Islamophobia rears its head in schools

On Board Online • April 17, 2017

By Eric D. Randall
Editor-in-Chief

In Houston, a teacher recently posted photos of mutilated children on Twitter and commented: "Islam did this."

In a Missouri high school whose motto is "We do things a little better here," students taunted three Muslim girls wearing traditional dress, calling them "terrorists."

In West Virginia, a Muslim high school student scuffled with a group of other students who called him "suicide bomber."

Isolated incidents or evidence of a growing hostility toward Muslims in American society that needs to be recognized and addressed by schools? According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), it's the latter.

A survey of 471 Muslim-American students by CAIR's California affiliate in 2015 found that 50 percent reported being subjected to mean comments and rumors about them because of their religion, and 21 percent reported experiencing some form of cyberbullying. One in 10 reported being physically attacked. (Nationally, about 22 percent of all students report being bullied.)

In 2016, CAIR counted 209 incidents of anti-Muslim bias that targeted students in K-12 schools and colleges, according to Corey Saylor, director of CAIR's Department to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia.

Since November, staff at CAIR have noticed an uptick in reports involving physical attacks. "Following Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election, a number of direct attacks on students - ranging from verbal harassment to physical violence - were recorded," Saylor said.

Especially pronounced were incidents in which female students who wear headscarves were targeted. In the week following the election, there were 17 incidents of female students being threatened, attacked, and their religious attire touched, pulled, or forcibly removed on K-12 and college campuses, Saylor said.

For instance, the day after the presidential election, a high school student in Los Angeles was approached by a male student who grabbed her hair and attempted to rip off her headscarf. The attacker said, "You shouldn't be wearing that, you towelhead. You're not American. This isn't America. This isn't what America stands for."

Saylor praised a few school districts for tackling the issue of Islamophobia in a systematic way. One is the Montgomery County, Md., school system, which has produced a 16-page booklet called "Guidelines for Respecting Religious Diversity." The booklet explains how a variety of school policies can accommodate religious faith, including praying in school under certain circumstances.

"Local school boards have also taken action to address Islamophobia," Saylor added. "Board members of the San Diego Unified District voted unanimously in favor of a plan to address Islamophobia and the bullying of Muslim students, and in Missouri, the Kansas City public school board approved a resolution which condemned violence and hate speech and expressed support for Muslim students."

Mariam Durrani, an expert on Muslim youth and a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, offers suggestions on how schools can begin to combat Islamophobia, including:

• View bullying as a social problem, not an interpersonal one. Children may be influenced by stereotypes that Muslims are terrorists or that Islam is a violent religion. Durrani says educators need to teach students to view media reports with a critical eye.
• Be specific and comprehensive in wording of anti-bullying policies. Policies should clearly state that they won't tolerate harassment based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or immigration status.
• Use academic coursework to develop empathy. Students should understand the historical consequences when otherwise good people have failed to stand up for those who are targeted and vulnerable. To work against stereotypes and a widespread lack of knowledge about Islam, schools should educate students about Islamic history, traditions, and current affairs.

Durrani also suggests teachers and administrators think about "radical hospitality" - a term used in some churches to describe a deliberate effort to overtly welcome individuals of all faiths and cultures.

CAIR is preparing a report that will include recommendations for school administrators and shared it with On Board. In addition to bullying prevention efforts, the draft CAIR report says administrators should:

• Train all staff to establish a welcoming school climate that is supportive of and responsive to all students, regardless of their background.
• Ensure that teachers receive professional training which increases an awareness of Islam, Muslims, and the needs of Muslim students in collaboration with local Muslim community-based organizations and other relevant agencies.
• Train educators in how to teach in classrooms with students from a variety of backgrounds so they can create a non-biased, inclusive learning environment for all students.

"It is important that educators be familiar with the various religious, racial, ethnic, sexual, and gender identities of their students, otherwise they risk marginalizing them," according to CAIR.