CAIR Seeks Federal Investigation of Maryland Teacher's Anti-Muslim Statements

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today said it has asked the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights to investigate an incident at Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie, Md., in which a teacher allegedly made a series of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab statements directed at a Muslim student in a classroom.

After an altercation involving two students, the teacher reportedly approached a Muslim student of Middle Eastern heritage and said, "You terrorist. You little Osama. You have a bomb in your locker."

In a letter to Wendella Fox at the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, CAIR Civil Rights Litigation Director Jenifer Wicks wrote in part:

"We believe [the teacher's] statements were highly offensive and exhibit clear prejudice and antagonism towards Muslim and Arab students based on their apparent religious and racial status. Additionally, her statements may have implied to other students that all Muslims or Arabs are violent or would become terrorists. Such offensive remarks are particularly troubling because they came from a faculty member who is entrusted to maintain a safe, inclusive classroom and serve as an example for her students. We are hopeful that you will agree that such discriminatory animus has no place in a learning environment."

While the teacher has reportedly admitted to making this statement, school administrators allegedly retaliated by moving the student to a different classroom and have refused to indicate whether and how they disciplined the teacher.

CAIR is seeking an investigation of the incident, disciplinary action against the teacher, protection from retaliation for the students in the class, and diversity training for faculty and staff.

"Bullying can have lasting, harmful repercussions and must not be tolerated," said CAIR Maryland Outreach Manager Zainab Chaudry. "It is unacceptable and particularly disturbing when educators who are entrusted with teaching students engage in Islamophobia and bullying. We must take measures to protect students of all faiths and prevent these incidents from occurring in any school."