Islamophobia causes 72% rise in help requests in US public schools

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
9 May 10:58

CAIR-MA said it received a 33% increase in calls about hate crimes or harrassment.

Demonstrators take part in a protest against Islamophobia in New York City's Times Square in 2019. (AFP)

Islamophobia in public schools in the State of Massachusetts resulted in an alarming increase of requests for help from both Muslim parents and students by 72%, a recently released report issued by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) says.

Describing the mistreatment of Muslim schoolchildren as "pervasive" and a "systemic problem," the report titled Meeting Changing Needs reads, "While we saw a decrease in requests for help concerning issues that typically affect adults, such as employment and housing discrimination, there was an alarming 72% increase in requests for help from parents and students experiencing an Islamophobia crisis in their public schools."

"Muslim boys typically complained of being unfairly disciplined, which they suspect is due to their Muslim identities, while Muslim girls reported that their schools failed to protect them from relentless bullies targeting them and their hijab. Both are pervasive and systemic problems," it added.

In the year 2022, CAIR-MA said it received 124 requests for help, which marked a 24% decrease compared to the year prior, according to the report.

It further revealed "a disturbing 33% increase in calls about hate crimes and harassment" despite that a steady decrease was recorded over the past half-decade.

Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, the Executive Director of CAIR-MA, highlighted the importance of education and its role in building a peaceful society, noting that the report reveals some distressing experiences that Muslim children in Massachusetts experience on a daily basis.

"We will continue to equip parents with needed tools to communicate with school administrators and to empower our young people to organize and advocate for proactive policies in their schools," Amatul-Wadud says.

On April 28, The Independent reported that former US President Donald Trump plans to reinstate a travel ban on Islamic nations if he is elected president in 2024.

"I will restore my travel ban to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of our country," Trump said in New Hampshire a day earlier.

"You saw what happened. Four years… You saw that right? We were very tough on that. We don't want our buildings blown up."

On another note, Islamophobia also has been increasing at alarming levels across Europe, notably in Nordic states where copies of the Quran were burned several times and Islamic schools were shut down by governments.