Since Osama bin Laden’s death, I’ve seen and heard a lot of ignorant shit. My Facebook newsfeed has been filled with everything from pictures of the Statue of Liberty holding OBL’s bloody head to claims that Obama and OBL are the same person (seriously). Worse than that, I’ve seen and heard people “joke” with Muslims about OBL’s death – “I heard about your boy Osama” and other similar comments. These Muslims laughed it off and went along with the “joke,” though I can’t imagine them not being bothered by these insensitive words, whether they came from friends or not. I’ve been in the same situation, feeling like I have to go along with a gay joke at my expense. There’s something very disturbing about seeing Muslims, who are already the “Other” at my predominantly Catholic university, being teased about the death of the orchestrator of the killing of over 3,000 Americans. Not funny at all.
As bad as that is, imagine those comments coming from a high school teacher.
That’s what allegedly happened at Clear Brook High School in Houston. In his algebra class, a teacher at the school reportedly said to a Muslim-American girl: “I bet you’re grieving.” When the girl asked what he was talking about, the teacher said, “I heard about your uncle’s death.” According to another student’s mother, who talked to the local ABC affiliate about the incident:
The student ended up crying over what was said to her by the teacher and the teacher asked her why she was crying and another student said it was because of what you said earlier. And his response was, oh, OK, and just kind of smirked and giggled and walked away.
(I tried to embed the video of the ABC local news story, but the video won't work for some reason. You can watch it if you click the link above.)
Clear Brook Independent School District, to its credit, responded swiftly. The teacher, who remains unidentified, has been placed on administrative leave, and the incident is being investigated. The school district released the following statement:
In the Clear Creek Independent School District, we believe diversity strengthens our community and seek opportunities to celebrate the different cultures within our schools and neighborhoods. The sentiments allegedly shared by this teacher are not reflective of the staff at Clear Brook High School or anyone within the Clear Creek Independent School District.
In accordance with CCISD policy, the teacher has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of a personnel investigation. The student did the right thing and immediately notified an adult regarding the teachers' comments. The principal at Clear Brook High School notified the child's parents and has been in communication with the family.
The one good thing about this horrifying incident is the support the student received from her classmates. It’s heartening to know that this student had friends who were there for her when she needed them.
Although Dr. Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamic Center of Greater Houston calls this an “isolated” incident, TPM reports that it’s not the only incident targeting Muslims after OBL’s death:
The alleged incident in Texas is just the latest in a short string of small incidents targeting American Muslims following the death of bin Laden. A mosque in Portland, ME was vandalized in what police there are calling a hate crime and a Muslim unity rally was canceled in Portland, OR after organizers feared reprisals from both non-Muslims upset over terrorism and Muslims who organizers said might be angry by an event that supported the killing of bin Laden.
The girl involved in the Houston incident said it best in a text to the mother who was interviewed by ABC: "Make it a lesson learned about how the world is going through stuff and he needs to watch what he says and so do others because Osama does not represent the whole Muslim faith."
Words matter. And while not many people are so sick to do what this teacher allegedly did, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has witnessed the "jokes" directed toward Muslims. This kind of shit has to be confronted and nipped in the bud. It's so easy not to say anything (I've been guilty of it), but it's so important to stand against this kind of taunting, whenever and wherever it happens. It's not funny.