The Maryland office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today filed an online complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights on behalf of a 12-year-old Muslim student in Cambridge, Maryland following a period of reported harassment, assaults and faith based bullying spanning at least March 25 through May 1 during which her hijab, or Islamic headscarf, was reportedly forcibly removed at least twice.
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“ My daughter has been deeply traumatized by the ongoing events that have taken place over the last 2 months,” said the child’s parent Ms. Latoya Gibbs. “It is crucial that we speak out to raise awareness about hate and bullying, and as a nation, work towards putting an end to these harmful behaviors.”
“There’s no justification for the negligence and systemic failures that contributed to the prolonged trauma this child was forced to endure,” said CAIR’s Maryland Director Zainab Chaudry. “Parents entrust schools with their children’s safety and well-being, and Mace’s Lane Middle School administrators failed that trust. They failed to protect Ms. Gibbs’ daughter from harm or provide her with a safe learning environment. CAIR is seeking more than an apology; we are seeking systemic reforms and policy changes.”
BACKGROUND:
The child’s parent, Ms. Latoya Gibbs, told CAIR that on March 25, 2024, her 12-year-old daughter, a student at Mace’s Lane Middle School in Cambridge, Maryland, was harassed and bullied on the bus ride home from school by peers who reportedly chanted “fake Muslim” and taunted her with threats of taking off her hijab, or religious headscarf.
Her distraught daughter replied, “Can you stop? Leave me alone, I don’t talk about your religion.”
Ms. Gibbs heard her daughter crying out as she arrived home while being chased from the bus stop. Footage from a video camera outside the home shows her daughter being physically assaulted by her peers who forcibly remove her headscarf as she tries to get away and inside her home.
Ms. Gibbs contacted the school principal Ms. Patricia Prosser the following morning to report the assault and request surveillance video from the bus. She was told that administrators would look into the incident.
Despite multiple calls and trips by Ms. Gibbs to the school to meet with administrative staff, seek corrective action and resolve the bullying and harassment her daughter was reportedly facing, the school failed to protect her daughter and provide a safe learning environment.
Over subsequent weeks, Ms. Gibbs tells CAIR that her daughter, who has an IEP plan, continued to endure taunts and harassment on and off school property by her peers.
Ms. Gibbs told CAIR that again on May 1, her daughter was bullied and harassed on the school bus and called “terrorist” by her peers, one of whom punched her daughter in the back of her head and attempted to forcibly remove her distraught daughter’s hijab before she was able to make it to the front door of her home.”
On behalf of the student and her family, the actions CAIR is seeking from the school and school system include:
– Public apology for the distress and trauma
– Appropriate disciplinary consequences for the school principal and staff who were notified of the reported assaults and bullying but failed to take adequate action
– Mandatory cultural competency training on Islam and Muslims for educators and administrators at Mace’s Lane Middle School
-Anti-bullying training for students at Mace’s Lane Middle School
– Appropriate restorative measures against students involved in the reported assaults and bullying
– Policy review and amendments of the school’s process to handle bullying and assault incidents
– Accommodations and supplemental tutoring for the child to be able to make up missed classroom instruction
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT: CAIR Maryland Director Zainab Chaudry, zchaudry@cair.com, 410-971-6062