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stephanie
03-14-2007, 01:48 PM
Comments Directed At Muslims
March 12, 2007
By TRACY GORDON FOX, Courant Staff Writer COLCHESTER -- Caitlin Dean was raised not to discriminate against others because of their race or religion. But as a white suburban teen of Italian and Irish descent, she often wondered what it would be like to be the target of such abuse.

She found out "behind the burqa."

The 15-year-old freshman volunteered with a few other students to wear traditional Muslim clothing to school for an entire day in February after a Middle Eastern Studies teacher at Bacon Academy announced that she was looking for students to promote her class by wearing the garb. Caitlin covered her slender frame and short brown hair with a periwinkle burqa, which concealed her face.

The hateful and abusive comments she endured that day horrified teachers, the teen and many of her classmates. The remarks underscored a persistent animosity toward American Muslims that is driven largely by the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But they also opened up an important dialogue that could help teenagers in Colchester and across the state view the Muslim culture differently.

"Hey, we rape your women!" one upperclassman said as he passed Caitlin in the hallway.

"I hope all of your people die," another sniped.

"You're probably going to kill us all" and "Why do they let people like this in the country?" were other remarks she heard on Feb. 1.

Caitlin's observations that day did not surprise those who work for the Connecticut chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which arrived in the state about three years ago in response to hate crimes and prejudice against Muslims.

Caitlin wrote down 50 comments and names she was called. She did not respond because "I am a freshman. I like to avoid making waves."

But when she saw a friend and a teacher who knew that Caitlin was the person under the burqa, she broke down in a classroom.

"I started crying," Caitlin said. "There is way too much prejudice."

The lack of understanding of Islam and of the many of the cultures that contribute to a worldwide population of more than 1 billion Muslims is something Rabia Chaudry, a spokeswoman for CAIR, planned to raise with the state Department of Education when she meets with officials in a few weeks.

Now she plans to use Colchester as a positive example in terms of discussing prejudice and raising awareness of the Muslim culture.

"I think what this teacher has done is exactly what schools should be doing," Chaudry said.

None of the students were singled out for discipline because no formal complaints were made.

"It's unacceptable," Superintendent Karen Loiselle said. "It's imperative students who are victims of those comments report them immediately and it will be taken very seriously. In this case, it has opened an important conversation."

Chaudry agreed and said her group would like to send representatives to meet with students in Colchester and other communities, to hold town meetings to talk about their feelings about Muslims, the war and terrorism.

At Bacon Academy, the experience has already made a difference. Teacher Angie Parkinson, who had only 12 students enrolled in her Middle Eastern Studies classes for next year, now has 48.

A partial list of the comments to Caitlin - some were not printable - appeared in the student newspaper, the Bacon Courier, along with a front-page story headlined, "Some at Bacon Fail the Test of Tolerance."

Caitlin called it "The Girl Behind the Burqa."
In the days that followed, teachers and students at Bacon Academy discussed tolerance of other cultures. There was already a Gay-Straight Alliance at the school with some openly gay members, a save Darfur group and a diversity committee.

Chris Anderson, a senior at Bacon who also wore some of the traditional Muslim clothing to school and also was the target of ethnic slurs, said educators are not trying hard enough to expose students to other cultures. He criticized school leaders for replacing world studies in middle school with more American history.

"The prejudice displayed at Bacon Academy is proof enough that education about world cultures cannot be ignored," he said. "The misunderstood are feared and hated."

CAIR is dedicated to promoting better understanding of Islam and Muslims through public education and interfaith cooperation and to defend American Muslims' civil and human rights, according to its website.

Chaudry said she is not surprised to hear how some students reacted to the burqas and other Middle Eastern outfits.

"I wear a regular head scarf and I get those reactions in public as well. I think people are confusing terrorists with Muslims," she said. "They don't understand the distinction because they don't understand the religion."

Parkinson, who has traveled to the Middle East and wants to participate in a teacher exchange with Saudi Arabia, said she is on a mission to have other cultures, particularly those in the Middle East, better represented in school curriculums.

