Muslim Girl Has Head Scarf Ripped Off in School

Another TV news item about a Muslim head scarf ripped off in school. And I have to ask myself if this is a prank or religious intimidation? I guess it depends on which side of the metaphorical fence you are on.

First some facts: Most people are not aware that the headscarf is a recent addition to the clothing worn by Muslims.

Egyptian radical students came up with this headscarf idea. The fashion trend can be traced back to the 70's as a unique political signal of fundamentalist approval by female students for their male Muslim associates. The clothing trend was noted by Professor El Guindi a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Southern California who published a paper outlining the addition of this head gear as a recent radical fashion change to Islamic dress styles. And in the last 30 years; Egypt, Iran, and Turkey even attempted to ban the radical activist headgear. With time this radical headwear became so common it became accepted and commonplace. Now even the men wear them.

And after a number of generations the idea of the headscarf became part of the belief. But this piece of clothing does not have the historical substance or the Koran's approval. Examine the Koran and see for yourself, there are no directives for women to wear these headscarves in it.

But now religious and human rights groups defend it as an accepted religious symbol as acceptable and honored as the crucifix for the Catholics and the Star of David for the Jewish people.

Why? Because here in the US we are politically correct and try our best to "honor" symbols of beliefs even when they are added as an afterthought to a religion. I find it interesting that one of the few countries' that have not accepted the wearing of this headwear is France. Over there they have banned it.

But it has been reported by Tampa Bay's Channel 10 News that a young Muslim girl that attends Azalea Middle School in St. Petersburg, Florida has had recent difficulties with a student and the principal of her school. And these difficulties may have been related to the girl's religious garb. This young Muslim girl reported that a classmate ripped off her hijab, a headscarf worn by Muslim women. After this recent altercation with her fellow classmate, the sixth-grade Muslim student requested a change of seating away from the individual intimidating her but was refused this by the Principal.

Maybe that Principal at Azalea Middle School knew that the headscarf is not a classic part of Muslim garb; after all, these scarfs are a relatively recent addition to the style of clothing for women Muslims. Or maybe that Principal had more information to judge the situation with. Isn't that why we have Principals for our schools; to make reasoned judgments when necessary?

All these are good questions. And with calm questions maybe calm answers. Instead of demanding investigations maybe all parties should calm down and realize the reality of this incident could have been a young boy flirting with a young girl. Or not.

Why do we as a nation of people and special interest groups always jump up and demand an investigation or push an issue? Could it be to ride piggy back on a current event to further our own belief's or causes? Or do we really believe that these people we have put in charge of our children, these school Principals; are automatically not doing the proper job they were hired to do?

Now we have Channel 10 TV news, the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Pinellas County School Board all asking questions. As for the scarf pulling incident and the possibility of a spoken gun threat; the question is who can corroborate it. Or was it a simple boy and girl flirtation blown out of proportion because of subjective belief structures?