“Muslim teen says she had hijab ripped off her head by 2 students at North Penn High School,” Fox 29-News-Philadelphia, 5/6/2021
John Mason, PhD., who focuses on Arab culture, society, and history, is the author of LEFT-HANDED IN AN ISLAMIC WORLD: An Anthropologist’s Journey into the Middle East, New Academia Publishing, 2017. He has taught at the University of Libya, Benghazi, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, and the American University in Cairo; John served with the United Nations in Tripoli, Libya, and consulted extensively on socioeconomic and political development for USAID, Department of State, and the World Bank in 65 countries.
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