"That happens to be my personal crusade," she said. "And I think we should start it sooner. It should be taught in elementary school.

"My fear of this hatred of Islam is that it will become synonymous with patriotism," Parkinson said. "We are a nation of immigrants. Some of the most disturbing comments were, `This is America. Go home.'"

In her class, Parkinson spends weeks explaining the history of the Middle East before she broaches the Iraq war.

"It takes weeks and weeks to understand the background," Parkinson said.

There are plenty of examples of other incidents around the state that have not led to productive discussions, including a Muslim boy in New Haven County who was beaten up and called Osama Bin Laden, Chaudry said.

Many other incidents go unreported, she said. "I think a lot of times, [Muslims] just internalize it and go on."

Contact Tracy Gordon Fox at tfox@courant.com.
http://www.courant.com/news/education/hc-burqa0312.artmar12,0,3126355.story?page=2

LiberalNation
03-14-2007, 01:51 PM
Well that does kinda happen in a school when you dress different. We have a foreign exchange student from Turkey and he got into a fight defending himself against assholes saying is country sucks ect. He actually looks white though, it wasn't the clothes for him but his accent.

stephanie
03-14-2007, 02:57 PM
Well that does kinda happen in a school when you dress different. We have a foreign exchange student from Turkey and he got into a fight defending himself against assholes saying is country sucks ect. He actually looks white though, it wasn't the clothes for him but his accent.

You don't see anything wrong with this experiment that this girl did??

5stringJeff
03-14-2007, 03:03 PM
Frankly, I can't bring myself to trust Muslims any more, because every Muslim has become a potential terrorist.

KitchenKitten99
03-14-2007, 03:07 PM
Well that does kinda happen in a school when you dress different. We have a foreign exchange student from Turkey and he got into a fight defending himself against assholes saying is country sucks ect. He actually looks white though, it wasn't the clothes for him but his accent.

First question: What race & religion were the 9/11 hijackers? Last I checked, they weren't white.
Second question: Where are the Muslim leaders condemning the way that Islam is portrayed with the suicide bombers and even the plans to attack Britain that were thwarted?
Third Question: When we are constantly hearing "Death To America" from these peoples' mouths and no one from their group stands up, what else are the majority supposed to do? Accept it when they have been welcomed in this country, then spit on everything we have worked for by crying racism at every turn?

These reactions to muslims don't surprise me. What would surprise me is hearing a voice-any voice- in their community published or broadcast in MSM condemning the actions of the ones committing them. I won't hold my breath.

stephanie
03-14-2007, 03:11 PM
My point is...

Just what does the burqa represent...in the Muslim world...

Yet, this girl sees nothing wrong with doing this experiment...

And then in chimes CAIR, as saying it's us here in the United States who are bigoted......

Nukeman
03-14-2007, 04:01 PM
lets reverse the roll here and put an American teenage girl dressed in western clothing in an Islamic school! I bet you a million to one she gets the same type of treatment or worse.

I have a friend who used to work in Saudi Arbia, she lived in the compound for Americans, every morning her and some of her girlfriends would go jogging around the inside perimeter and sure enough every morning there were dozens of "pious Islamic men" jerking off in front of them.

They think our women are nothing more than a bunch of dirty sluts!!

CAIR is nothing more than a terrorist front in the US. They are here to make it all look like its our fault

:salute:

LiberalNation
03-14-2007, 05:08 PM
You don't see anything wrong with this experiment that this girl did??

No not at all. it gave her a prespective on what it is like as a muslim female in school. It's good to walk in other peoples shoes and gives you greater understanding.

LiberalNation
03-14-2007, 05:10 PM
First question: What race & religion were the 9/11 hijackers? Last I checked, they weren't white.
Second question: Where are the Muslim leaders condemning the way that Islam is portrayed with the suicide bombers and even the plans to attack Britain that were thwarted?
Third Question: When we are constantly hearing "Death To America" from these peoples' mouths and no one from their group stands up, what else are the majority supposed to do? Accept it when they have been welcomed in this country, then spit on everything we have worked for by crying racism at every turn?

