Imagine that you are thirteen years old. You are one of the five or six Muslim students at your public school. Your classmates call you terrorist; they tell you to go back to your country. When you get on the school bus, a bully yanks at your head scarf. One day while you are checking your voice messages, as you usually do, you hear threats from a familiar voice. You hear, “You dog b***h. I want to throw you in front of Guantanamo Bay because you’re a terrorist looking b***h, ok.”
How would you feel? How would you respond?
Unfortunately, this is reality for one Ridley Township student. This eighth grader has been taunted by her peers and even had her hair cut-off by a bully. She publicly talks about her situation in an exclusive NBC-10 interview (video).
CAIR-Philadelphia is handling this civil rights case and will provide updates once it is resolved. However, the larger issue is that there are other young Muslims in our community that are harassed every day because of their religion. As community members, it is our responsibility to support the youth and provide ways of dealing with bulling and confronting harassment.
We are calling on you to take action by requesting a Muslim Youth Leadership Workshop in your neighborhood. CAIR-Philadelphia conducts 2-hour workshops at weekend schools and community centers that teach students how to correctly assert their rights in public school, how to report and deal with bullying and how to get involved in their community.
Our past workshops were very successful. View photos of past MYLPs on Flickr.
For more information on the MYLP or to request a workshop, please contact: Rugiatu Conteh, info@philadelphia.cair.com, 267-515-6710.
MYLP Mobile Workshop, Next Stop:
New Horizons School – April 24, 2011
