Board officials met Friday to discuss the fate of suspended sixth-grader Nashala “Tallah” Hern, who was asked to leave school in the eastern Oklahoma town of Muskogee on October 1 because she refused to remove her head scarf, called a “hijab.”
School officials instituted a dress code in 1997 prohibiting the wearing of hats and other head coverings indoors. Officials said they implemented the code to stem gang-related activity. Hern declined to remove her hijab, saying it would violate the way she observes her religion.
Officials at the school, the Ben Franklin Science Academy, previously summoned Hern to the office on September 11 to inform her she was no longer allowed to wear the scarf. She had worn it since the school year started a few weeks earlier.
A school attorney said federal education rules adopted in 1998 do not allow for exceptions for religious beliefs.
“As I see it right now, I don’t think we can make a special accommodation for religious wear,” said school attorney D.D. Hayes. “You treat religious items the same as you would as any other item, no better, no worse. Our dress code prohibits headgear, period.”
This is really very sad. Infringing on people’s beliefs in these ways is only helping to cement the divides between cultures. While America most needs to extend peace and compassion to Muslim peoples, actions like these are what will continue the distrust on both sides.
4 comments on “Muslim girl suspended for head scarf”
That’s so closed minded and, dare I say, retarded of them! MY school allows hats, scarves, etc… she should come here! 😀
Next they’ll be asking me not to wear my pentacle at College. I’ve been asked by a forner teacher not to wear it in her class as it makes her uncomfortable. I put it in my shirt as a sign of respect to her, and she then told me not to wear it period to her class. I then dropped her class and logged a formal complaint. I won, and she was reprimanded. Hooray one small step! Small but good.
~darke
Wow, that’s quite strange that they would try to stop you from wearing even a hidden object. I’ve never really understood those sorts of actions myself. While some of my teachers have overstepped the acceptable level of religion in thier classes, my peers have always been able to be quite open about their own beliefs.
Welcome to California,the place where tings are accepted as long as they don’t affect other people