Fourth, should we sterotype all muslims even American muslims for the actions of a few. That is racist.

LiberalNation
03-14-2007, 05:12 PM
lets reverse the roll here and put an American teenage girl dressed in western clothing in an Islamic school! I bet you a million to one she gets the same type of treatment or worse.
Shouldn't we like set ourselves to a higher standard than Saudi Arabia/the ME. If not we would be as bad/worse than them.

5stringJeff
03-14-2007, 05:24 PM
Fourth, should we sterotype all muslims even American muslims for the actions of a few. That is racist.

Go ahead and play the "racism" card. I'd rather be considered a racist for not trusting Muslims than be dead for erroneously trusting someone whose religion tells them to convert me or kill me.

Gaffer
03-14-2007, 05:38 PM
Dispising muslims is not racist. Muslims come in all colors. There was no racism being displayed in the school. But there was plenty of hatred toward muslims which is a good thing. Needs to be a lot more of it. she now needs to go to a muslim country and try going to school as she normally dresses for her school. She would be called names, assaulted and beheaded before the day was over.

Hope she enjoyed her burka cause if the muslims get their way she will have to wear it daily.

Nienna
03-14-2007, 05:41 PM
....AND wasn't it Iran spouting off about the conspiracy in America to make Islam look bad? Nope, our press is bending over backward to make them seem innocent, and yet, still they shout, "Death to Infidels!"

LiberalNation
03-14-2007, 06:07 PM
Go ahead and play the "racism" card. I'd rather be considered a racist for not trusting Muslims than be dead for erroneously trusting someone whose religion tells them to convert me or kill me.
lol yeah some high school female Muslim students likely to kill, yeah right. There as peaceable as anyone else in this country and so is Islam as a religion. Even the Christian religion taken to the extreme can be bad but when it’s not, it’s not.

LiberalNation
03-14-2007, 06:10 PM
Dispising muslims is not racist.
Okay it makes you a bigot not a racist. My mistake.

5stringJeff
03-14-2007, 06:11 PM
lol yeah some high school female Muslim students likely to kill, yeah right. There as peaceable as anyone else in this country and so is Islam as a religion. Even the Christian religion taken to the extreme can be bad but when it’s not, it’s not.

The Bible doesn't instruct Christians to kill non-believers if they refuse to convert. The Quran does. Therefore, every Muslim who follows the Quran is a potential jihadist, and I refuse to trust them. Not based on their skin color, but based on their chosen religion.

LiberalNation
03-14-2007, 06:14 PM
Christian have been known to bomb abortion clinic and kill abortion doctors. Should we act bigoted towards all of them for the actions of a few extremists.

gabosaurus
03-14-2007, 07:20 PM
Frankly, I can't bring myself to trust Muslims any more, because every Muslim has become a potential terrorist.

The same students can get an education in bigotry by reading boards like this one. Not to mention lessons in racism and intolerance.

stephanie
03-14-2007, 07:40 PM
The same students can get an education in bigotry by reading boards like this one. Not to mention lessons in racism and intolerance.

:lol: Yeah...coming from the oh so tolerant one...
And you calling other people racist and bigots, is quite laughable also...

:lame2:

5stringJeff
03-14-2007, 10:12 PM
Christian have been known to bomb abortion clinic and kill abortion doctors. Should we act bigoted towards all of them for the actions of a few extremists.

The huge difference is that Christian churches, Christian leaders, and Christian laypeople all renounced such bombings when they occurred and condemn such actions in general, because they are not Biblically based actions. The Quran specifically instructs Muslims to convert infidels or kill them.

CSM
03-15-2007, 06:58 AM
No not at all. it gave her a prespective on what it is like as a muslim female in school. It's good to walk in other peoples shoes and gives you greater understanding.

True enough. Which young lady is going to volunteer to go to a Muslim country as a white Christian female? How about THAT for an experiment? I bet we get some understanding from that!